ground beef thawing on my counter

[jfoofj]

Ok.... I am BORED with all my usual recipes. I took a package of ground beef out of the freezer and was planning on making meatloaf. I have a few different ways I usualy prepare that (onion soup mix or the tomato soup way) but I am just. not. feeling. it. today.

Any ideas/suggestions? I have a pretty well stocked kitchen when it comes to ingredients, I just need some inspiration!


ETA the package is 1.3lbs

 

[Tinkerbell58]

You shouldn't thaw meat on the counter.

 

[disneysteve]

My suggestion is to get the meat off the counter and put it in the fridge. You should never thaw meat on the counter. That's how bacteria and nasty stuff grows. Always thaw in the fridge or in the microwave.

 

[DisneyDebbie]

I alway run out of ideas w/ ground beef too. My next try is going to be like a goulosh(sp?). brown the meat, mix w/elbow macaroni, stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, gr. peppers, and sauce, bake in the oven w/ shredded mozzerella on top

HTH!

 

[brewcrew]

What about sloppy joes? You need tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper.

 

[zoemurr]

BBQ sauce over the top before you bake it.

and I agree with the others.. thaw in the fridge or micro.

 

[hffmnheidi]

Try Italian Meatloaf...make the meatloaf and add cheese in the middle and put tomato sauce over the top and bake. And a Romaine lettuce salad and enjoy!

BTW-my mom has thawed frozen meat on the counter for years and none of us has ever gotten sick from it. Of course, the meat is still cold when she's using it, so that might have something to do with it.

 

[MnMomtoboys]

I alway run out of ideas w/ ground beef too. My next try is going to be like a goulosh(sp?). brown the meat, mix w/elbow macaroni, stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, gr. peppers, and sauce, bake in the oven w/ shredded mozzerella on top

HTH!

I'm coming to your house to eat!! That is comfort food!!!

 

[bdoyledimou]

Brown the ground beef with onions/garlic/sliced or canned mushrooms
drain grease
add 2 cans of conensed cream of mushroom soup and 1-2 tablespoons of mustard.

server over rice or egg noodles with a dallop of sour cream!

(this is my kids favorite food!!!)

 

[SandrA9810]

what about a shepard's pie?
ground beef, mash potatoes, corn, and cheese on top. I had it once and loved it. Although meatloaf with cheese in the middle sounds yummy.

 

[redlawyer]

Last night, same issue at our house. My solution was nachos. Cook the ground beef with taco seasoning. Then get a large platter, cover with tortilla chips, the beef and shredded cheese. Put in oven at 350 until cheese melts. Then top with cilantro, salsa, sour cream and shredded iceberg lettuce. Dh and I relived some college days and dds were thrilled to eat chips with dinner.

 

[smidgen21]

chili mac casserole (google it...tons of recipes)

 

[hffmnheidi]

Cheeseburger Mac. This recipe came from the Kraft Food and Fun Magazine. It's an easy quick recipe.

Fry the hamburger with onion salt/powder(whichever you have), add velvetta until melted, and add ketchup and cooked(drained) elbow noodles. It's like a cheeseburger with all the melty cheesey goodness.

 

[jessica52877]

Watching for more ideas.

Maybe we'll have nachos for dinner though. DS7 would love that. We often have tacos or just nachos with cheese, so I am sure he would love the meat on the chips.

 

[Mandychelle79]

Fry the ground beef with onion and garlic. Add can of mushrooms, 2 cans cream of mushroom, and 4-6 oz of sour cream ( I do it by looks so not sure how much exactly). Serve over noodles.

 

[mrodgers]

Question? How do you thaw meats in the fridge? I put meat in the fridge and 3 days later it is still frozen.

My wife thaws in the microwave sometimes. I hate it. It is half cooked and there's nothing I can do with it (I'm the master griller of the family.)

I'm 37 years old and I'm not dead yet from thawing meat on the counter. You thaw it on the counter, not set it there until it's room temperature.

Meatloaf, hamburgers, etc won't work with frozen meat or with microwave thawed meat (it ends up half cooked), but if we are making something that is just browning up ground meat in a skillet, then we just toss the hunk of frozen ground meat right in the pan and cook it that way.

I don't have recipes, this should be easy to figure out....

Beef Pinwheels

• Bisquick, mix up some bisquick stuff similar to if you were making bisquits or something.

• Brown up the ground meat (go ahead, be adventuresome and thaw on the counter or just cook it while still frozen...)

• Roll out the bisquick stuff. Spread the meat around on the rolled out bisquick stuff. Roll it up and slice it half inch or 3/4 inch thick. Lay them on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven (again, no recipe, I'm just giving the generals here.)

• Make some beef gravy. Take the beef/bisquick stuff out of the oven. Poor gravy over and eat.

Simple.

 

[krcit]

I refuse to eat at my SIL's house because I used to babysit and would see meat/chicken out on the counter to thaw. Sometimes the house would be 80 degrees

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

Geez, ask a recipe question and get in trouble for how you thaw stuff!! We always thaw on the counter, otherwise it takes 2 days to thaw in the fridge. I can't plan that far ahead!
Anyway, I put a layer of meatloaf on the bottom of the pan, then mozz. cheese, then cover with the rest of the meatloaf. Recently I tried meatloaf wellington, it was very good, esp with some au jous (probably spelled wrong) sauce with it. You cook the meatloaf on a cookie sheet, then the last half hour you pull it out, cover it with crescent roll dough and finish cooking. It was pretty darn good!

 

[Sadie22]

Question? How do you thaw meats in the fridge? I put meat in the fridge and 3 days later it is still frozen.

My wife thaws in the microwave sometimes. I hate it. It is half cooked and there's nothing I can do with it (I'm the master griller of the family.)

I'm 37 years old and I'm not dead yet from thawing meat on the counter. You thaw it on the counter, not set it there until it's room temperature.

Meatloaf, hamburgers, etc won't work with frozen meat or with microwave thawed meat (it ends up half cooked), but if we are making something that is just browning up ground meat in a skillet, then we just toss the hunk of frozen ground meat right in the pan and cook it that way.

I don't have recipes, this should be easy to figure out....

Beef Pinwheels

• Bisquick, mix up some bisquick stuff similar to if you were making bisquits or something.

• Brown up the ground meat (go ahead, be adventuresome and thaw on the counter or just cook it while still frozen...)

• Roll out the bisquick stuff. Spread the meat around on the rolled out bisquick stuff. Roll it up and slice it half inch or 3/4 inch thick. Lay them on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven (again, no recipe, I'm just giving the generals here.)

• Make some beef gravy. Take the beef/bisquick stuff out of the oven. Poor gravy over and eat.

Simple.

Does your microwave have a defrost setting? If not, cook at a lower power setting long enough to be able to break off some of the meat with a large cooking spoon, and repeat the process until it is thawed.

To avoid the problem, do what I do and precook the ground beef before freezing. I buy the five pound bulk packages, prebrown the meat, and package as is in meal-size portions for spaghetti sauce, or make huge pots of chili or taco filling, then freeze meal-size portions. Lasagna can be made this way as well. All of which I defrost and reheat in the microwave.

 

[Lisa_M]

I alway run out of ideas w/ ground beef too. My next try is going to be like a goulosh(sp?). brown the meat, mix w/elbow macaroni, stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, gr. peppers, and sauce, bake in the oven w/ shredded mozzerella on top

HTH!

I make this in the pan without the baking in the oven part with cheese

Today, in the crockpot I'm making a hamburger layered caserole. chopped up potatoes, onions & carrots, a layer of browned ground beef, mixed frozen vegetables, a can of tomato soup and a can of water. cook low for 6 hrs.