Browned Hamburger

Browned hamburger isn't hard. It isn't even really extraordinary, but it is one of those things that I can't live without in my freezer. I make mine in smallish batches. I usually start with a 5lb. log of ground beef and cut it into 6 sections. Each of my "pounders" is actually less than a pound. Why? Well, 1) I don't usually have a lot of money in my food budget so if I can squeeze an extra meal out of something, I will. b) Hamburger isn't on The Spawn's "things to eat" list, so usually it's just The Diva and I eating it. This is just enough for our meal and one or two servings of leftovers.

I also like to throw in extra "stuff" in my browned hamburger - stuff like roasted tomatoes, red peppers, onions, carrots, grated zucchini, basically anything that might have a possible nutritional or flavor value. It's different every time depending on what I have on hand. On this particular day, I had onions, red peppers and shredded carrots on hand. For future reference I will likely grind up shredded carrots.

3lbs. ground beef (I use the highest quality I can afford)
finely chopped onions, peppers, onions about 1/4 to 1/3 cup each depending on your taste

Brown everything together in a high sided pan on the stove - or in a crockpot on high. If you choose the crockpot method, you will need to stir every 30 minutes for about the first 1-1/2 hours or you'll end up with meatloaf. Leave in the crockpot an additional hour to finish cooking.

Strain meat well. Allow to cool and separate into three containers. Freezes well for quick meals such as tacos, spaghetti and last minute casseroles.