One suggestion: Get a big package of good ground chuck, and turn it into several meals:
Make up a meatloaf, and freeze it in the pan. When ready to eat, thaw, and put in the oven with baking potatoes. All you'll have to do is heat up a can of peas or corn to go with.
Make some into porkupines (meatballs with rice), freeze on cookie sheet, then put in ziplock bag.
Make some into patties for burgers or chopped steaks. For chopped steaks, season with mustard, Worchestershire sauce or Heinz 57. Wrap with bacon if you wish. Freeze same way as meatballs. Cook them the same way you would a steak.
Here's my recipe for Porkupines. It came from a B&H cookbook that is long out of print:
1 egg, beaten
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/4 cup long-grain white rice, OR
1/3 cup quick cooking rice for microwave version
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
Combine egg, 1/4 cup of the soup, uncooked rice, onion powder and pepper. Add beef and mix well. Shape into 20 meatballs. Place in a large skillet. Mix the remaining soup with the Worchestershire sauce, oregano, and 1/2 cup water; pour over meatballs. Bring to boiling and reduce heat. Cover and simmer, stirring often, about 20 minutes, or until no pink remain in meat and rice is tender. Skim fat. Pass Parmesan cheese,if desired.
MICROWAVE INSTRUCTIONS *Recommended
Combine egg, 1/4 cup of the soup, 1/2 cup uncooked quick-cooking rice, the onion powder and pepper. Add beef. Mix well. Shape into 20 meatballs.In an 8x8x2 baking dish, micro-cook meatballs, covered, on high for 6 minutes, re-arranging once. Drain well. Mix the remaining soup with the Worchestershire sauce, oregano and 1/2 cup water. Pour over meatballs. Cook, covered, on high, stirring twice, for 3-5 minutes more, or until no pink remains in the meatnballs and rice is tender.
yield: 4 servings
*I wouldn't worry about that little bit of onion powder. I don't think it will give you nursing mothers a problem. My daughter actually ate pizza, and it didn't bother little Jesse. Maybe she was just lucky.
*My mother sometimes made the porkupines with cream of mushrooms soup instead of tomato. They were very good that way.