Easy Hamburger Soup

After the kids' piano lessons this morning, they were happy to be home. It was almost noon and I needed something hot, quick and easy to feed the kids on a snowy, dreary, winter's day.

Sounds like a day for soup.  Scrambling around all morning, I didn't really feel like chopping a whole bunch of vegetables.  Just wanted to open a can of soup and be done with a meal. 

But then I'm not satisfied with the cans of soup we have in the stores these days.  I find that they are pretty skimpy, especially if I am used to making my meals from scratch as much as I can.   

With a bit of compromise, I was able to use the frozen vegetables and meat in my freezer and pantry to come up with a pretty tasty soup that the kids like! 

I didn't have a chance to defrost a pound of ground beef, so I just fried the frozen chunk of meat and scraped the cooked bits off.  Eventually, it was cooked.  The meat looked pretty greasy, so I drained the meat, scooped it into a metal sieve and rinsed it off with hot water.  Yes, it is an extra step, but it's personal preference.  I don't like greasy soup. I wiped the pot of excess grease and then dumped it back with chopped onion. 

Luckily, I have some frozen onion in the freezer.  (I bought a 10lb bag of onions for $2.99, chopped some of it up, placed chopped onions on a parchment lined baking sheet, froze them for a few hours and placed them into ziplock baggies.)  I dumped about 1/2 cup frozen onion into the beef.  This trick saved me more time!   

Then I dumped everything in the pot, except the pasta.

I recently discovered the beauty of tomato paste in a tube.  A lot of recipes ask for 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste.  I find it a pain to open up a can for that small amount and the rest of it is unused in the fridge.  Surprisingly, I stumbled across this product at my local supermarket chain and German deli!  I squeezed some into the soup for extra body.  I never expected that a tube of tomato paste would be so convenient!  This is optional, but I thought it would be a nice addition, as traditional hamburger soup recipes call for a can of tomatoes. 

I covered the soup, brought it to a boil and added the small pasta or whatever cooks fast to thicken the soup.  I found some organic alphabet pasta at the store the other day but next time, I will try barley. 

I simmered it covered for 10-15 minutes and stirred it around several times to keep from sticking to the bottom.  The soup is done when the pasta is done to your liking. 


Easy Hamburger Soup with Lots of Veggies

1lb lean ground beef (thawed or frozen)
1 small onion (I used 1/2 cup frozen onion)
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
2 cans  vegetable soup (I used Campbell's) plus 3 cans water
2 Tbsp. tomato paste (optional)
1 can mushrooms (optional)
2 handfuls small shaped pasta (alphabet pasta, baby shells, orzo) or barley

In a soup pot, brown hamburger over medium heat. Rinse meat or drain off fat and return to pot.  Add onions and sautee for a few minutes.                 
Continue to add vegetable soup, water, mixed frozen vegetables, mushrooms and tomato paste and bring to boil.  Reduce heat, add pasta and simmer covered for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked and soup has thickened nicely.  

If serving hot soup to (very) anxious, hungry kiddies, add 1-2 ice cubes.  The children love seeing the ice shrink and disappear into the soup as they mix it.  By the time it has disappeared, it would be cool enough for them to eat.  This is great tip for eating out at restaurants! 

The kids would rather eat than pose for the camera! 

[Edited to add - April 12, 2013 ] I am so pleased to announce that this recipe is being featured on SayItCanada's series of recipes for "Parents Who Hate to Cook".  SayItCanada.ca is a rich lifestyle resource for communities across Canada.  

Enjoy!

 
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Cooking Frozen Hashbrowns

Hashbrowns are a real treat for us, as it means the kids can have a leisurely breakfast instead of rushing around frantically for school.  It also means that I have the time to start up the frying pan and create something warm, hearty and comforting.

Yesterday, I wrote about freezing hashbrowns for future use.  Today, we try out our frozen hashbrowns to see if they are any good.

I heated up my pan with organic extra virgin olive oil (about 1-2 Tbsp) on medium-high, poured a layer of frozen potatoes, and dotted the top with a bit of butter for flavour. 

The frozen potatoes are only partially cooked, so I added some water (maybe 1/4-1/2 cup?) to the bottom of the pan and cover.  If you look closely, the potatoes are sitting in the water. 

I was able to find a stock pot lid that covered my frying pan!  Bring the water to a boil and simmer covered on medium heat for about 3-5 min to thaw and cook the potatoes completely.  (Can you see me taking this pic with my iPhone?). 

The potatoes should be cooked and the water evaporated after 3-5 min.  Then you can leave the lid off and brown and season your potatoes to your liking.   I always season my hashbrowns with kosher salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp onion powder. So far,
I haven't gotten any complaints from the kids. 

I think they look pretty tasty now!  Now I know that if potatoes are on sale, I can make
frozen hashbrowns for $0.29/lb!  The supermarket sells pre-made diced frozen hashbrowns for at least $2-3 for a 1kg bag.  I made a 1 kg bag for $0.65...well under a dollar.  Nowadays, it's hard to buy that volume of food for under $1, but it can be done if you have a good sized freezer and stock up when then things on sale at the supermarket.   

Enjoy!

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Freezing Your Own Hashbrowns

Our family has an obsession with carbs.  LOTS of carbs and my 3 kids are not even close to their teenage years.  One day that will happen soon enough.  When my local supermarket chain had 20lb bags of potatoes on sale, I thought that I could buy a bag and experiment how I could freeze them for future and quick meals. 

My family loves hashbrowns.  Frozen, fresh, cubed or shredded.  Then I thought that I could try make my own hashbrowns and freeze them for later for just a little under $0.30/lb.  I have heard that freezing raw potatoes and fully cooked potatoes are a disaster (either they go black or become a watery mess once thawed).  So after read I countless sites on freezing hashbrowns, I tried to parboil my batch and see how it goes.  It has something to do with disabling the enzymes from the brief cooking.  

I got a big pot of water on the stove and let that come to a boil.  While the water was heating up, I got the potatoes.  

Other sites I have seen, they have shredded it by hand or food processor.  I got a little lazy.  I didn't feel like washing a dirty food processor, so I just peeled the potatoes and chopped them up in chunks.  It was nice and mindless.  Cleanup was also a breeze:  wash knife, cutting board and clean up the peels. 

After chopping up the potatoes, I put them in a bowl of water to keep them nice and white.  I rinsed off the starches and put the potatoes for 3 minutes only in the boiling water.  They were partially cooked. 

Fished them out, rinsed them in cold water and placed them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Blotted dry with paper and threw them in the deep freezer, just like you would freeze blueberries.  

Now that they are frozen, I simply placed them in a big ziplock freezer bag to be enjoyed at anytime!  I dont' have to worry about my potatoes going soft, green, sprouting or moldy!  Ha!  Saving money feels good.  Now I have my frozen hashbrowns for $0.29/lb! (minus the labour, but it's easy mindless work). 

Here's a recap: 

• Boil big pot of water


• Peel and cut potatoes to your liking and immerse in cold water


• Rinse potatoes and boil in water for 3 minutes


• Drain potatoes, rinse starches off in cold water


• Place on parchment lined baking sheet, blot dry with paper towels


• Freeze


• Once frozen, place in freezer bags.  They should keep for a few months, if they aren't eaten up already! 

- Adapted from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Cooking-Tips/Potatoes/Freezing-Potatoes-for-Hash-Browns

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