Stretching Ground Beef, Part 2

  

This is the second part of a two part series called "Stretching Ground Beef ". I usually buy a ten pound package of ground beef and re-package it into one pound packages. Buying a larger package, in most cases, saves money. I store the individual packages in the freezer until I am ready to use them. I try to make a few different meals out of a pound of ground beef. 

I gathered up my fragments and that helped me decide what to cook. I had peppers that needed to be used up before they turned.

I also had some rice that needed to be used up.

I chopped up the peppers and some onions.

I added beans, tomatoes, veggies and ground beef to the rice along with some creole seasoning. I put it in the fridge until I was ready to cook it for a meal.

Here is the finished product.

I made creole quesadillas. 

This is the creole spice that I used in the rice mixture.

The next meal I put together was Taco soup. I used the leftover onions and peppers in the soup.

We love Taco Soup. It's easy and not as spicy as chili.

I also made cornbread and served it with the Taco soup.

I made Hamburger gravy out of the last of the ground beef. I cooked it in the same pan that I browned the meat in to add more flavor to the gravy.

I stored it in the fridge until I was ready to use it..

I toasted some homemade wheat bread one morning and 

poured the hamburger gravy over the top and served it for breakfast.

Little Abby also had a small portion of the ground beef with her dog food. I made three meals and a lot of servings out of one pound of ground beef. We still have a couple more servings of Taco soup and I made four quesadillas out of the Creole rice.  

I hope that this series inspires you to stretch your ground beef and helps you to combat the inflation that is plaguing all of us. 

Blessings,

Mrs. Smith

Stretching Ground Beef-- What Can You Make With One Pound Of Hamburger....

Inflation has been eating away at budgets all around the globe. Meat seems to be the most expensive item along with produce. I decided to try and see how far I can stretch one pound of ground beef. This is the first in a series of posts that I plan to create as I attempt to fight inflation.

We finally have some snow on the ground. It is bitterly cold at 6*. The low is supposed to be -15 tonight. The sun is setting now and I think that this will be our coldest night. 

 

Little Abby is ready...

Out of the first pound of meat I was able to make two large pizzas, almost a quart of spaghetti sauce and some dog food extender. Abby is an older dog who has always been on the thin side, so she needs an extra bump in nutrition.

I must say that this was the best pizza...

I baked one and froze the other.

I stored the spaghetti sauce in the fridge until I needed it.

I used the fat and drained juices for Little Abby's food. I also added a good spoonful of meat.

I served the pizza with a dinner salad to complete the meal. We didn't stop at one piece...

The next pound of ground beef that I used I made German Burgers. It's a mixture of ground beef and cabbage cooked together with onions wrapped in homemade dough. Number One likes them with cheese baked inside. I was able to get nine German Burgers out of a pound of ground beef. This is a better choice than four 1/4 pound cheeseburgers.

German Burgers are filling and a flavorful way to eat ground beef. I also made hot dog buns out of the excess dough.

We ended up with a lot of meals out of each pound of ground beef. I hope this post stretches your imagination to fight inflation. I'm not sure what I will be inspired to cook in the next post in this series. You will have to visit again to find out...

Blessings,

Mrs. Smith

Stretching Ground Beef - Recipes and Ideas - Stretch Burgers

 

Don't Be Afraid To Try New Things...

My Mom called me the other day. It was So nice to hear her voice. We chatted for a bit, then she had a question about making a meatloaf. During our conversation she also shared with me that she had to pay almost $7 a pound for ground chuck. My Mom didn't buy it at a high end grocery store either. She bought it at Wal-Mart. I could not believe the price of hamburger. 

This conversation motivated me to create new recipes that would stretch our hamburger meat. Number One loves hamburgers, so I came up with "Stretch Burgers". I just happened to have cooked brown rice, cabbage, carrots, sweet peppers, celery and onions in the fridge, so I decided to use up what I had on hand. This recipe is very flexible. You can change the ingredients to fit your personal preferences as long as it binds together. 

We enjoyed these burgers. This recipe made 6 very large burgers. They are very filling and tasty. Number One is particular about food and he gave the Stretch Burger recipe a thumbs up. 

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground beef

1 C Cooked rice

2 Eggs

1 1/4 C Finely Chopped vegetables

2 Tbsp. Beef bouillon paste or equivalent 

1 tsp Black pepper

1/4 tsp Onion powder

1/4 tsp Garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together. Form into patties and fry in a greased pan until done. Serve on buns with your favorite toppings.

Other Ideas: 

*Use your imagination...

*Use oatmeal, crackers, bread crumbs or instant potatoes instead of cooked rice

*Use other spices

*Add cooked potatoes

*Add Cooked beans or lentils 

*Add cooked grains such as leftover quinoa

*Add other types of finely chopped fresh vegetables (potatoes must be instant or cooked or they will be undercooked)

Other Entrees:

*Use Your imagination...

*Taco meat filling: Fry crumbled meat mixture and follow the directions on your taco seasoning package.

*Breakfast sausage: Add breakfast sausage seasonings to meat mixture. Shape into patties or fry crumbled.  

*Hamburger Helper: Fry crumbled and follow directions on package or make your own.

*Meatloaf: Shape meat mixture and put into a greased loaf pan. Bake using your favorite toppings.

*Meatballs: Shape meat mixture into balls. Fry or bake. Serve over noodles with gravy.

*Italian Meatballs: Add Italian seasonings to meat mixture and shape into balls. 

*Spaghetti and meat sauce: Fry crumbled meat mixture and cook in your favorite sauce. 

I hope this helps you stretch your ground beef and your grocery budget. If you have any other ideas, please share them in the comments below...

Mrs. Smith