5 Things To Do With Ground Beef

With the social distancing forcing us to take what we can get for food at the stores, you might be finding yourself using ground meat more often than usual. Especially if you go to BJs, Costco, Sam's etc. and get one of these guys.

Great if you've got a family of 10, but if there are just 3 or 4 of you, you might get sick of ground beef pretty quickly. So, we all know the obvious, hamburger patties, meatloaf, meatballs, American Chop Suey. But what else can you do to break up the monotony? Well, one thing you can do is plan out a day to cook it all. Yup, cook it all. Then divide it up to use for a few different dishes. Freeze whatever you aren't going to use that night and you'll have some easy nights ahead of you. Here are just a few simple ideas to get you out of your hamburger rut. Oh - just remember to use plenty of salt and pepper when you are browning up the ground beef.

1. Taco Tuesday. Ok, this one might be a gimme for some families. Not mine. In fact I'd rather have a peanut butter sandwich, thank you. But, you can brown up some ground beef, put aside what you will need for tacos, add a packet of seasoning, or make your own. Then, when the meat is cool, put it in a freezer safe container or a Ziploc bag and freeze it for taco night.

 Here's just one sample recipe you can use to make your own taco seasoning.

  +1 tablespoon chili powder
  +1/4 teaspoon garlic powder  
  +1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  +1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  +1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  +1/2 teaspoon paprika
  +1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 
  +1 teaspoon sea salt
  +1 teaspoon black pepper

2. Hamburger Goulash. Alright, I know, it looks like American Chop Suey, and it's pretty darn close. But the seasonings make all the difference in this recipe. It truly is a different dish.

Ingredients:
 2 lbs lean ground beef
 1 large 29 oz can tomato sauce (unseasoned, not spaghetti sauce)
 30 oz of tomato paste
 1 medium shallot or 1 small onion
 1 box elbow macaroni or small pasta
 1/2 tsp salt, plus 1/2 tsp
 1/2 tsp pepper - plus 3/4 tsp
 3/4 tsp paprika
 1 tsp garlic powder
 1/2 tsp nutmeg
 butter
 olive oil

Directions:
 Cook box of elbows according to package directions.  Use a large pot because you will be putting all of the other ingredients into this pot after the macaroni is cooked.  Drain and set aside when cooked al dente, about 12 minutes. (Which means don't let the macaroni get too soft. You'll be cooking it again in the sauce so make sure it still has a bite to it).
 Finely chop shallot/onion. Saute in a frying pan with a touch of butter and olive oil for 5 minutes.
 Add ground beef. Break up, add 1/2 tsp of the salt and 1/2 of the tsp black pepper and mix up with the onions.  Cook until meat is browned.  Remove from heat and drain. (You need to season the ground beef before it's cooked to get the best flavor from it)
 Add the beef mixture to the pan of elbows.  Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste, add the rest of the salt and pepper, the garlic powder, paprika and nutmeg.
 Mix until everything is combined.  Cover and place on low heat, (or put in a crock pot on low). Let simmer for at least an hour to meld flavors. But you can make this early and let it simmer all day as long as you keep an eye on it and give it a stir now and then to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
 Serve nice and hot! Hubby and son had grated cheese on theirs.

TIP: As you can see, this is a recipe that is wide open for options. You could add chopped bell peppers. You could use ground turkey, or sausage or any kind of ground meat, or even a combination.  If you added a can of beans this would be a sort of combination goulash/chili.  Or, if you wanted a vegetarian version, use beans and veggies instead of the ground meat. This will be very thick. You can thin it out by adding beef or chicken stock, more tomato sauce or even canned diced tomatoes. It's all a matter of preference. Also works great with ground chicken or turkey which can be kind of bland.

3. Homemade Hamburger Helper. I don't know about your family, but my son loves Hamburger Helper. The rest of us are kind of meh on it. So, I make my own and it's tastier.

You just boil up some egg noodles, or pasta if you prefer. Bowties and rotini both work well. Add the noodles/pasta to the ground beef and then add the gravy. How much gravy you need will depend on the amount of beef/noodles you have. I usually use 2 large jars for 4 of us. This freezes very well.

TIP: Have a big family and want to make this stretch a little farther? Add a vegetable or two, put it in a casserole dish and top with either a premade pie crust or a box of Jiffy corn bread mix. If you use the corn bread mix you will need to cook it until the bread is very well done and very brown on top or it will not be cooked underneath. When you take it out of the oven, cover it loosely with foil and let it stand 5 minutes to finish cooking.

4. Cheeseburger Macaroni. Another version of Hamburger Helper that is better home made. Make a box of Kraft Deluxe, the kind with the premade cheese sauce, or Velveeta or whatever brand you have, stir in the ground beef, then add Cheez Whiz until you have it as cheesy as you want it. And again, freezes great.

TIP: No mac and cheese? Buy some pasta and a big jar of Cheez Whiz. I also like to use some Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup. Mix them together with the pasta, whether you just want mac and cheese or cheeseburger macaroni.



5. English Meat Pie. Yum! One of my most favorite meals! It's basically seasoned ground beef and mashed potatoes in a pie shell, but it is SO much better than it sounds. This is also a great recipe for hiding vegetables from your kids. I usually puree some spinach and sun dried tomatoes and add to the mix. If your family likes veggies, diced carrots and peas go perfect with this. It's also a great dish to make with leftovers. I wish I had a pic, but I don't :(

Directions:

Such as they are. I'm not big on measuring, so I apologize in advance.

1.5 - 2 lbs of ground beef
2 boxes ready made pie crust
2 containers ready made mashed potatoes (can use frozen or make from scratch)
any veggies you want to add, pureed if you want to hide them
1 of beef gravy
onion powder
garlic powder
dried thyme

Preheat oven according to directions on pie crust box.

Add onion powder, garlic powder and thyme to ground beef (about a tsp or so of each) and brown. Drain grease.

Mix beef, potatoes, veggies together. Mixture should be thick.

I recommend a springform pan if you have one, otherwise use a very deep dish pie plate or casserole dish.

Using 1 crust, line the bottom of the dish. Using 2 more crusts, line the sides of the pan as close as you can to the top. Prebake crust for 15 minutes.

Fill the pan with meat and potato mixture.

Top with final crust. Cut slits to vent.

Place in oven to bake according to pie directions. Bake until crust is golden brown and there are no translucent spots. Slice and serve hot with gravy.

This is not my pic, but it gives you an idea of what it would look like.

And again, freezes beautifully!

TIP: Some people like this with sautéed or caramelized onions. You could even add sautéed mushrooms. The great thing about a recipe like this is that you can make it what you want. You can add peppers, beans, use oats to bind it instead of mashed potatoes. You could use ground chicken and make a curry sauce instead of a gravy.

BONUS ITEMS: These are items I don't make, but I know are out there and might be useful to you.

Shepard's Pie - layers of ground beef and vegetables topped with mashed potatoes
Salisbury Steaks - ground meat formed into patties - not like hamburgers
Sloppy Joe's - loose ground meat in a sauce, may have peppers and/or onions on a bulkie roll
Stuffed Shells - mix up ground meat like you would for meatballs, stuff it into partially cooked large shells, cover with sauce and bake
Stuffed Peppers - like above but stuffed in bell peppers not shells
SOS - otherwise known as creamed chipped beef. Usually served on toast or biscuits
Double Stuffed Potatoes -(want to try!) you can make many versions of this
Chili - with or without beans, it's a classic
Stroganoff - lots of versions of this out there. Maybe switch up your favorite recipe
Meat Lasagna - always a treat
Enchiladas - traditional Mexican dish
Cheeseburger Pizza - use ground beef with cheddar cheese on your home made pizza instead of mozzarella and pepperoni
Hamburger and Potato Soup - hearty soup that hits the spot

Easy-Peasy Semi-Homemade Beef Stew Recipe

We have been getting snowstorm after snowstorm here in New England over the past few weeks and my poor hubby has had more than his fill of snow - even for a New Englander.  Getting chilled right through to his bones has him craving hot, hearty dishes like beef stew. Unfortunately, 4 feet plus of snow has made getting to the grocery store nearly impossible. Especially as we live on a steep hill that hasn't been plowed very well - yet (she added hopefully).

So, I went through my freezer and pantry to see if I could find a way to make beef stew for him, and I could!  Luckily, I had a few packages of stew beef in the freezer.  I had some baby carrots in the fridge, some canned sliced potatoes (I always try and keep canned sliced, diced and whole potatoes in my pantry. They come in very handy!) and a few jars of savory beef gravy (purchased the last time my local market had a big sale).  Now, I know how to make stew without jarred gravy. Indeed, I know how to make gravy from scratch very well. But, there are sometimes when the jar comes in handy, like with meatloaf or chicken fried steak (sorry, can't stand that white, cream, pepper stuff some people call gravy. To me gravy should taste like meat, not flour. yuck!). But I wanted a quick and easy way to make some stew and this fit the bill.

All done in the crockpot - prepped in less than 5 minutes!

Anyway - I took out the meat the night before and let it thaw. (I had about 3 pounds of meat).Then I put everything in my trusty crockpot.  First, I cut any large pieces of meat in half. Then I tossed them in the pot with a little salt and pepper.  Then I added a couple of handfuls of carrots (just what looked like enough for the 4 of us). Then I added 3 cans of sliced potatoes and 4 jars of gravy.  I added 1/4 tsp of ground rosemary, gave it all a stir and set it on high for 4 hours.  During the last 20 minutes I threw in a little frozen corn.

That was it. Could it be any easier? Prep time was less than 5 minutes!  You could make this before work and leave it on low all day and have a nice, hot meal when you come home.

Now, I know - where are the green veggies? Well, my fussy family doesn't all like the same veggies, so we usually heat them up separately in the microwave and everybody adds what they want to their stew individually. Naturally, you can add whatever you want to this. Green beans, peas, pearl onions, mushrooms - whatever your family likes.

We had the stew with hot, buttery crescent rolls - something else I always try to keep on hand :) It was SO good. Even my super picky daughter ate a whole bowl and she usually hates beef and any kind of gravy. My husband went back for seconds - no shock there.

Have leftovers that don't quite make enough to fill everybody up? Get a ready made pie crust and turn the leftovers into a pot pie! Add some more veggies, potatoes - even some egg noodles. Serve with a side salad and you have another hearty, satisfying meal.

Enjoy!

Beef Barley Soup Recipe

We had a prime rib roast the other night for dinner. As most of you know, there's no way to really reheat prime rib, or most roast beef really, satisfactorily. So, I used the leftovers to make beef barley soup.

Just a side note. I absolutely hate when you go to a restaurant and they have beef barley soup on the menu and you order it and get vegetable barley soup. If there is tomato in the broth - it's vegetable barley soup! Beef barley soup has a purely beef broth. No tomato. Put tomato in it and it's vegetable barley soup. And since I can't stand tomato soup or vegetable soup, I won't eat it and end up disappointed and annoyed. Ok, rant over.

Anyway... barley is really good for you an it's tasty. It also makes a nice hearty soup and you don't need a lot of ingredients or a lot of fuss.  It's also a good recipe for canning and freezing.

If you don't have leftover roast or steak, you can certainly use stew meat to make the soup.  Just brown it up before hand.


Ingredients:
2 containers beef broth/stock (32 oz ea)
1 can Campbell's Beef Consume (plus 2 can fulls of water)
leftover beef
roast bones (optional)
3/4 cups barley
1/2 cup shredded carrot chopped fine

Directions:
Place bones in large crockpot (or stew pot) and cover with 1 container of broth. Cook on high for 2 hours (or simmer on stove top for 2 hours).  If you don't have bones, skip this step.

Remove bones (if used).  Add barley and carrots to hot broth.  Add beef consume and 2 cans of water plus remaining container of broth and cook on high for 4 hours. (or simmer on stovetop for 4 hours)

Dice up leftover beef and add to soup.

Taste and add any seasoning or flavoring as needed*.  Heat until meat is hot and barley is tender, but still has a little bite.

*I did not add any seasonings to my soup. No salt or pepper. However, I did add a spoon of beef base.  I bought it at BJs. You could use bouillon cubes or crystals, soup mix, Bovril (for those in the UK or access to well stocked International sections at their markets), or any kind of beef flavoring to make the broth richer.  We are happy with just the rich beef flavor, but certainly you could add herbs to it if you preferred.