Thursday, April 14, 2011

Hamburger Stew

I have a very busy week going on here and am sorry about falling behind. I'm not sure I will catch up or just let this week be a mess. My son starts high school in the fall and we are busy getting all the things in place for his transition.
The other night I made a pot of hamburger stew. I had intended to throw it in the crockpot for the next day but for some reason the dutch oven was calling to me. I love cooking in the dutch oven. This turned out to be a rather quick meal - one we could have eaten that night, if it wasn't bedtime. I cut it in half (sort of) and omitted the rice because my husband wanted noodles in the stew. We ended up serving the stew with macaroni but not together. I don't remember where I found this recipe but it's designed to be frozen for future meals.

Hamburger Stew
2 pounds ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) stewed tomatoes
8 medium carrots, thinly sliced
4 celery ribs, thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups water
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 to 2 tablespoons salt
1 to 2 teaspoons pepper
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENT (for each batch of stew):
1 cup water
In a Dutch oven, cook beef and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomatoes, carrots, celery, potatoes, water, rice, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables and rice are tender. Uncover; simmer 20-30 minutes longer or until thickened. Freeze in
3-cup portions for up to 3 months. To use frozen stew: Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Transfer
to a saucepan; add water. Cook until hot and bubbly.

I used:
1 pd hamburger
2 small spanish onions
3-4 carrots (they were broken so I can't be certain exactly how much)
3 stalks celery
4 red potatoes (these were good sized potatoes)
1 quart canned tomatoes
Worchestershire sauce (to taste)
Bay Seasoning (to taste)
I made sure there was enough water to cover everything and then served it with buttered macaroni noodles and shredded cheese.

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