Chris Keith - More Than Meatloaf: 56 Recipes to Make the Most of Your Ground Meat

More Than Meatloaf 56 recipes to make the most of your ground meat 2012 Christine Keith. All rights reserved. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION The idea for this book came when a reader of my Facebook page asked what they could do with some ground venison they had been given, besides making it into meatloaf. I was shocked. Ground meat is such an incredibly versatile ingredient that it never occurred to me that someone might not know what to do with it besides meatloaf. While there are meatloaf recipes in this ebook, you will see that there are many, many more ways to use ground meat than in a simple meatloaf.

Ground meat can be a very economical way to bring meat to your family. It can be spread around in a dish so a little can go a long way. Many of my ground meat recipes reflect that, only using a quarter or half pound of meat in a dish for a whole family! In the case of more meat intensive dishes such as meatballs, meatloaf, or burgers, inexpensive additives can be put in to further stretch your meat dollar. Much like my first book, How to Stretch a Chicken: 42 recipes to make the most of a whole chicken, leftover turkey, or even pesky squirrels , the exact nature of the meat you use for these recipes can vary depending on personal preference, price, or other factors determining availability. You could use ground beef of various qualities, venison, pork, turkey, or even veggie crumbles or TVP (textured vegetable protein) could be used to make these recipes suitable for vegetarians. Regardless of what kind of meat you use, these recipes should add some flavor and variety to your menu while further stretching your food dollar.

CHAPTER 1: APPETIZERS AND SNACKS Im sure youve heard someone say, or even thought yourself, that you can make a meal out of appetizers. That is certainly true with the items mentioned here. While some recipes, like the stuffed mushrooms, I make exclusively for situations that call for appetizers, others, like nachos or meatballs, I am more likely to use as part of a meal. The fact that they can be used as an appetizer is what lands them in this chapter. Stuffed mushrooms 1 1/2 to 2 pounds fresh mushrooms, stems removed, chopped, and reserved
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 pound ground meat, browned
2/3 cup dry Italian bread crumbs
1/3 cup soft bread crumbs
2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place mushroom caps upside down in a 9x13 baking pan.

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add chopped mushroom stems, bell pepper, and garlic powder. Saute for about 5 minutes; remove from heat. In a large bowl, mix ground venison, bread crumbs, cheese, and mushroom stem mixture. Spoon mixture onto mushroom caps. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Meatmuffins A meatmuffin is a mini-meatloaf made in muffin cups rather than a full sized loaf pan. My kids don't like meatloaf, but my husband and I do, so this is a great way to keep everyone happy. Other advantages to meatmuffins: they things take a lot less time to cook, so they are great if you need to get dinner on the table more quickly or don't want the oven on very long to keep it from heating up the house, and they are great for portion control if you are on a diet, or just are trying to limit your meat consumption.
1 1/2 lbs ground meat
2/3 cup dry oats
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 eggs
2/3 cup condensed tomato soup
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If using a lower fat meat such as venison, grease the bottom of 24 muffin cups. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Yuck!). Yuck!).

Fill muffin cups approximately 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until lightly brown on the outside and no longer pink in the middle. Top with ketchup if desired.
Unused meatmuffins may be frozen in a freezer safe container or bag. To reheat, thaw completely, then bake at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes until heated through. Nachos Tortilla chips
cheese: Monterey jack, cheddar, Colby, or some combination
browned ground meat (seasoned or unseasoned) peppers (green, jalapeno or other) onions or green onions olives tomatoes
condiments: salsa, sour cream (or plain yogurt), guacamole, taco sauce
Preheat oven to 350. Spread the tortilla chips on the bottom of a baking pan (9x13 is a good size for a family).

Dollop refried beans on top of the chips. Spread cheese over beans. Distribute other toppings over the cheese as desired. Bake for 10 minutes and serve with condiments of choice. Basic meatballs I make giant batches of meatballs at once, freeze them, and just pull out as many meatballs as I need for a meal. I find that about 4 meatballs makes an adult happy in a meal, when properly sauced, and children will usually be happy with less.

A pound of ground meat goes really far this way! 6 lbs ground meat 2 2/3 cups dry outs or cooked brown rice 2 cups onion, diced 1 tbsp salt 2 tsp garlic powder 8 eggs 2 2/3 cups ketchup or tomato sauce Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, using hands if necessary to thoroughly mix. Form into small balls using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon. Place the meatballs on a greased baking sheet (if you wish to save a lot of cleaning time, you can also line the baking sheet with aluminum foil, but that obviously would be a lot less frugal). Bake for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned and no longer pink in the middle. At this point, you can either use some right away, or cool them for freezing.

Freeze directly on cookie sheets then transfer to a large freezer container or freezer bags once frozen, so that you can pull out just what you need. Cranberry meatballs 1 16oz can jellied cranberry sauce 1/2 cup barbeque sauce 1 tbsp brown sugar 2 tsp Dijon mustard Basic meatballs Stir together cranberry sauce, barbeque sauce, sugar, and mustard in a large saucepan over medium heat until cranberry sauce melts. Add meatballs. Reduce heat and cover; cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until meatballs are heated through, about 20 minutes. Serve with decorative picks if desired. Teriyaki meatballs 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 tsp vinegar 2 tsp vegetable oil 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1/8 tsp garlic powder Basic meatballs Stir together soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, oil, ginger, and garlic in a saucepan or slow cooker.

Add meatballs. Heat and serve Swedish meatballs 1 cup ketchup 5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1/3 cup water 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 tbsp sugar Basic meatballs Stir together ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, water, vinegar, and sugar in a large sauce pan or slow cooker. Add meatballs. Heat and serve. CHAPTER 2: SKILLETS, STOVETOPS, & STEWS Sure, some might separate this out into different chapters, but to me, they are more similar than different, so I decided to put them all in one. All three of these categories (and stews here really means chili, but I like alliteration), keep the dirty dishes to more of a minimum with their simplicity and they all keep energy costs down by using a burner on the stove rather than heating up the oven.

Easy pasta skillet 1/2 lb ground meat 1/2 cup onions 3 cups tomato sauce 2 cups water 1/4 tsp garlic powder (or to taste) 1/4 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp basil 1 box penne or rotini pasta 8 oz cream cheese (the kind in the tubs works best) Brown meat with the onions in a large deep skilletStir in sauce, water, and seasonings and bring to a boil. Stir in pasta. Cover and simmer on medium low heat for 15-18 minutes, or until pasta are al dente, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream cheese; remove from heat. Let stand covered for 3 minutes. Harvest spaghetti sauce