NEW ideas for ground beef?

Tamale pie, BBQ baked beans, dirty rice, stroganoff, taco pasta casserole, those are some of our favorites with ground beef.

Sheperds pie

Hamburger cooked mixed with tomato soup about 1.5 cans, and a can of green beans on top of that will go the mashed potatoes and then on top of that spread the rest of the tomato soup on top. If you like cheese you can add in the last 5 minutes, of cooking.

Cook at 350 degrees farenheit for 30 to 40 minutes or until heated throughly.

Stroganoff

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream

8 ounces macaroni

Directions

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the meat and onions for 10 minutes, or until the meat is browned and the onion is tender. Stir in the flour, salt and paprika. Then add the mushroom soup, mix well and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and add the sour cream, stirring well and allowing to heat through. Cover and set this mixture aside.

Cook the egg noodles according to package directions. Drain the water from the noodles and pour the meat mixture over the noodles.

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Stroganoff In A Bun

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1 cup mayonnaise*

3/4 cup finely chopped celery

2/3 cup condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

18 hamburger buns, split

Directions

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the mushroom soup, mayonnaise, celery and cheese soup. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until heated through. Serve on buns.

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Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice

1 cup water

6 green bell peppers

2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef until evenly browned.

Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)

In a bowl, mix the browned beef, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.

Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

Ingredients

* 1 pound sweet Italian sausage

* 3/4 pound lean ground beef

* 1/2 cup minced onion

* 2 cloves garlic, crushed

* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

* 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

* 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

* 1/2 cup water

* 2 tablespoons white sugar

* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

* 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

* 1 tablespoon salt

* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

* 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

* 12 lasagna noodles

* 16 ounces ricotta cheese

* 1 egg

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced

* 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

How about macaroni & cheese with hamburger in it? That sounds really good, as a matter of fact.

Hi!

How about little Swedish meatballs??!

Jone's Swedish Meatballs

Meat: (the main ingredient)

2 pounds ground lean meat: use beef, pork or veal

(may use some textured vegetable protein ground beef substitute)

Filler: (to give the meatballs the right consistency)

2 eggs

1 cup milk, cream, meat broth or water

1/2 cup all-purpose flour OR 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs OR 1 cup torn bread OR 1 cup mashed potatoes

Salt and Pepper:

Salt to taste (1 1/2 teaspoons suggested)

Pepper to taste (white or black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon suggested)

More Flavor:

Option 1:

1 minced onion

1/4 tsp dry mustard or 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Option 2:

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

By hand or on medium speed with an electric mixture, thoroughly blend the ground meat, filler, salt and pepper, and other flavorings. Beat until very well mixed. Form into balls about 3/4"-1 1/2" in diameter: do this by hand, or use a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, or a melon baller. Makes 30-150 meatballs depending on how large they are. Serves 6-8, more on the smörgåsbord.

Cooking methods:

Pan-fried: Heat a skillet with 2-3 tablespooons of cooking oil to medium-high heat. Fill the skillet about half full with the meatballs, and fry them for about 10 minutes. Shake the skillet gently during cooking to keep the meatballs turning and to cook them evenly, about 10-15 minutes depending on size. You may need a spatula to encourage some of the more stubborn meatballs to turn over properly. As soon as meatballs are browned, take them out of the pan, let them cool and drain a bit, and keep them warm (try using an oven-proof dish in a barely-warm oven) until ready to add sauce and serve.

Oven-fried: Use ungreased baking sheets -- the kind with rims on all four sides. Separate the meatballs slightly, bake at 450F for 10-15 minutes. Remove carefully from the baking sheets..

For most sauces, you'll stir the meatballs into the sauce then transfer them to the serving dish. Meatballs can be prepared ahead, and refrigerated in a covered container for 2-3 days or frozen in airtight containers for several months. You can freeze cooled meatballs spread out on a clean, cool baking sheet, then transfer them to airtight containers, if you want to be able to make a large quantity of meatballs and remove just enough at one time. Thawed or refrigerated meatballs should be heated in a single layer on an ungreased rimmed baking sheet for 10-15 minutes at 375F.

Brown sauce or red wine sauce or sherry sauce:

2 tablespoons pan fat

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup beef broth (may be made from bouillon) or 1 can condensed beef broth

1/2 - 3/4 cup water (to taste)

3 tablespoons red wine or sherry (optional)

Add the flour to the pan fat in a saucepan, mix thoroughly. Discard the rest of the fat from the cooking pan, then rinse the pan in some of the broth to loosen the bits of meat from the pan. Add the broth to the fat/flour base in the saucepan. (Tip: at this point, mixing the flour/fat mixture and the broth mixture in the blender removes all lumps thoroughly.) Heating this mixture, slowly add the water to taste. Bring to a boil. (Add red wine or sherry if desired at this point.)

Sour cream sauce or Gjetost sauce:

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shredded gjetost

Transfer the meatballs to the serving dish. Discard the fat from the cooking pan, stir the sour cream into the pan to pick up the rest of the pan drippings and the bits of meat. Heat slightly, do not boil. Stir in the shredded cheese if desired. Pour hot mixture over the meat.

White sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup half and half or cream

1/2 cup water or chicken broth (may be made from bouillon)

Fresh dill leaves or parsley leaves (optional)

Add the flour to the butter in a saucepan, mix thoroughly, turn on heat to low heat. Discard the fat from the cooking pan, then rinse the pan in the water or broth to loosen the bits of meat from the pan. Add the water or broth to the butter/flour base in the saucepan and mix thoroughly. (Tip: at this point, mixing the flour/fat mixture and the broth mixture in the blender removes all lumps thoroughly.) Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, and add the half and half or cream slowly. Simmer until a good consistency. Add dill or parsley if desired. Stir the meatballs into the sauce until heated through. Transfer to the serving dish and serve immediately.

Enjoy experimenting with your meatballs!