The Hamburger Plan

Hamburger Plan Recipes:

1. Hamburger Patties (use raw hamburger)
2. Perdenales River Chili (make a BIG batch), also used in:
   • taco meat
   • 5-way chili
   • Burritos for the freezer
   • Ravioli filling
   • South of the Border lasagna
   • Deep Dish Mexican Pizza
   • Chili Pot Pies
   • Empanadas
3. Freezer Stash Meatballs and
4. Lean Meatballs, used in:
   • Italian Meatball Subs
   • Spaghetti and Meatballs
   • Easy Meatball Stew
   • School Night Meatball Soup
   • Meatball Minestrone
   • Baked Ziti and Meatball Casserole
   • Chili Meatball Supper
   • Scandinavian Meatballs
   • Sweet and Sour Meatballs
5. Beef Porcupines
6. Italian Meatloaf
7. Italian Meatloaf sandwiches
8. Mexican Meatloaf
9. Bierrocks
10. Cheeseburger turnovers
11. Maid rites (crumbly hamburgers)
12. Simple Salisbury Steak (Campbell's soup recipe)
13. BBQ Beef (Beanless Sloppy Joes)
14. Easy goulash
15. Tortilla mini Burgers

Hamburger Patties

Using raw meat, I added some onion powder, garlic powder and some seasoning salt, or sometimes I put in a half packet of onion soup mix for each pound of hamburger. I use rubber gloves to handle the hamburger (I hate trying to get that stuff off of my hands!) Anyhow, I made about 40 patties from six pounds of hamburger. I stacked them between waxed paper and froze on a cookie sheet. After freezing, put in a Ziploc bag.

Perdenales River Chili

I think this one could be adapted to a crockpot recipe.

• 4 pounds coarsely ground chuck (I use lean hamburger)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Combine meat, onion, and garlic in a large Dutch oven; cook over medium heat until meat is browned, stirring to crumble. Adding water to ground beef as it browns helps. Drain. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Yield: about 12 cups. (May want to double)

Burritos for the Freezer

• Perdenales chili
• flour tortillas
• cheddar cheese
• refried beans (optional)

Put about a ¼ cup of meat (eyeball it) in the center of the tortilla, top with cheese and beans. Roll up tightly and place seam side down on a cookie sheet and freeze.

When frozen, put in Ziploc bag.

To reheat, microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.

Ravioli

I have a half-moon shaped press I use to make these called the "Pocket Gourmet." Here is the recipe from the booklet, with my modifications to make if you don't have this press (has three sizes, really neat to do turnovers, pastries, all kinds of stuff!)

For the dough:

• 3 cups flour
• 3 eggs
• 1-2 teaspoons salt (to taste)
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoon olive oil

Beat eggs. Add flour and salt, mixing well. Press into a firm ball of dough, adding flour if needed. Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth, then cover with a towel and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface until paper thin. Use immediately to avoid the dough drying out.

To assemble ravioli:

If you don't have the press, place the filling in small mounds (according to the size you want) about an inch apart from each other on HALF of the dough. Take a basting brush and lightly brush water between each filling mound but not on it. The water is your "glue" to stick the pasta together. Fold other half of dough (with no filling) over top the half with filling on it, pressing AROUND each filling mound to seal in the filling. Cut into squares between the sealed filling mounds. Place on waxed paper or greased cookie sheet and freeze (make sure they don't stick to the cookie sheet and rip!) When frozen, place in ziploc bag.

To serve, bring water to a boil. Put in frozen ravioli and cook 3-5 minutes or until al dente. Top with hot tomato sauce, alfredo sauce, whatever you like! Enjoy! I have also just cooked them in sauce instead of water and they cook up fine.

(If you have the press, cut out the circles of dough with the bottom of the press, place one circle in press, add a little filling and brush water on one half of the dough edges. Press closed, making sure the filling is sealed in. Freeze on cookie sheet)

South-of-the Border Lasagna

• 1 pound ground beef (or perdenales chili)
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (1 ¼-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, divided
• 4 (12-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 (8-ounce) container refrigerated guacamole dip
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
• 1 jalapeno pepper, sliced and seeded (optional)

(Don't have to do this step if you use the Perdenales chili) Brown ground beef in a skillet, stirring until it crumbles; drain. Combine tomato sauce and taco seasoning mix in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and reserve ¼ cup mixture. Add beef and half of green chiles to tomato sauce mixture. Place a flour tortilla on a greased 12-inch pizza pan. (I would use a casserole dish or cake pan, lined with foil so you can lift it out later to freeze.) Layer with half of meat mixture, another tortilla, guacamole dip, half of cheese, and remaining green chiles. Top with third tortilla, remaining meat sauce, last tortilla, and reserved ¼ cup tomato sauce. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 5 more minutes. Top with jalapeno slices, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

Kim's note: You can skip the guacamole if its presence causes a riot at your house. I love guacamole, but not the mutiny it inspires in the rest of my crew! Mild salsa would be a delicious substitute.

Deep Dish Mexican Pizza

adapted from "Fresh N' Easy Cookbook" pamphlet from Wyler's Bouillon

For Crust:

• 2 ½ cups biscuit baking mix (use Bisquick or following recipe)
• ½ cup cornmeal (masa harina is best because it is finely ground)
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup margarine or butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine the above ingredients in a medium bowl, mixing well. Press dough into a greased 15 " x 10" casserole dish (this recipe makes a lot, you could use two smaller dishes, like pie plates), making sure dough covers bottom and sides of dish. Bake dough for 10 minutes and remove from oven.

For Pizza:

• 1 pound ground beef (or Perdenales chili)
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 can (8 oz) your favorite tomato sauce
• 1 can green chilies (optional)
• 2 teaspoons or 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 can (16 oz) refried beans
• 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
• chopped tomatoes
• shredded lettuce
• slice pitted olives
• any other toppings of your choice

(Don't have to do this step if you use the Perdenales chili.) Brown onion and beef and pour off fat. Add tomato sauce, chilies, bouillon, chili powder and cumin. Cook, stirring frequently, until bouillon dissolves. Spread beans over crust, then cover with meat mixture, spreading evenly over beans. Top with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes. Garnish with tomatoes, lettuce and olives (or other toppings of your choice). Refrigerate or freeze leftovers. (This recipe is even better after a day or two in the fridge!)

Notes: I use whatever I have on hand for this recipe. I have use the following made biscuit mix, but I have even made biscuit dough and added the cornmeal, and then done the recipe. For the beans, I have used all kinds, they all work good as long as they are kind of thick for spreading. For the meat, I have used leftover chili, goulash, ground turkey, Italian sausage, whatever you have on hand! The cheeses can be any kind, a little cheddar can go a long way if mixed with other cheeses. Do not worry if you are missing a few spices. It tastes great even if you don't have cumin or (heaven forbid!) if you run out of chili powder.

Basic Biscuit Mix

• 10 cups all purpose flour
• ⅓ cup baking powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups shortening

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and cut in shortening with pastry blender. An alternative method is make the mix in batches by combining the dry ingredients, then process 2 ½ cups of the dry ingredients and ½ cup shortening in the food processor, gradually combining all of dry mix with shortening.

Keep tightly sealed. At room temp, it keeps a few months, longer in the fridge. I usually use all of my mix up in a month so I keep it in my baking supplies.

Use the mix to make the following:

Pancakes: 2 cups mix, 1 cup milk, 2 eggs

Waffles: 2 cups mix, 2 tablespoon veg. oil, 1 egg, 1 ⅓ cups milk

Dumplings: 2 cups mix, ⅔ cup milk

Other ideas: use in place of Bisquick in recipes

Chili pot pies

Prepare a double recipe for the cornmeal biscuit crust. You can make one large pot pie or individual ones (those pans to make jumbo-sized muffins are perfect for this).
For Crust:

• 2 ½ cups biscuit baking mix (use Bisquick or following recipe)
• ½ cup cornmeal (masa harina is best because it is finely ground)
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup margarine or butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine the above ingredients in a medium bowl, mixing well. Grease the muffin pan (or cake pan, whatever you are using), line bottom and sides with half of crust. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes, fill with Perdenales chili, add top crust, bake again another 10 minutes or until top crust is done. When cool, carefully take out of muffin pan (you can use liners if this is too difficult, or line big pan with foil if you are making one large chili pot pie).

Freeze.

To serve, microwave for a few minutes on medium or reheat in oven for ½ hour at 300 (I am guessing here) degrees.

Other suggestions: Fill with ground beef and cheese, shredded barbecued chicken, shredded bbq pork, bbq beef (beanless sloppy joes).

Empanadas

(ehm-pah-NYAH-dahs)

This is not the "authentic recipe" but it is good and not too labor intensive.

You need:

• One recipe of your favorite pastry dough
• Perdenales or other favorite chili

Make up pastry dough. Roll out dough to ½ inch thick. Using a cup or biscuit cutter, cut out small circles. Place a small teaspoon or less of chili in the middle of each one. Brush one edge with a little water. Fold edges together to seal. Bend to resemble a crescent moon and crimp edges with side of fork.

At this point you could freeze them or you could bake then freeze them. Bake for whatever your pastry recipes indicates, 400 degrees for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy. Freeze on cookie sheet. Serve as an appetizer or main dish with other Mexican/Spanish accompaniments (ie refried beans, spanish rice, etc)

Freezer Stash Meatballs

Makes 48 meatballs; 8 servings

• 3 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 ½ cups soft bread crumbs
• 3 eggs
• 6 tablespoons minced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F.
In a large bowl, mix beef, crumbs, eggs, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Shape into 11/2-inch meatballs. (A miniature ice cream scoop makes fast work of shaping.) Arrange in two 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pans. Bake in preheated oven until meat is browned, with no trace of pink and juices run clear, 10 to 13 minutes. Drain, let cool to room temperature, divide into thirds and freeze each portion in vapor-moisture proof containers.

Lean Meatballs

Work Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 to 45 minutes

• 3 slices firm white bread, diced
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 2 large egg whites
• ⅓ cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons grated onion
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 15 ½" by 10 ½" jelly-roll pan with foil; spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.
In large bowl, combine diced bread and ⅓ cup water and mix until bread is evenly moistened. Add ground beef and remaining ingredients. Mix until well combined. Shape into twenty-four 2-inch meatballs. (For easier shaping, use slightly wet hands.) Place meatballs in jelly-roll pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned.

Each meatball: About 70 calories, 9 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 3 g total fat (1 g saturated), 24 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium.

Note: To thaw meatballs for use in recipes, place frozen meatballs in refrigerator overnight. Or, unwrap frozen meatballs and place on microwave-safe plate. In microwave oven, cook on Medium (50 percent power) 2 to 4 minutes until just thawed.

Italian Meatball Sandwiches/Subs

Makes 4 servings

• 1 teaspoon oil
• ¾ cup EACH: bell pepper strips, thin onion wedges
• ⅓ Freezer Stash Meatballs, thawed in refrigerator
• 1 14-ounce jar prepared spaghetti sauce
• 4 hoagie rolls, split
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high until very hot. Add peppers and onions and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add thawed, cooked meatballs and spaghetti sauce. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 5 to 6 minutes. Divide among rolls and, if desired, sprinkle with cheese.

Nutrients each without cheese: 457 calories, 19 grams fat (37.4 percent total calories), 126 milligrams cholesterol, 1,073 milligrams sodium.

Easy Meatball Stew

Makes 4 servings

• 1 12-ounce jar brown beef gravy
• 1 8-ounce can stewed tomatoes, undrained
• ¾ cup water
• ¾ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper
• 1 16-ounce bag frozen vegetables with potatoes
• ⅓ Freezer Stash Meatballs

In a large saucepan, bring gravy, tomatoes, water, thyme and pepper to a boil and stir in vegetables. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in thawed, cooked meatballs and heat through, about 5 minutes.

School-Night Meatball Soup

• ½ cup regular long-grain rice
• 2 cans (13 ¾ to 14 ½ ounces each) chicken broth
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 3 medium celery stalks, sliced
• 5 ounces prewashed spinach (half 10-ounce bag)
• 8 frozen Lean Meatballs, thawed and sliced
• shredded or grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook rice as directed by package instructions. While rice is cooking, in large pot, heat chicken broth and 2 cups water to boiling over high heat. Add carrots and celery and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 5 to 7 minutes, until vegetables are tender. When rice is cooked and vegetables are tender, stir in spinach, rice, and sliced meatballs and heat through. Soup can be served with Parmesan cheese if you like.

Each serving without Parmesan cheese: About 300 calories, 25 g protein, 30 g carbohydrate, 7 g total fat (3 g saturated), 51 mg cholesterol, 1010 mg sodium.

Meatball Minestrone

This hearty, flavorful main dish soup is ready in about 20 minutes using freezer meatballs.

• 24 cooked meatballs
• 15 oz can navy or other white beans, drained
• 1 pkt beef bouillon
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup ditali, orzo or other pasta
• 16 oz tomatoes, cut up (undrained)
• 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• grated Parmesan cheese

In a medium saucepan, combine meatballs, beans, bouillon, onion, basil, bay leaf and water and bring to a boil.

Add pasta and cook for 15 minutes. Add tomatoes, vegetables and sugar and heat through. Serve topped with grated Parmesan cheese.

Yield: 6 servings

Sunday Baked Ziti & Meatball Casserole

• 1 package (16 ounces) ziti or penne pasta
• 4 cups spaghetti sauce
• 1 large egg
• 1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 8 Lean Meatballs, thawed and sliced
• 1 package (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (1 cup)

Prepare pasta according to package directions and drain. Return pasta to pot. While pasta is cooking, heat tomato sauce, covered in a medium saucepan, until hot over medium-low heat. (If tomato sauce is frozen, add 2 tablespoons water to saucepan to prevent scorching.) When pasta is ready, add 3 cups sauce to pasta in pot; toss well. Reserve remaining 1 cup sauce. In medium bowl, stir together egg, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spoon half the pasta mixture into a 9" by 13" glass baking dish; top with all the sliced meatballs. Evenly drop ricotta-cheese mixture by spoonfuls over meatball layer. Spoon remaining pasta mixture over ricotta-cheese layer. Evenly spoon remaining 1 cup sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, 25 minutes or until very hot and cheese browns slightly.

Chili Meatballs Supper

A Tex-Mex flavored dish that goes together fast with meatballs from the freezer.

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 16 oz can tomatoes, cut up
• 16 oz kidney beans, drained
• 8 oz can corn
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 24 cooked meatballs (frozen or thawed)
• Cheddar cheese, grated
• Corn chips

In a saucepan, combine onion, pepper, tomatoes, kidney beans, undrained corn, tomato sauce, salt, chili powder and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Add meatballs. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf. Serve in individual bowls, topped with cheese and corn chips on the side. Yield: 4 servings.

Scandinavian Meatballs

This rich and creamy dish, seasoned with dill is made in minutes by using cooked meatballs from your freezer. Serve with egg noodles.

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoon flour
• 1 pkt beef bouillon granules
• ½ t dried dill weed
• 24 cooked meatballs (frozen or thawed)

In a medium saucepan blend sour cream, water, flour, bouillon granules, and dill. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until sour cream melts and mixture is thick and bubbly. Add meatballs to sauce and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until meatballs are hot, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot egg noodles. Yield: 4 servings.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

This is not that sticky red sauce, but a sophisticated contrast of sweet and sour flavors and various textures. Serve these Oriental inspired meatballs with white rice.

• 1 cup pineapple chunks in juice
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 small green pepper, cut into ½ inch squares
• 5 oz sliced water chestnuts
• 20 cooked meatballs

Drain the pineapple chunks, reserving ¾ cup of juice (if there is not enough, add water to make ¾ cup). Combine juice, additional ½ cup water, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar and cornstarch dissolve and mixture becomes thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Add green peppers, meatballs, water chestnuts and 1 cup of pineapple chunks. Heat until meatballs are hot, stirring frequently. Serve with white rice.

Yield: 4 servings.

Beef Porcupines

This is another great recipe from The Kids Cookbook, by Patricia Barrett and Rosemary Dalton. I got this book for my eighth birthday and still have it! I LOVE it! It is probably not in print anymore, but if you see a copy, pick it up! This was the first dinner I ever cooked (with lots of help from Mom!), and I have loved cooking ever since.

• 1 pound hamburger
• ½ cup cooked rice
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoons pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 8oz can marinara sauce (or 1 cup your favorite tomato sauce)
• ⅛ cup salad oil
• 1 can beef consommé OR 1 cup hot water plus one beef bouillon cube
• 1 cup water

In a medium bowl, mix ground beef, rice, onion, salt, pepper, egg, and ½ of the marinara sauce. Form into 8 meatballs. Heat oil in a frying pan; fry meatballs until lightly browned. Add the remaining marinara sauce, the beef consommé, and the water. Cover and cook until meatballs are tender, about 40 minutes. Add more water as needed.

Serves 4

Italian Meatloaf

(crockpot)

This is a wonderful and easy recipe! This keeps well in fridge or freezer. If making a lot, you can cook in the oven at 350 for 1 hour, but I enjoy doing this one in the crockpot. I do this one off of the top of my head, so I hope I get the ingredients right!

• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 onion chopped
• ½ cup spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or sprinkle in some basil and oregano)
• salt and pepper to taste (I think I use ½ teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoons pepper)
• 2 tablespoon spaghetti sauce
• aluminum foil

Mix together first seven ingredients (everything BUT the 2 tablespoon spaghetti sauce and the aluminum foil!)

Shape into a round loaf to fit into crockpot (or put in loaf pans if baking in the oven).

Take a long length(2 feet) of aluminum foil, folding in half lengthwise, so it is long and thin. Line the crockpot with the foil, making sure the foil sticks out of the crock pot on both sides (you will use this to lift the meatloaf out).

Place meatloaf in crockpot. Top with the remaining 2 tablespoon of spaghetti sauce. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours. You can also bake this for 1 hour at 350 in the oven. (It is best slow cooked, but good any which way!)

Italian Meatloaf Sandwiches

Save leftover meatloaf (or make extra!) and slice and serve on Italian bread, top with some spaghetti sauce .

Mexican Meatloaf

This rich, flavorful meatloaf was another prize winner from the Miami Herald.

• 1 ½ lb lean ground beef
• 1 ½ lb bulk sausage
• 16 oz can Mexican-Style stewed tomatoes
• 8 oz canned green chopped chiles
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons tapioca
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried minced onions
• ½ teaspoons cumin
• ¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 ½ cups salsa
• 1 cup shredded jack or Cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients except salsa and cheese in a large bowl until combined. Divide meat mixture in half and shape into 2 loaves, placing each into a 9" x 4" loaf pan. Top each loaf with half of the salsa.

Bake at 350°F for 1 ½ hours, draining the grease if necessary. After 90 minutes, top each loaf with half of the cheese and return the loaf to the oven until cheese melts. Remove loaves from oven and place on serving dishes. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

This one might make a good sandwich too!

Bierrocks

These pastry pockets filled with beef, cabbage, onions and cheese can go straight from the freezer to the oven. They're great served with a bowl of hot tomato soup. My husband has nicknamed these "Irish Cheeseburgers." We love them!

• 2 c milk, lukewarm
• ¼ c oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 pkg yeast
• ½ c sugar
• 1 t salt
• 6 c flour
• 2 lb ground beef
• ½ head cabbage, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 18 slices American cheese
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water(optional)
• sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

In a large bowl, mix together the milk and oil. Add the eggs, yeast, sugar, salt and 5 cups of flour. Mix well, adding flour as needed for dough consistency. Knead a few minutes. Cover and let dough rise until doubled (about one hour) in a warm place. Meanwhile, cook beef, onion, and cabbage in a large skillet until beef is done and onion is translucent, adding salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.

When dough has doubled, roll out tennis ball sized pieces of dough as thin as possible. Place ½ slice cheese on each dough circle and top with some filling, then the other half slice of cheese. Fold over and seal like a turnover (moistening the edges with water may help seal them).

Place each bierrock on a baking sheet. Brushing with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional). Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until golden.
Cool and freeze. To reheat frozen, bake until hot.

Yield: about 18 Bierrocks.

Kim's note: These are delicious, even for non cabbage lovers! The secret is the American cheese; do not substitute other cheeses, they just don't make it taste the same. This dough is rich and wonderful too. It would be great to use for "hot pockets" and calzones.

Cheeseburger Turnovers

The idea here is the same as the empanadas, just bigger. Use chili or browned ground beef and American or cheddar cheese as the filling with the dough from the Bierrocks. You can make half-moon shaped turnovers or square ones, with your favorite pastry or biscuit recipe. They are almost identical to the ham and cheese hot pockets I posted in the ham plan.

Maid Rites

(crumbly hamburgers)

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• seasonings of your choice
• toppings of your choice
• hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls

Brown the beef and onions, drain off fat. Add the seasonings to taste.( You can freeze this at this point if you like, or use it as a "quick and easy" dinner)

Serve on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls with toppings of your choice (lettuce, tomato, whatever)

Simple Salisbury Steak

Adapted from a Campbell's soup recipe

• 1 can of mushroom soup
• 1 pound of ground beef
• ⅓ cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 ½ cups sliced fresh mushrooms

Mix together ¼ cup of the mushroom soup, beef, bread crumbs, egg, and onion. Shape firmly into 6 patties. (You can freeze it now and brown the mushrooms and freeze them too, or you can freeze everything after cooking.) In a skillet, cook patties, a few at a time over medium heat until browned on both sides. Spoon off fat and set patties aside. Stir in remaining soup and mushrooms, return the patties to the skillet, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until done, turning patties occassionally.

(You can freeze it cooked. To serve, thaw and put on top of cooked pasta, serve with steamed veggies and salad. MMMM)

BBQ Beef

(beanless sloppy joes)

This is a recipe from my mother-in-law. I have made it and frozen it plenty of times, it always turns out great! I make triple batches (one batch is 2 meals for us) so I always have lots on hand!

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can corned beef
• ¾ cup ketchup (try Maul's barbecue sauce, it's wonderful instead of ketchup!)
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup beef broth (I use 1 cup water and 1 bouillon cube)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar

Brown beef and onion, drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients, making sure to break up corned beef. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until thickened. Serve on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls.

Easy Goulash

Another recipe from the in-laws, very easy and versatile, we use whatever is on hand. I have added TVP to this recipe (and the barbecue beef), substituting up to half of the ground beef, but remember - tvp expands! use a half cup, it will grow to a whole cup (or a little less). I have not frozen this one before, but in the fridge it gets better by the day! By the way, the men in our family love to make this, even dh!

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 can V-8 or other tomato juice
• 1 can kidney beans (if you want)
• 1 cup pasta (if you want)
• your choice of veggies (sometime we put in leftover corn, sometimes nothing)
• a few hot peppers (optional)
• 2 tablespoon chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• other seasoning to taste-cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, etc.

Brown beef and onion and drain. Add remaining ingredients except any pasta, bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-60 minutes. Towards the end of the cooking, add the pasta and cook for about 5-10 minutes. Serve with quesadillas or bread. Leftovers are great!

Tortilla Mini-burgers

This recipe calls for grilling, but you could fry these up easily and freeze. You could also broil them.

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• ½ cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 (8-ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 24 slices
• 24 (6-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 (8-ounce) jar picante sauce
• ½ cup ketchup

Combine first 6 ingredients; shape into 24 small patties. Spray preheated grill with non-stick spray.
Grill patties uncovered over medium-high heat (350°- 400°) 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until done. Top each burger with cheese and continue cooking until cheese melts.

Heat tortillas according to package directions; keep warm. Combine picante sauce and ketchup and spread 1 tablespoon mixture on 1 side of each tortilla. Place a burger, cheese side up, near top edge. Fold bottom edge up, and fold opposite sides over to make a pocket. Makes 24 mini-burgers.