I Have 2 Pounds of Ground Beef and Need to Feed a Family of 8

When I wrote about my bulk taco seasoning recipe, I mentioned we merely use two pounds of footing beef for our family of nine, and that I but started using the second pound virtually 2 children ago.  Several of you were shocked and wanted to know how this was possible, and then I thought I'd write a little scrap more about how we manage this.

First of all, THIS is what 2 pounds of basis beef/hamburger looks similar (plus some onions from our garden…more on that in a moment):

The skillet is a xv″ cast iron skillet from Lodge.  As the meat cooks, we season it and often throw in onions and/or peppers to add flavor.  From here, the possibilities are endless!

Allow's say you are doing something with a Mexican flair…
Add tomatoes, beans, rice, and some type of sauce (tomato sauce is the nigh often used one here).

Italian?
More garden veggies, noodles, and sauce.

Sandwich meat?
Oatmeal, veggies, beans, lentils, and yep…sauce!

And don't forget CHEESE!  We use a lot of cheese, sour cream, and veggies to add together to our meat to create a heartier meal.

Yous can hands double the amount of pasta or rice y'all put into a dish and still continue the footing beef amounts the same.  Casseroles and stove-elevation meals (like the Unstuffed Cabbage Roll recipe below) are the easiest to stretch.  We rarely do something like meatloaf or a meat by itself (unless we are cooking upward steaks, pork chops, or bootleg brats).  Meatloaf can be bulked up with oats or rice, but not many in my family are fans of meatloaf, so I don't even carp.

Nosotros oftentimes make quesadillas for a quick luncheon (<—take a wait at that post – information technology's from when I was pregnant with Baby #7 and there's a sonogram movie!)  Nosotros will start with the 2 pounds of hamburger meat, but when that runs out, we finish off with cheese-merely quesadillas.  And once again, nosotros encourage the kids to add sour cream, lettuce, and salsa to majority upward calories.

Another affair we do is set out bowls of "sides" that add an element of fun to the meal.  It is non uncommon for there to be pickles, blackness olives, or a bowl of cutting up cucumbers on the table to serve as finger foods to supplement the meal.  Sometimes I serve a traditional side (mainly for the evening meal when Daddy is habitation), but usually for dejeuner, the principal dish is supplemented only by the extra finger foods.

And in case you are wondering, yes, I exercise serve snacks.  Around three o'clock is snack time and it helps to carry everyone through to suppertime.

Now permit me requite y'all a real life example from a meal we had a couple of nights agone…

I set up out to make the Trim Healthy Mama Stuffed Cabbage Rolls from the book, just realized also late they were supposed to be in the crock pot for 7-9 hours!  (Please tell me I'1000 not the only one who does stuff like this!)  So, I went with an unstuffed version from a recipe online.  Of course, there's no way an online recipe is going to contain the correct amounts for our family (unless of course, it'southward from my own stash of Large Family unit Recipes), so I set out to tweak it.

The kickoff thing I noticed was that information technology had one.5 – 2 pounds of meat listed to serve v-6 people; withal, the cabbage was supposed to be a pocket-size head with the improver of just i modest tin can of tomato plant sauce.  That's where I grabbed my bulk.  The cabbage I used was large, and I used 2 cans of sauce, only could have used more if I wanted a soupier mixture (which works really well when putting it over something like rice or noodles!).  I could have added other veggies likewise like zucchini, yellowish squash, eggplant or peppers.

Because this was going to exist a THM-friendly dish, I had my son cook a large pot of rice equally a side for the children.  If y'all aren't watching your carb intake, then cook the rice and add information technology right into the dish itself.  You could even plow this into a soup by adding more tomato sauce and some water or broth.

And that was our meal.  Everyone tanked up and there was only a tiny scrap of leftovers that Baby Creed will swallow for lunch tomorrow.

Hither'south my large family (with only two# of basis beef) version of Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls:

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

two pounds basis beef
1 big onion, diced
two cans diced tomatoes (or fresh)
2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
1 cabbage, coarsely chopped
seasonings to gustation

In a big skillet, brown footing beef with onion and season to gustation with salt, pepper, garlic, or other favorite seasonings.  Add in the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce and mix.  Adjacent, add together the chopped cabbage and rest a hat on top of the pile of cabbage to encourage it to steam and melt down.  (I promise, it WILL melt down and fit in your xv″ skillet.  If you don't have a big skillet, transfer the meat to a big pot before adding the cabbage.)  Once the cabbage cooks down a fleck, stir to mix the meat and sauce in with the cabbage.  Go along to melt down until cabbage is tender.

Now, it's your plough!  How do you stretch your meat?  What sorts of things practise you add together for bulk and calories?  And don't forget to mention how many y'all are feeding!

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Source: https://raisingarrows.net/feed-family-9-2-pounds-hamburger/