My Lime Green Kitchen

Posts Tagged ‘Ground Beef’

Sweet & Sour Meat Loaf
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 c. dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 eggs
1 – 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. cider vinegar
½ c. white sugar
2 tsp. prepared mustard
This is a great recipe for doubling and putting one in the freezer.  Also, the leftovers make fantastic meatloaf sandwiches.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, salt, ground black pepper, eggs, and 1/2 of the can of tomato sauce. Mix together well and place into a 5×9 inch loaf pan.

Push the meatloaf down into the pan forming a well for the sauce around all the edges.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, white sugar and mustard. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

After meatloaf has cooked for 40 minutes, remove from oven and pour sauce over the top of the meatloaf.

Return to oven and bake at 350 degrees for 20 more minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Spinach Meatloaf has been a favorite for years.  It’s one of those dishes that looks like it was hard to make but it’s so easy!

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds ground beef
3/4 c. breadcrumbs
1/2 c. milk
1 egg
2 carrots, finely chopped or grated
1 onion, finely chopped
salt & pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 pound fresh spinach or 1 box frozen spinach
1/2 c. feta cheese
1/2 c. cottage cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

If using fresh spinach, wash and remove stems.  If using frozen spinach, thaw and squeeze as much liquid from the spinach as possible.  Discard the liquid.  (I use fresh spinach.)

Mix ground beef, bread crumbs, milk, onion, egg, carrots, salt and pepper.

Spread a piece of waxed paper onto the counter.  Pat the meat mixture into a rectangle that you can roll up and stuff into your loaf pan.  Spread the spinach on top of the meat, then add the feta cheese and cottage cheese.  Sprinkle oregano on top, and depending on how much salt and pepper used in the meat mixture, you may want to add more salt and pepper now.

Using the waxed paper to hold it all together, roll the whole thing up jelly roll fashion and put into loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for one hour or until done.  Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.  Drain any grease that has cooked out of the meat. Slice and serve!

BBQ Cups

This is definitely a frugal meal and while I’m not crazy about it, Chad and Vince love it.  If you cook for kids, they’re likely to love this!

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion
1/2 c. BBQ sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. brown sugar
1 can refrigerator biscuits
grated cheese

Brown the ground beef and drain the fat. Add the chopped onion and stir til onion is cooked. Stir in BBQ sauce, salt and brown sugar.

Roll the individual biscuits or flatten them so that the fill fit into the bottom and up the sides of muffin tins. Spoon the ground meat mixture into the biscuit “crust”.

Bake at 400 for 10 – 12 minutes.

Top with grated cheese and place back in oven til cheese melts.

This is a hearty, filling soup!  This also freezes well.

Shipwreck Stew

3 lbs. meat (can be ground beef, round steak, stew meat)
1 onion, chopped
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2″ thick
1 pkg. frozen cut green beans
2 – 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 – 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 – 15 oz. cans pinto beans, drained
1/2 c. barley
1 can beef broth (have an extra can or two to add if the stew is too thick)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt

Brown meat, adding onion right before meat is finished browning.

Transfer meat and onion to crock pot, leaving behind as much grease as possible. Add all remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours. If the mixture looks too dry, add more broth, crushed tomatoes or water. Taste before serving and add more salt if desired.

A big hit with our family.  Serve with a salad and crusty bread.  We almost always have scalloped potatoes or macaroni and cheese with meatloaf.  Make extra . . makes fantastic meatloaf sandwiches!

Make an extra meatloaf, partially cook, let cool to room temp, and freeze.

For the sauce, I used Spaghetti Sauce with Veggies which I had canned.

Italian Meat Loaf

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. Balsamic Vinegar
2 T. chopped fresh basil
2 T. chopped parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-1/2 c. marinara sauce
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Saute onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil.  Remove from pan and allow to cool.  Once they’re cool, mix all ingredients except marinara.  Pat into a greased loaf pan.  Top with marinara sauce.  Bake uncovered for one hour.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

This is one of those recipes that I’ve adapted to our own tastes. We love frozen corn so I put more corn than most recipes call for. DH doesn’t like kidney beans so I use black beans. Also, with the ground meat, this sounds gross but I boil mine first, then drain it, let it cool, crumble it and brown it with a little oil. I like my ground meat in soups/stews to be real crumbly with no big chunks.

This soup freezes very nicely.

Taco Soup

2 lb. ground meat, browned and drained
16 oz. frozen corn
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 – 2 cans crushed tomatoes (depending on your preference)
1 can chicken broth
1 cup water
1 package Taco seasoning mix
1 package Ranch dressing mix

Dump everything in the crockpot and cook 8 – 10 hours on low. Add more water if necessary to get the consistency desired.  Or, simmer on top of the stove for an hour or so.

We serve it with grated cheese and tortilla chips. I add a spoonful of sour cream to my bowl also.

Beef Stuffed Manicotti

1 – 8 oz. package Ricotta cheese
1 – 8 oz. package Mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (we like basil a lot — you may want to use less if you’re not a huge basil fan)
fresh parsley, chopped (however much you want)
fresh ground black pepper (I use about 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. salt
1 pound ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used leftover sauce from our spaghetti on Sunday)
12 manicotti shells
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef and drain. Save out about 3/4 c. of the ground beef. Crumble that portion very fine. I usually mash it with a fork.

Cook manicotti in salted boiling water til tender.

In a large bowl, mix Ricotta, 1/2 c. Parmesan, Mozzarella, 2 eggs, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Add in the 3/4 c. crumbled ground beef.

Mix the remaining ground beef with the spaghetti sauce. Spread into the bottom of a baking dish, reserving just a little to spoon over the manicotti.

Stuff the manicotti shells with the cheese mixture. Place in the backing dish on top of the spaghetti/meat sauce. Spoon the remaining sauce over the manicotti.

Cover and bake at 350 for 35 – 40 minutes. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

We’ve had this dish often and we love it.