Ground Beef or Venison

There is so much you can do with ground meat - beef, turkey, deer, etc. - hamburgers, meatloaf, mac cheese and ground beef, scrambled burgers, meatballs, and the list goes on and on. It can be dressed up, left plain or an entire meal in a skillet can be concocted with ground meat. Remember there is a vast difference in the fat content of ground beef so go for the lean if at all possible.

The most popular additions to ground meat is onions and bell pepper. Oh! That can be so good without adding anything. Adding your favorite vegetables, a can of cream of mushroom soup and a bag of noodles creates a meal in a skillet. Browned ground meat, a can of cheddar cheese soup, and a box of elbow macaroni is a real hit with the small ones. Adding sour cream or cream cheese to the blend gives an easy change up in the flavor without changing a complete recipe or a lot of dollars out of the pocket. The Hamburger Helper people learned real fast and created their meals in a box. It is easy to do and a pound of ground meat yields a variety of yummy dinners straight from your cupboard.

With ground turkey or deer I always add celery. It brings out the flavor of the turkey and kills any wild game taste in the deer. Garlic is also a favorite of mine. Adding ground basil to a ground meat dish is especially good when tomatoes are used. I also use a little olive oil when cooking ground deer as venison does not contain a great deal of fat and some fat is needed to cook properly.

Below is two old favorites and these were before Hamburger Helper hit the shelves. The recipes seem identical at first, but changing a couple of ingredients can render a new and tasty dish with ease.

Picadillo

1- 1/2 lb ground chuck
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped green pepper (bell)
Garlic, Salt, and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup green salad olives
2 tbsp olive oil
cooking wine to taste (optional)

In a large skillet or large saucepan, brown meat, onions, and pepper in the olive oil with garlic and wine. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on low until meat breaks up completely or about 2 hours. Serve over white rice.

Quick Beef Put-together

1 lb ground beef
1 pod bell pepper
1 med onion
1 sm box of Instant Rice
1-2 1/2 tomatoes
Chili Powder
Garlic Salt

In a large skillet or saucepan, brown beef, pepper, and onion. When browned, add tomatoes, rice, chili powder and garlic salt. Add water as needed to keep mixture loose. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.

Belle and her business

I am ready for some squirrel dumplings which should be really good with all the scratch feed they have consumed this summer. They are starting on their third 50 pound bag and I have given up trying to put a stop to their antics. They must have heard me load the rifle - they have started hiding from me rather than swishing their bushy tails in my face as they scamper across the yard. They are going in the stew pot, along with that chicken that isn't laying but loves to eat. She is good and fat, too and will be real good with some dumplings. Oh my, I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

Have you ever stopped to really look at a feather. Mr. Rooster lost a tail feather the other day in his prancing around and jumping at the neighbor's rooster. The feather is really beautiful and the colors are outstanding. The soft downy dark grays tipped with rust at the base give way to the shimmering greenish blues all the way to the swirling tip. Amazing! Even the hens rusty feathers are each unique in their colors and shape.

The change in the weather makes me change my cooking style - I must be from the old country. Cooler air means heavier meals. There goes our diets - it is not salad weather. Well, I take that back. I usually don't buy potatoes, but picked up a bag the other day and made potato salad. Yummy! Then I got carried away and made garlic mash potatoes. Believe it or not hubby can have a small serving of potatoes with his diet. Of course you need to use the fat free milk and the Heart Smart butter, but they were still delicious. I think I have finally figured out that I won't have to work so hard in the early spring to get the jelly rolls off if I don't stuff my face so much during those cold days of winter. But oh how I do love food.

I have started diligently working on my yard again. Fall temps do that for me along with the change in my cooking. I have pull out dead limbs and deadheaded all my flowers. Plan to do a light fertilizer today and contemplate where I am going to move some shrubs around. I am also trying to coordinate all my old scattered plants - lamb's ear, four o'clocks, mums, day lilies - and decide where they will be happiest come spring. My hostas did not get enough shade this year and I will be moving them. I have moved my elephant ear as it wasn't getting enough sun and it is doing great. It just needed some loamier ground and more sun. I have some trimming on the agenda also. I have waited too late to move the forsythia and still have it bloom next year, but may fore go the blooms to get them moved.

I have a pomegranate that I plan to move this fall also. It is surrounded with trees and not growing at all. It is from the old homestead that was once on the farm and is now overgrown, not receiving any light and is starved in its present location. The pears will be severely pruned this year as they have become misshapen with many dead limbs caught in the tops. The production was real low this year, but the fruit it produced was large and juicy. These trees were also a gift of the old homestead. I would love to add a couple of apple trees to my collection, but have been advised the cedars would gift them with disease. I will need to do more research on this. I cannot give up all my cedars, fruit or no fruit.

For those who don't know the history of my little farm - my Dad bought this property consisting of 98 +/- acres in 1948. He farmed much of the land until the mid 1980's. There is a wonderful creek and many wet springs on the property. When Dad farmed it, it was mostly pasture and field. It is now mostly wooded as a result of Dad planting pines. When Dad quit farming, he sold most of the land and it now has produced many neighbors and provided homes for some 14 families. Through the years we have been able to purchase surrounding parcels and add to our little farm. We are blessed with good neighbors and a relatively quiet neighborhood.

Till next time - keep smiling and share it with someone.

Belle