Hamburger Stroganoff

This dish can be made with or without sour cream. Sometimes I add it, but lately I have been avoiding it, so I wonder if it should really be called hamburger stroganoff? Maybe it’s more like hamburger with gravy? None the less, my son loves this, and it is easy to make. Double bonus is I usually have all of the ingredients at home, so if I need something quick, it is a go-to dish. Sometimes I get a little wild with the dish and add some corn, peas or beans for an all in one meal.

The Players

1 pound hamburger meat

1 medium onion

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 bouillon cube

1 cup water

1-2 tablespoons flour or corn starch

1/2 cup water

16 ounces noodles (egg noodles or other)

The Fun

1. Boil water for noodles and cook noodles.

2. While water is heating and noodles cooking, brown hamburger meat and onion. Add bouillon cube, salt (optional) and 1 cup of water. Heat to boiling. While waiting for it to boil, mix 1-2 tablespoons of flour with 1/2 cup cold water. By mixing the flour separately and thoroughly, it will prevent lumps in your gravy.

3. Push meat to the side in the pan and whisk in the additional water mixture. Smile because you just made a gravy!

4. Push meat back in to the gravy and heat. If it looks too thick, add a little additional water. If it is too thin, allow it to cook a little longer.

5.  Spoon noodles on to a plate or in to a bowl (the bowl is easier for kids) and then spoon the meat mixture over it.

Tator Tot Hotdish

Like most people, I have a stash of “quick and easy” recipes that require minimal effort in order to feed my family something minimally processed. Here is a quick and easy hot dish recipe.

Tator Tot Hotdish

The Players

1 pound hamburger
1 md onion — diced
2 cups corn (I prefer frozen)
1 bullion cube
1 cup water

1 tablespoon flour dissolved in 1/4 cup water

1 package tator tots (I used about 16 ounces of crowns instead)

The Easy Part

1. Brown the hamburger and onion together.
2. Add the corn, water and bullion cube. Once the mixture is hot, add flour/water mixture and heat to boiling.
3. Once boiling, pour hamburger mixture in to a cake pan or casserole dish.
4. Add tator tots.
5. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until tator tots are brown.