Making a Good Help "Meat" (Meet)

The last couple days, I had two very nice posts that I had in my heart to share but somehow the internet was not working on my browser.  After many hours of frustration I figured out that another browser worked better for this blog site. I decided that I would combine Monday and Tuesday together for today.

Making a Good Help “Meat” (Meet)

You have heard of Hamburger Helper, right?  I used to make it about once a week out of a fancy box for my man.  He just loved it.  As I started fitting into my role as a Help Meet, I found so much more joy working in the kitchen than almost anything else on earth.  I took a lot of satisfaction when I could make even tastier meals at a fraction of the cost of the fancy boxed meals.  I call it Hamburger Help “Meat”.  I get the privilege of being a help meet to my husband and a part of that privilege is making tasty dinners for him.

When he walks into the door and he smells what is cooking, he is transported to a comforting place in his mind.  It relaxes him to see a table set and a meal ready to serve.  He loves to see children filling their plates with food that his wife prepared while he was away.

In my book, Living Virtuously, I spent time working on a 14 day meal plan and I thought it would be helpful to make recipe cards for each of those 14 meals for myself and eventually I will have them all available to my readers along with other lists and charts and other needful resources any wife would need to make life run smoother.  When there is a system, life is so easy.  When my life was chaos and there was never a schedule, rhyme or reason, I was not only grumpy, I was frumpy.  And my home was not a haven of rest.

It makes a huge difference in the atmosphere of a home that not only most importantly loves the Lord, but a home that is also a reflection of the order and beauty of God.  He is a God of order and beauty, so why not have a home that reflects it as well.

The Clean Cook

I often take for granted that I have an almost perfectly clean home and how easy it is to keep it clean.  Years ago I would make a great big mess while I cooked a meal, that was most likely burned because I would walk out of the kitchen.  The tip of the day is to not walk away from your cooking food.  Stay in the kitchen and do a little clean up while you are waiting for the food to boil.  It is very simple.  I recently took you through each room of my home, deeply cleaning.  Now I want to slowly teach you how to keep it clean. 
Here is one way—Clean while you Cook!

I will take you step by step with this recipe and the things I did while I was cooking, just to give you an example of how to kill several birds with one stone and save so much time.

 Step 1  Get your ground meat out and put it into a pan to fry it down.  While it is warming up you will get your cutting board out along with a knife.  Chop up the onion finely while the meat is heating up.  Add the chopped onions and season (I use salt, pepper, and onion powder).  Immediately put the seasonings back where they belong in the cupboard.

 Step 2  While you occasionally stir the meat and make sure it does not burn, clean up the cutting board and knife.  Throw away the onion peeling or put them into a compost bin.  Wipe off the counter tops.  Check the meat, stir and cover on med heat.  Fill the sink with hot sudsy water and wash the knife and cutting board.  Rinse, dry, and put them away.

 Step 3  Add 2 quarts of milk and stir into the cooked meat and onions.  Add the frozen or chopped vegetables into the mixture and stir.

 Step 4  Add the uncooked noodles.  Add 1 cup sour cream or 8 oz of cream cheese.  Stir into the mixture and bring to a boil.  While the pot is heating, look around to find any other dishes to wash.  Wash, dry, put away any other dishes. Wipe down counter tops.  This may take about 10 minutes so use your waiting time for productive time in the kitchen.  If I am done with the wiping and washing, I will get a broom and sweep while I watch the pot for boiling.

Step 5 Once the mixture is boiling, you will cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.  While it simmers, set the table.  Keep the hot soapy water in the sink so it is ready for any other dishes after dinner.  Add 2 heaping tablespoons of corn starch with 1/4 cup of water.  Mix until corn starch is dissolved completely.  Pour into the pot to thicken. 

After you say grace and serve your meal.  Enjoy the beautiful atmosphere of a clean kitchen and enjoy this tasty dish.  When everyone is finished, gather up your plates.  Rinse, wash, dry, and put the dishes away.  It only takes about 5 minutes to wash a few plates, forks, and cups.  Any leftovers can be placed into a glass storage container with a lid for a nice lunch for your husband at work, or for just a snack.

Wash up the pot and if you have anything stuck to the bottom, here is a hot tip:  Sprinkle a little baking soda in the bottom, fill the pot to about 1/4 way full and boil it for a few minutes.  I use a spatula to work anything off the bottom that seems stuck on and it generally comes off so much easier when you have it boiling.  Wash, dry, and put away the pot.  Wipe the table off and sweep the floor.  It only takes me about 10 minutes to prepare the meal and 10 minutes to clean up in total.  Very doable.  Very orderly and fun!

I hope you enjoy this recipe.