Ground beef, green pepper, onion

[mama4gals]

Ground beef, green pepper, onion--it's frying in the pan. Does anybody have any ideas of what I can make with this that's new? Spaghetti sauce is the only thing that comes to mind, and that's getting old. I've got your basic staples on hand, nothing fancy, and I refuse to go to the store. Payday isn't until Feb 1 : and I have about $40 left. We are a family of 6, all big eaters except me and the 4 yo. I'm determined to make do with the stuff I have in freezer and pantry except when I need milk and eggs and fruit. So, any ideas ladies? That gr beef and gr peppers and onions sure smells good cooking, but I gotta do something with it!

Liz

[dharmamama]

Cube up some potatoes and make it like a hash?

Namaste!

[RiverSky]

Tacos?

As is on the side of a plate with some rice and another veggie?

Make a taco salad with it?

Add it to a lasagna? (I know you're sick of pasta but perhaps that would be less pasta-ish?

Could you make a meat loaf with it? (I don't know how to make meatloaf, just an idea...)

[Ruthla]

Meatloaf is generally made with raw meat, mixed up with spices, then cooked as a "loaf" (hence the name. )

You could make Sloppy Joes (mix in tomato sauce and serve on sandwiches)
or Shepard's pie (make a "crust" of potatoes, then the meat mixture, then more potatoes. If you have instant mashed icky potatoes you can use that, or if you have fresh potatoes you can slice them and bake, or make them into mashed potatoes and then assemble it.

[mhenry]

Add some rice, black-eyed peas, and cajun seasoning. It's yummy!

[heathenmom]

* Chili (add tomatoes & beans plus seasonings)
* Taco Pie (Add taco-type seasonings to meat. Mix up cornbread, put in an ovenproof skillet and bake til nearly done. Dump seasoned meat on top of cornbread, add beans if you like, and sprinkle cheese on top. Put it back in the oven and bake until the cornbread is done & cheese is melted. Top with salsa/sour cream if you like.)
* Build Your Own Nachos
* Pizza
* Goulash (a cheap meal from my childhood!) Add some vegetable soup, macaroni noodles and a soup-can of water. Simmer until noodles are done.
* Shepherd Pie (Once the meat is browned, sprinkle a couple tablespoons of flour over it and blend until it disappears. Add a little water to make a gravy. Put the meat in the bottom of a baking dish, then top with vegetables of your choice [we use a frozen blend of carrots/peas/green beans], mashed potatoes, and cheese. Bake until cheese is bubbly.)

That's all I got off the top of my head.

[justmama]

add some garlic and put on top of rice. That would feed the carnivores in my family quite richly!


Meg

[mrsfatty]

Put it on bread with some swiss cheese and have a poor man's "pepper steak sandwich"...

[mrsfatty]

...or fajitas...

...or quesedillas...

...do just the beef and onions with cream of mushroom soup mix--and make pasta--so you have almost a "stroganoff"

[mrsfatty]

sorry...I keep coming up with ideas...

...burgers?

...shepherd's pie?

[jentilla]

add a can of cream of mushroom, little milk, maybe even a bit of sour cream, frozen peas, cheese and mix with rice or pasta for a yummy casserole.

I'm making this tonight with leftover veggies and a small chicken breast.

[KoalaMama]

Curried beef - add some water to the cooked meat and thicken with a flour/water mixture (bowl of water, flour on top, whisk together, add until thick enough - no lumps!). Season with curry and a healthy amount of mustard. Serve with rice or potatoes.

Hamburger meat gravy - as above, but use beef boulion instead of curry/mustard.

Goulash - already mentioned, but here's how we did it as a kid - boil the macaroni noodles seperately, add meat mixture and ketchup to pasta. Can't get much more cheap and simple than that! Though I admit it's much nicer with a 'better' tomato product.

Do nothing to it! Serve as is with a side of potato.

Man, is ground beef the most versatile food or what?

[lisalou]

I'd probably add enough rice so it looks like there's a little more rice than meat, chicken broth and pine nuts if I had them some allspice and cinammon and simmer until rice was cooked. It's a modified middle eastern dish or the univeral middle eastern stuffing called hushway. But I'm feeling fairly lazy today.

[CrazyCatLady]

The kid in me is screaming sloppy joes! Just thinking about them makes me want to have them for dinner tonight. A shepards pie is good too. Meat on the bottom, then a layer of corn, then mashed potatoes, cheese on top and bake. All the other stuff suggested sounds good too.

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

Add a can of beans, some tomatoes and spices and make chilli.

[Throkmorton]

Add rice, stuff green peppers with the mix and serve it all fancy like, with a salad on the side. Makes a good lunch to bring to work and nuke.
Or add potatoes and serve it as hash. (I know someone suggested this, but it's good)
Make a gravy and serve it over rice.
Whip up a quick alfredo-style sauce and serve it over pasta.

[TiredX2]

Man this thread is making me hungry.

And I just had dinner.

[heathenmom]

Anybody else dying to know what the op finally did with her ground beef? (I seriously need a life. )

[Brinda]

I add a can of diced tomatoes and some cooked macaroni for goulash.

[Snowdrift]

Add mustard and eat on buns like Sloppy Joes. We called this Sloppy Dovid in my house growing up, since it was my brother Dovid's favorite dish.