I had bought a 5 lb bag of Ground Beef last week at Maine Source and it was incorporated into last week's meals and my meal plan for this coming week grew organically from this purchase.
Of course this meant having a plethora of ground beef meals but while we are heavy on beef meals now, when I buy a large quantity of chicken or fish our menu will be heavy with those proteins instead.
This is how I used that bag o' beef....
Last Wednesday we each had a hamburger for dinner(Hubs had 2).
I had a hamburger for my lunch 3 times last week(Wed-Fri) and Hubs and I each had a burger last Saturday. I guess I was just in a burger craving mode. 8-)
8 Burgers used up half the ground beef.
Then on Sunday I took most of what was left of the beef and made a big pot of sauce, also using up some fresh mushrooms I didn't use in the Bourguignon. We had ravioli in this sauce for Sunday's Then we had the leftover ravioli on Thursday night, using more of the pasta sauce.
The rest of the sauce leftover will be the basis for a Rigatoni and Sauce dinner either this weekend or next week.
The rest of the ground beef was mixed with 1 lb. of ground turkey on Tuesday and made into Sloppy Joe meat using my homemade low-salt sauce recipe. The rest of Sloppy Joe meat will be another 2 meals(either lunches or dinners). I might keep this Sloppy Joe meat or have 1 more meal of SJ and then add more spices and turn this SJ into Taco filling for the last meal using this beef.
So that 5 lbs. of beef made all this.......
* 1 Burger Dinner for 2(3 burgers consumed)
* 4 Burger Lunches(5 burgers consumed)
* 2 Ravioli Dinners for 2(with beef sauce)
* 1 Pasta Dinner for 2(in the future with beef sauce)
* 3 Sloppy Joe Meals for 2(1 done, 2 in the future)
19 total meals consumed(or will be consumed when all is said and done).
I could have made meatballs or thrown beef into a casserole, make beef enchiladas, etc. depending on what we had a hankering for dinner. This is how I chose to use up this purchase.
So what do you do with ground beef when/if you buy that food?
Anyone have any good recipes using ground beef to share?
Sluggy
Ground beef is a mainstay of our diet. We get it from local cows, grazed less than a mile from our place. We buy it at $1.99/lb, but have to buy a minimum of 50 pounds. I generally make shepherd's pie, pasta with meat sauce, burritos and slow cooker taco soup with it. Dh loves meatloaf, but the kids won't touch it, which is funny, because it is no different than the burgers they love.
ReplyDeleteLast week The Pig had ground chuck deeply discounted. It was a lovely 80/20 blend so I bought a tad over 15 pounds of it. I go ahead and brown about 5 pounds with onion, celery and garlic. After it is drained I pack it in 1ish pound freezer bags to pull out for the quick beginnings to a hurry up dinner. (tacos, fried rice, etc.)
ReplyDeleteI make tomato meat sauce with another 3 pounds and freeze it in 1 lb bags for later.
I am a peasant at heart and I love meatloaf, so 1 pound turns into meatloaf for immediate consumption.
I pat out 2 pounds into very thin hamburger patties, (I got 9 patties out of it) stick them on a cookie sheet to freeze, then transfer them to a ziploc bag. That way I can cook as many or few as I need. Since they are on the thin side I can put them straight on the grill frozen.
Another pound becomes my mother's meat roll, which is essentially seasoned raw meat, rolled jelly roll style in a pie pastry, then baked until it is cooked through.
The other 2 pounds I froze uncooked in 1 pound portions. One of them will turn into cottage pie a little later. I bought a huge bag of potatoes on sale so I will wait until I get toward the end of the bag and will use the less than stellar remnants to make mashed potatoes for the topping. The last uncooked pound? Who knows, but it will turn into something.
With the exception of the actual patties, the beef will go far because I add a ton of chopped or shredded vegetables to everything. Even the meat sauce has ground carrots and zucchini. Shhhh, don't tell anyone. It's my dirty secret.
I hide veggies in my meatloaf, meatballs and meat sauce too. I won't tell if you don't tell. lolz
DeleteI only had a 3# chub, but made the tator Tot hotdish, with two meals, serving 5 people one night, and three another, plus a smallish meatloaf, which hubs and daughter devoured. Usually when I fry up , I'll do the full 4# and usually do pasta sauce, sloppy joes, and then get two more ready for quick meals like anne mentioned. You both have me looking for good deals on beef and copying some of your ideas.I am going to start grating vegetables in it as well, beyond onions-great idea.
DeleteI love it when I find ground beef on sale. The Pig often has great prices here.
DeleteI buy the 10 lb tube of hamburger from Sams and cut it into 10 chunks, freezing them all. Then thaw them out 1-2 lbs at a time for use throughout the month... or week... depending on if we're on a BIG BEEF week around here.
ReplyDeleteI buy up beef mince when its on special and make meals for the freezer. Our mainstays are rissoles - frozen uncooked and cooked in tomato sauce; spaghetti bolognese; beef chow mien and shepherds pie. I freeze everything in one portion sizes, that way we can just heat up a meal without having to all eat the same thing, or we can grab a frozen meal for work if needed. I haven't made meatloaf for ages but after reading this I might have to look out my meatloaf recipes again.
ReplyDeleteBeef is ultra expensive in Canada (more than skinless boneless chicken breast and at par almost with shrimp) so when it goes on sale I buy mass quantity and freeze in little packs. My favorite ground beef recipe? combined with ground pork (cheaper) is definitely meatloaf.
ReplyDeleteI'm overweight and on a lean diet. So only chicken and turkey for me. Doctors order, I'm doing my best to follow. These are great ideas I may try and leverage the plan but substitute a healthier alternative. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI always buy my ground beef in 5+ pound packs. If I'm ambitious I will brown with diced dried onions let cool and freeze in 1# packs, yes I weigh after cooking. Those are fast supper nights - thawed and reheated with jarred sauce, or taco seasoning and enchilada sauce or in cheeseburger pie ala bisquick.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise I freeze it uncooked in 1.5# packs. Trying to not serve it more than once a week just for variety sake
Great way to use up that 5 pounds of meat. We would use that in hamburgers, tacos, and meatloaf. They say beef prices are coming down, which sounds great to me. :)
ReplyDeleteMy ground meat use depends on fat content. I like very lean for anything that has bread in it.if fat is higher I like to brown it up and drain well. I only buy what is marked down.
ReplyDeleteI don't buy ground beef but I like the taste of ground bison.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother used to make Hamburger Soup - ever hear of that one?