Wren

I’ve made this twice in the past week and my family thought it was good enough that they wanted a second batch. (It’s Christmas time and I gave a lot of first batch away. I thought it was slightly grainy though I cooked it on medium heat and cooked in the oven at 225 for 60 min. Stirring every 15 min. The second batch I cooked at medium low heat and it was looking good until after the last 15 min. In the oven and then it turned sugary again. I won’t be making again very soon but when I do I intend on only cooking 45 min. In the oven and see if that works better. We really liked the addition of mixed nuts a lot but the second batch I was low on those so added peanuts which weren’t as good.

For those who like things to taste lighter and a little fresher for lack of a better word (and simpler) mix your cooked ground beef and onion mixture with 1/2 lb or so cooked macaroni and a couple of cans of petite diced tomatoes with oregano and red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Season to taste and add as much grated cheese as you like. I like Monterey or pepper jack. I had a hard time stopping eating it. My kind of comfort food. I always buy a big pack of ground beef from Costco and cook it up with very small julienne diced vegetables like carrots, celery, red or orange peppers and onion and freeze it on baking sheets to put in freezer bags so I’m able to use as much as I like for easy quick dishes like this. I do a very small dice for children and my husband who doesn’t like vegetables and hardly notices them when cooked like this. The mixture goes great in spaghetti sauce, enchiladas, etc.

In the mood for comfort food I made this. I did not like the flavor of the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. That’s a matter of taste, next time will cook hamburger with more vegetables and add cheese and milk to the sauce. I also like to add red pepper flake to things like this which seems to perk up the flavor but forgot to. It is a good recipe, you just have to make it the way you’ll like it:)

We thought it was good but not great. I would make it again but it’s not something I would crave. But our little 4 year old ate 2 small servings which is unusual so that’s a testament. I liked the suggestion to lesson the miracle whip and add sour cream because after I added the miracle whip and tasted I thought Oh No! But after cooking it was fine. I did add some things like a can of pinto beans and onion and green chili’s but everyone thought those were good additions.

I revised this rating to a five star instead of 4. I really think something should be pretty special to rate 5 stars but I’m not normally a pig but I can’t stop going back for more throughout the day!