Projects and Hamburger Casserole



Pictured above is my Hamburger Casserole all ready to be sprinkled with cheese and go into the oven.  If you recall, this was the main dish that I served at my youngest daughter's birthday party here at our house over Labor Day weekend, and they feed a crowd.  I fixed three and I could have gotten away with only fixing two as we had one whole casserole left over (at least it gave Dan and I something to eat the following week - actually, I froze 1/2 of the casserole!)  So, why you might ask, am I showing these pictures again?  Well, one of my friends asked that I share the recipe, so at the end of this post I will add the recipe for those of you that might want to try it.

Now, for the project that I accomplished this week.  This is a picture of all the food out of the freezer in the house.  I really should have taken a picture of the freezer BEFORE I took all the food out, but I was a little slow on the uptake.  Sorry.

Anyway, I was sick and tired of never being able to find what I wanted in the freezer - knowing that I had bought something at the store, but not being able to find it when I wanted to cook it. Do any of you ever find yourselves in that position? Probably not, but I was determined that it was going to change.

So, I measured the shelves in the freezer and then went to the Dollar Store.  I searched until I found just the right size plastic bins that would fit on each shelf of the freezer.  I came home - unloaded the freezer, wrapped all the meat in packages for just Dan and I and proceeded to get the freezer organized.

Here is what I ended up with----------

Each bin has a different type of meat - chicken, beef, pork.  the bottom basket are large items (right now, two whole chickens that I will cook in the crock pot and a ham steak).  In the door of the freezer I have hot dogs (chicken franks) smoked sausage, and fried rice.

(Oh, yes, the top shelf has Dan's ice cream - Blue Bell Butter Pecan, and Homemade Vanilla)

I took the remaining three bins and organized the freezer in the garage.

Top shelf has all the frozen fruit (blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries) that I have put up when I found fruit on sale this summer - I would try and buy a couple of extra pints and put them in the freezer while we ate one.  Then I have breakfast foods - homemade breakfast burritos, sausage biscuits, and pancakes (these I can just throw in the microwave on mornings when I don't feel like cooking).  The third bin are some streaks that my daughter bought from one of those door-to-door sales people - these are some she had left over and she gave to us.  Actually, the flavor of the meat has not been bad, I just don't recommend this as a way to buy meat (although, I did this one time when the girls were little - it lasted us almost an entire year which really helped with the food budget - so, if you think it is good meat and you have to money upfront, it might work for you).  Before you ask, yes, those are 1/2 gallon milk jugs with water in them - they are for the cooler when we go out in the boat.  The next bin is full of frozen vegetables, and the bottom bin has bread.

Now I can walk up to any freezer in our house (now, I only have two side by side refrigerators and the only freezers I have are the ones that come with the refrigerators) and see what I have.  So far it has been great.  Dan can even find stuff.  I can tell him exactly where to look and he doesn't have to move everything around to find that package of hamburger meat or the bag of cooked shredded chicken.  I know that not everyone is as OCD as I am, but it sure does make one more area of my life easier.

Now, for that recipe:

Hamburger Casserole




1 ½ lbs ground beef 1 can Cream Mushroom Soup

1 med. Onion chopped 1 cup cheddar cheese - grated

½ med. Gr. Pepper chopped

1 #2 can Whole Tomatoes

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

3 tbsp. Catsup

1 8 oz. pkg. macaroni



Cook macaroni in boiling salted water. Brown ground beef, onion, and pepper. Add cooked macaroni, tomatoes, tomato paste, catsup, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.



Pour into a 13X9 baking dish. Add can of Cream of Mushroom Soup, mixing throughout. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Hope you enjoy!