I start with 8 pounds of ground beef...
I like to use a combination of ground beef and ground turkey. The ground turkey is better for you, but it is also cheeper than ground beef (unless you can get ground beef at an excellent price!).
along with 2 onions, four carrots, and 6 celery stalks.
First, chop your vegetables into small pieces.
A hand chopper works very nicely for this. You can chop your vegetables into any size you wish. I used to chop them all sooo small, because I feared if my family knew that there were vegetables in their meat, they wouldn't eat it. Now they all know I do it (the carrots are a BIG giveaway!), so I don't stress about trying to chop them into invisible pieces!!
Place all your vegetables into a bowl and mix them up.
Start frying your hamburger and add your veggies into the meat as it is cooking.
Place the amount you desire into freezer bags.
I like to put it into quart size bags, then place those bags into a gallon size bag. Place in the freezer, and you are finished! It is nice to have hamburger already made up, and just pull it out and thaw it. It took a couple of hours out of my day, but saves a huge amount of time from another day. It also makes a huge amount of grease, so have a large bowl handy for draining the meat.
I started with 8 pounds of meat, and when I was finished I had 12 packages made up. I can't really say whether they were each exactly a pound or not, but I have what I know my family will need for meals.
I have also experimented with other vegetables in the ground beef. I generally always use the carrots, onion, and celery; but sometimes I have been known to sneak something else into the meat. The last time I made this I had a few mushrooms leftover that I chopped into it, and I have also chopped broccoli stems into the meat. It is a good way to get some extra vegetables into your family's diet, and a good way to use up things that you may not have another use for. I sometimes will add in some brown rice to the ground beef. This really helps make the ground beef go farther. We generally use ground beef for taco's or casseroles~ the rice in the ground beef works perfectly for the taco's, and if it is in a casserole, no one will probably ever know. Try whatever you think would work for your family!
Have a great day!
1 Corinthians 10:31
Good idea, we too use a LOT of ground beef around our house. Does it change the flavor much of say your taco meat?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it changes the taste at all. We've been doing this for so many years now, that I just may not remember it any different, though. If I don't add rice to our taco meat, our kids complain. Funny how you get used to something!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea I never thought about adding carrots. That would be delicious in a pasta sauce. I am coming over from the Monday Mingle and I am your newest follower. I would love if you could come by to visit.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Nichole
www.pinkieforpink.com
What a great idea! I have been doing this with onions and bell peppers, for flavor, but never to "bulk up" the meat. If you are using this in spaghetti or chili or veggie soup, then this would only add to the flavor. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, and a super way to get more veggies into our kids, too! Thanks for sharing. Lori, from Be Not Weary
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing - and in the summertime I do some advance cooking and add zucchini in too - its free, from the garden and adds an extra veg into the mix.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, Jess! I love having freezer stashes of things like this. It makes burrito/spaghetti night a whole lot faster. Getting the beef to "multiply" is also really helpful when you're on a tight budget. Thanks for linking up with me at {Monday Mom Musings} this week.
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