Rice & Ground Meat

This is my mother-in-law's recipe for what she calls rice & ground meat. It's always served with mashed potatoes. Basically, it is the stuffing that is typically put into stuffed peppers...minus the peppers! It is actually quite tasty.

Rice & Ground Meat:
courtesy of my mother-in-law

1 lb ground beef
2 cans tomato with rice soup - condensed
1/3 cup Minute rice

Brown ground beef in skillet. Drain off fat and then add both cans of soup and the rice. Simmer for about a half hour to allow flavors to meld. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Mini Meat Loaves

My son loves meat loaf and I like to make the mini loaves to make it easier to portion it out for him. This recipe was in the September issue of Woman's Day and looked fairly easy. I altered it slightly to add more veggies into the mix. My son really enjoyed it and my husband snagged some too.

Mini Meat Loaves:
adapted from Woman's Day - September 2010

1/3 cup ketchup + 2 tsp.
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup seasoned dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup sliced scallions
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup shredded zucchini

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Whisk 1/3 cup ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, egg and salt in a large bowl to blend. Add ground beef, bread crumbs, scallions, carrots and zucchini. Mix well using hands. Form mixture into four 2" loaves on lined baking sheet. Spread the 2 tsp. ketchup over top of each loaf. Bake 25 minutes or until cooked through and a meat thermometer inserted in centers registers 160 degrees.

Crockpot Chili

Crock Pot Chili:
Adapted from Recipezaar

1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. onion powder
2 cans cannelini beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
28 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cans condensed tomato soup
1 tsp. taco seasoning
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder

1. Brown ground beef with onion powder.
2. Mix everything together and put in crockpot.
3. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.

This recipe makes a very sweet chili. Not overly spicy hot at all. I'm not a fan of hot foods, so this fit the bill perfectly. I was practically licking the bowl! This would be amazing on hot dogs as well.