Beef

Drop in a beef bouillon cube and stir it occasionally as it heats up over medium-low heat. If the cube is fresh enough at the start to be able to crush it, go for it. Otherwise, use a slotted spoon to look for it every now and then and crush it when you can. It should be completely dissolved by the time the meatballs and rice are finished.

1 lb hamburger
1 med onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup water
1/3 c catsup
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
1/8 tsp red pepper sauce
1 tsp salt

Cook and stir hamburger and onions in 10" skillet over medium heat until meat is light brown.
Drain; stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook over low heat until vegetables are tender, 10-15 minutes.
Fill hamburger buns with Sloppy Joe mixture and enjoy!

1 lb hamburger
1 large onion chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, crushed or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 16-ounce can whole tomatoes, with liquid (or diced, with liquid, your call)
2 med stalks celery, sliced thin (1 cup)
2-3 Tablespoons chili powder
1 tsp salt or less (this is one of those recipes that salty celery can ruin if you add the full 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp sugar
1 or 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper sauce or 1/4 tsp crushed red peppers (or more if you like your chili hot) ( they are optional and leaving them out altogether makes a milder chili that is perfect for Cincinnati-Style Chile)
1 15-ounce can of kidney beans, drained (optional)

Cook and stir hamburger, onion and garlic in large skillet until hamburger is light brown; drain. Don't get the hamburger too "grainy" while stirring, unless you are making it Cincinnati-Style, chunks are good!
While the hamburger, onion and garlic are cooking, mix together remaining ingredients in a 3-qt saucepan except for the beans. Add the hamburger mixture, heat to boiling, reduce heat and cover and simmer for 1 hour.
Do not lift the lid to keep the chili as moist as possible.
After one hour, stir in the beans, heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer uncovered 15 minutes.
Dish up your servings, top with shredded cheddar cheese and enjoy!

Cincinnati-Style Chili: Use about 3/4 cup of the chili mixture for each serving and serve over about 1 cup cooked, thin spaghetti noodles. Top with 1 or 2 Tablespoons chopped onion, cheddar cheese and sour cream, if desired.

Chili & Cheese Nachos: Serve over a bed of large tortilla chips (white or corn) and top with cheddar cheese, diced green onions, sour cream and, if you want, the salsa of your choice.

Prior to starting this recipe, dissolve one beef bouillon cube in 1 cup of boiling water and pour into an 8x8x2 square baking dish.
Dissolve another beef bouillon cube in 3/4 cup of boiling water.

1/4 heaping cup of shortening
3 or 4 cubed steaks
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

(Gravy requirements)
2 T pan drippings
2 T flour
3/4 cup beef bouillon broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp garlic
Sour Cream (8 oz or less)

Melt and heat the heaping 1/4 cup shortening in 10 inch skillet. Remove from heat if it starts to get too hot before you are ready to use it and return to heat one minute before you are.
While the shortening is melting/heating, mix together the 1/2 cup flour, the 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/4 tsp garlic in a large bowl.
Flour cubed steaks well and quickly put into baking dish with beef bouillon broth, turn, lift out and flour again patting the flour into the cubed steak to coat well.
Quick fry in shortening over medium heat until flour coating is a dark golden brown, about 7 - 10 minutes.
Remove the steaks from the pan and store in a 9x13x2 baking dish in a low temp oven to keep warm.
Remove all but 2 T of the pan drippings from the skillet.
Stir 2 T flour into the pan drippings, stirring swiftly and constantly with a fork.
When the mixture is smooth and bubbly, slowly stir in the beef bouillon broth, stirring constantly to keep gravy from getting lumpy. Heat to a rolling boil; boil, stirring constantly for one minute.
Remove from heat and add salt, pepper and garlic. Allow to cool for one minute and stir in a large spoonful of sour cream (if you add the sour cream to the gravy too soon, it will loose its texture, but not its taste...it just makes it look strange)

Serve the cubed steaks with mashed potatoes, the gravy, and corn (canned; drained and heated in 1 T butter or on the cob).
Make sure you have absolutely no after-dinner plans because you'll want to keep eating until everything is all gone and then you will barely be able to move...this has been proven time and time again on many friends! But the good thing is It Doesn't Hurt like Thanksgiving dinners can LOL
Forget dessert, just flop into a recliner with the remote and nap or watch your favorite TV show : )

Put rice, water and salt into a small saucepan, heat to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until almost all of the water has been absorbed; turn heat off and let rice absorb the remainder of the water. Remove from heat to cool.

Making the stock: Remove two or three outer leaves and the core from the cabbage and let the remainder of the head then soak in cold water for about ten minutes. Wash the outer leaves and core, then rip up the outer leaves drop them with the cut-up core into a large saucepan with 3 1/2 cups of water in it. Add to the water the skins and ends of the onion, the (washed) cut-off ends of the celery, the stem, the white membrane and the seeds of the bell pepper-(cut up so that the water will cover them). Add the salt, pepper, and garlic. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to simmer.

Carefully peel 12 leaves from the head of cabbage and drop them three or four at a time into the stock; let simmer with the stock for about 5 minutes or until they are soft but not soggy. Remove the leaves from the saucepan and place onto a plate to cool while you cook the rest.

Leave the remainder of the head of cabbage out (cored end down) to dry, then re-refrigerate or shred for salads, tacos, or slaw.

While the cabbage leaves are steaming, you can chop the onion, green bell pepper, celery, and mushrooms, then mix them all with the ground beef and rice; set aside.

Remove the stock from the heat and strain into a container. Discard the vegetable pieces and seeds. Add 1/2 cup of the stock to the beef, vegetable and rice mixture; mix well. Save 1/4 cup + 1 T of the stock and either refrigerate or discard the rest (saved portion of stock can be added to any home made soup for more flavor).

Empty the can of tomato sauce into a bowl; dip out about 1/2 cup and add to beef and rice mixture.

Use about 1/3 cup of the beef mixture per cabbage leaf, placing it at the stem end of the leaf and rolling the leaf over the beef mixture toward the tip, tucking the sides in as you go. Place each roll, seam sides down, into an un-greased square (8 x 8 x 2) baking dish.

To the remainder of the tomato sauce, add 1/4 cup of stock; stir to mix. Pour over rolls to cover and bake the rolls for 40-45 minutes.

Pour any remaining tomato sauce into a small saucepan; you'll come back to it when the rolls are done.

Remove the rolls to a platter, and empty the liquid from the baking dish into a saucepan. In a small container, combine the remaining 1 T of stock and 1 T cornstarch, seal the container and shake to mix. Add the cornstarch/stock mixture to the saucepan, heat to boiling and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Pour sauce over cabbage rolls.

2 lb stewing beef, cut into 1" cubes
1 small onion, chopped
3 T shortening
1 1/2 c water
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin orange segments, drained (reserve syrup)
1/3 c soy sauce
1/2 t ground ginger
2 T cornstarch
1/4 c cold water
1 small green bell pepper, cut into strips
8 oz mushrooms, sliced (3 c)
4 med stalks celery, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 can (8 oz) water chestnuts, drained & sliced

3 c cooked rice

Cook and stir beef and onion in shortening in 10 inch skillet over medium heat until onion is tender; drain. Add 1 1/2 cups water, the reserved orange juice, soy sauce and ginger. Heat to boiling; cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Mix cornstarch and 1/4 c water; stir into beef mixture. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, reduce heat. Stir in green pepper, mushrooms, celery and water chestnuts. Cover and cook until celery is tender, 5-7 minutes. Fold in orange segments just before serving. Serve over 1/2 c rice. Makes 6 servings.