Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tasty Tuesday - Hobo Dinner


Yesterday we were gone all day apple-picking. (That post will come soon!) When we got home, my husband was pulling in the driveway too. I apologized for not having dinner ready and he said he would just grab a bowl of cereal and we could eat later. That was fine with me since the kids and I had just been to Chick-Fil-A for some free food.

As the kids ran wild, I plopped Reagan in the walker so I could figure out what to make for dinner with the ground beef I had thawed in the refrigerator. I went to AllRecipes to search by ingredients. (I think that is THE BEST way to search EVER! If you haven't ever done it, go try it now! Seriously, stop reading this and go try it.)

I typed in ground beef, potatoes, and carrots (thinking we had no onion). One of the first things on the list was "Hobo Dinner". That sounded pretty intriguing so I clicked on it and found this recipe. Once I opened the fridge, I modified it a bit, so here's what our "Hobo Dinner" recipe looked like:
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Hobo Dinner

1 lb ground beef
2 kale leaves
2 pieces of day-old bread
1/4 onion, cut into pieces
1 lb baby carrots, sliced lengthwise into 4 pieces each
4 potatoes, sliced into french fries
seasonings (Mrs. Dash, salt, pepper, and garlic salt)

Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Chop kale in food processor. Chop bread in food processor. Mix with ground beef and seasonings. Shape into patties and put on aluminum foil. Top with cut potato, cut carrots, and cut onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 1 hour.
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BUT WAIT!!! Our meat did not get done!!! So I ended up throwing it in a frying pan for a few minutes and then topping it with cheese (essentially making a bunless cheeseburger.) Does anyone have any suggestions for varying cooking times/temps to get the meat cooked all the way? The veggies were perfectly done, but the meat....not so much. Suggestions?

Once we got everything cooked, it was a good dinner! (And exceptionally cheap, I might add.)

4 comments:

Amy said...

Is something wrong with your oven? You might check the temperature calibration...one pound of ground beef should definitely cook in MUCH LESS than an hour at 400 degrees!

Heidi Stone said...

AMY:

I was confused too. How would I check the calibration of my oven?

Leigh said...

This used to be one of my favorite meals growing up.

Amy said...

There are thermometers that you can put inside the oven to check the temperature...put it in, set the oven for 350 and when the oven is preheated, check the thermometer to see what temp the oven really is...then you can adjust the oven's temperature so that it's correct (check your oven manual to see how to adjust the temp).