I had no earthly idea what to do with some ground beef I pulled out of the freezer this morning, almost putting it back in. My meat selections are getting low, prices have been high on meat here so if it’s not in the butchers clearance section, I don’t buy it right now. I guess I hoarded the ground beef when it was marked down to $1.99 each, I seem to have a lot of that in the freezer. I used to make a dish that the kids named “Crow’s Casserole” so I decided to do a remake on that dish and came up with this casserole. It turned out really good and is definitely a keeper.
My Nannie Hembree was the worst to spend half a day shopping for groceries. After comparing her coupons with the sale papers we would hit 3-4 grocery stores before coming home. My local Kroger is about 20 minutes away, other than that it’s a big trip to town (an hour away) just to find a Food Lion or Save-A-Lot, which is not worth the drive to me. Luckily, the clearance section usually has some good buys in it and I rumble through them like a kid in a candy store. I’ve turned into my Daddy in my elder years, penny pinching was always his thing and after cancer treatments and all the bills still coming in, it’s my way of life now too. Did y’all ever leave for vacation at nighttime? When I was a kid, Daddy would wake us up around 10:00 at night to load up in the car to go on vacation. Windows down, there was no A/C in the car and drive all night till we got there. My brother and I would go back to sleep and wake up in a motel parking lot where we had to wait to check in. Being frugal, money had been saved for over a year for those trips, Mama had breakfast fixin’s in the front seat, again…another potato chip sandwich, but it’s what we had. We never complained, it’s how we were raised, Mama and Daddy worked hard to give us what vacations we had. We always took our kids camping, they loved it as much as we do and now spoiling the Grandchildren on camping trips. We aren’t beach people, give us the mountains and a place to fish and we’re all happy.
Country Hamburger Casserole
2 C. diced potatoes
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
10 oz. pkg. steamable frozen mixed veggies, steamed
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. pepper
10.5 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the potatoes and boil for 5 minutes, drain and set aside. Brown the ground beef in a skillet, about 3/4 of the way through add the onions and cook till tender and meat is cooked through, drain well and place in a mixing bowl. Add the steamed veggies to the bowl along with the seasonings and combine. Stir in the soup and 1 1/2 C. of the cheese. Combine and pour into a 9×9 baking dish. Top the mixture with the drained potatoes and season them with a tad of garlic salt and pepper. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove and top with the remaining cheese and place back in the oven for 5 minutes to melt.