Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Ground Beef Readiness

I have five kids all of the time (between 2 - 15) and six when my step-daughter is with us...so the less time cooking in the kitchen...the more supervision available (a good thing).

When cooking ground beef I always cook three large family packs at a time, I add an entire bag of celery (chopped), and 3 onions (chopped) and green peppers (I usually use chopped frozen, cheaper and last forever). I all the beef and veggies to my big ole pot and fill about half way up with water (very important addition, I might add). The water keeps the meat from clumping, cooks it faster and also keeps it from scorching at the bottom. I drain it when it is done then add garlic, salt and pepper then cool until it's manageable. Then I bag it up in quart size freezer zipper bags. I usually mix up two dinners worth with barbecue sauce and frozen peas for a super, duper quick Shepherd's Pie. Other bags can be used for chili, spaghetti, baked ziti, sloppy joes, Mexican casseroles, Grandma's Casserole, tacos, taco salad, enchiladas, only to name a few!

12 comments:

  1. That is exceedingly smart. I'm going to copy your idea. Thanks! Your family is beautiful!

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  2. Love your site, your kids are so cute! Thanks for the tip, what a great way to make that expensive beef last!

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  3. WOW! Very smart, I must say!

    Thanks for the tip.

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  4. That is a great idea! I never thought about cooking it that way.

    How do you cook a large amount of chicken? I just bought two 6 lb packages of chicken tenders that I want to cut up in chunks and cook all at the same time.

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  5. wow, I'm on the right track, but you've taught me more. . .so much more! Definitely going to try it your way. Your blog is cute, by the way!

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  6. I've done this a few times and really love it! Great time saver!

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  7. Thanks for the great tips - I didn't know that cooking it in water would keep it from clumping.

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  8. That is a great tip and a great way to use my peppers and onions from my garden! Thanks for posting that!!

    And thanks for visiting my blog today. I hope you come back soon:-)

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  9. I love that idea! How clever. I am all about saving time in the kitchen. I love to cook, I just don't like the time involved in doing it. Thanks for sharing your tip!

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  10. I have never added water to my ground meat. Huh. Gonna try that because I have 4 kids myself so I know that sometimes when we are cooking we get DISTRACTED. I bet when you drain it off, you drain off a whole lot o' fat too.

    By the way, I almost never buy ground beef anymore - I always buy turkey. Much healthier and cheaper and we are a spice loving family - sounds like you are too - so since most of the meat gets turned into tacos or chili etc, I have never once had anyone notice that it was not beef.

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  11. Are frozen green peppers really cheaper than fresh? I never even gave it a thought. I will have to check this out b/c it would be quicker to open the bag instead of slice and dice!

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