Chinese Hamburger

Budget Saver: Usually when hamburger is on sale, I buy several pounds—many pounds, actually. Some of it I freeze in ¾ pound portions (you remember that I often reduce the meat in recipes), and the rest I brown with onions but no spices and freeze in zip lock freezer bags to have on hand on a busy day. Most everything that I use hamburger for includes onions; however, other spices may vary so this leaves me the most flexibility using the meat.


Timersaver Tip: I just take the bag out of the freezer, microwave it for 1 minute and voila, I am ready to put together any number of recipes including spaghetti sauce, enchilada casserole, slumgulion, and the following, Chinese Hamburger.

This is quite an ordinary dish, but it really does go further than you would think. However, one of my daughter’s friends has had this at our house and REALLY likes it! My kids all laugh because to them it is just an old standby.

The variation is also very good; I have gone through phases of preferring one or the other, but this is one recipe that I never skimp on the celery. Budget Saver: If you buy the celery at a club store, it is often SO much cheaper. Since celery keeps a little while if the stalks aren’t disturbed, you can plan to make several dishes that include celery within 7-10 days OR you can share the stalks with your friends, share the price, and make the celery very reasonably priced.

Chinese Hamburger
Grandma

1 lb. ground beef
1 cup celery, sliced on the diagonal
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 onions, chopped
1 cup water
½ cup uncooked rice
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup crisp Chinese noodles

Brown meat in skillet with onion, add and mix all ingredients except noodles. Bake covered tightly at 350º F. for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 30 minutes more. Sprinkle top with noodles, return to oven and bake uncovered 15 minutes longer.


What I Do: I often useuse 1/2 - 3/4 pound meat, but I never use less celery in this recipe—it is important for the consistency and taste. I double everything but the meat and triple the rice and water. If I only have cream of mushroom soup then I use two cans of that and I often omit the mushrooms because of some of the kids’ dislikes. BUT this makes a lot more than it sounds like! I don’t think I have ever used the Chinese noodles, however, I have used ½ -1 cup bean sprouts in the mixture and we liked it, it was healthy, and it stretched the meal a little further. Also, I usually cook it the whole time with the foil on.

Variation
from Karen

1 pound ground beef
½ bunch celery, chopped
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
Bean sprouts (optional)
Lipton’s Noodle Soup
2/3 cup uncooked rice
1 chicken bouillon cube

Brown meat and pour off excess grease. Sauté celery, onion and pepper in another pan. Bean sprouts can also be added, if desired.

Bring to boil:

3 cups water

Add:

1 package Lipton’s Noodle Soup
2/3 cup rice
1 chicken bouillon cube

Combine all ingredients in 2 quart casserole dish and bake covered for 1 hour at 350˚.