“Investment Cooking”

The concept behind this type of cooking is to invest a little extra time to prepare meals for a later date. You’ll be amazed at how much time and money you can save if you do this just a couple days a months.

Benefits –

• Home cooking even if the cook isn’t home
• Take advantage of specials at the grocery store.
• Less stress for the cook
• More nutritious eating and reduces last minute fast-food runs.

Here’s how I invest some time and energy into an all-American staple…Hamburger. Read the entire recipe first just to get the idea of what you are doing. Once you get the hang of it, investment cooking will be a part of your normal cooking routine. (Remember I have 3 teenagers so adjust the quantities to fit your family)

5 pounds of hamburger meat
1 pound of Italian sausage
2 large onions
1 clove of garlic
1 stalk of celery
1 zucchini
2 cans of tomato soup
11/2 cup of instant rice
1 cup of bread crumbs or crushed croutons
1 institutional can of spaghetti sauce (the giant one from the warehouse store)
1 can mushrooms
1 cup parmesan cheese
Catsup
Salt
Pepper

Divide hamburger into thirds. One third put into a skillet to start to brown (this is going to be meat sauce) Put each of the other thirds into separate mixing bowls. It helps to use different color bowls but I will just call them bowl A (which is going to become meatballs) and bowl B (which is going to become meatloaf mixture for tonight’s dinner)

• Divide sausage putting half in skillet and half in bowl A.
• Chop all the onions at one time. Put one third into the skillet, bowl A,
  and bowl B.
• Put one minced clove of garlic into the skillet. Stir and keep browning.
• Chop celery and zucchini finely and put into bowl B.
• Put half of tomato soup in each bowl A and B
• Add rice to bowl B
• Add bread crumbs to bowl A
• Add parmesan cheese to bowl A
• Add mushrooms to skillet. Continue to cook until browned.
• Add 2/3rds of the spaghetti sauce to skillet. Simmer for 20 minutes or so
• Add one egg to each bowl

Mix each bowl well*

*Both mixtures should be of a consistency that you can mold them without being crumbly or too runny. If too runny…add more rice or bread crumbs (depending on the bowl) If too dry, add another egg. At this point you can also add salt and pepper and other seasonings depending on your family’s preference.

Preheat oven for 350 degrees (click here to continue)

 

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