The ground beef short-cut

This trick is one of my favorites. With only a little bit of advance time, you can be meal-ready for several meals later. Here's how it works:

1) Next time you shop for ground beef, buy an extra couple of pounds.

2) Fry this up with some onions and garlic (or whatever you like), and after draining and cooling, freeze it in 1 cup portions.

3) On a day you need a quick easy cheap meal, choose one of the following:


A) Quick chilli soup:
Add ONE of the following to the pot:

• Tomato soup + 1 can water for each can of soup OR
  
• Canned tomatoes + the liquid in the can

Add a variety of the following to the pot:

• Canned mushrooms
• Canned beans (kidney, garbanzo, lima, etc.)
• Canned corn
• Chopped sauteed onions/garlic/celery
• Chili powder, cumin, parsley, etc.

Drop in the 1cup of frozen ground beef and it will thaw while the rest is heating up.
You can increase quantities for larger families. Or you can make enough for chili soup tonight and then put the leftovers in the fridge to pack in thermoses for lunch or to serve with cornbread on another night this week. If your soup ends up really thick and chunky, you can serve it up in tortilla shells or as a topping for mashed potatoes, rice or noodles on another night.

B) Homemade Hamburger Helper


Put the following into a frying pan, cover and simmer until all liquid is absorbed. Partway through cooking, open lid and break up the ground beef:

• 2 cups water, 1 cup rice, 1c frozen cooked ground beef, 1 can tomato or cream soup, veggies of your choice.