I'm putting some of my recipes here so I can find them and so why not go ahead and publish for others.

The main thing here is that a lot of my own diet is beef. I buy a whole or half cow and put the beast into my freezers. I therefore have continual steaks, roasts, etc and also lots and lots of ground beef. When I started this I wasn't very good at "using" the meat, so we would go out to eat a lot. Over time I found a few things Iike to eat over and over and so since I need a place I thought here would be good.

This first one is my chili. I got the recipe from a book and have modified it a bit. It does have two secret ingredients and I'm labeling them here for my own knowledge but I won't be giving them out to you and unless you see me with a missing finger no one knows what they are. When I make this I vary the tomatos a little according to my mood. Some times I grab a big can of whole and crush them with my hands. I try to make it about the same as the original recipe and you can experiment a little. I have 3 kids and this recipe is good for several meals at least.

Another trick is to double this recipe and put a lot of it into quart mason jars. Then you can process the jars in a pressure canner (I assume you know how if not get a book from amazon make sure read about it) and keep them on the shelf they will last over a year (i eat it by that time).

4 lbs ground beef
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce with tidbits
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
8 cups water
1 onion chopped
1 (3 oz) bottle chili powder*
2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregeno
2 tsp paprika
1 quarter-1 half tsp  cayenne pepper*
2 Tbsp salt
2 (15 oz) cans dark red kidney beans
flour or corn meal to thicken**
not too much of ONE
just a little bit of TWO

* Some Notes About Chili Powder
If you get the 3 oz bottle of chili powder e.g. from Kroger, this recipe will be a good medium heat. That bottle has a lot of filler. I use other various chili powders depending on what flavor I want. My main one is just an organic chili powder that only takes a small amount. If you put far, far less than 3 ounces of that organic powder it would be so much hotter (way too hot for me to enjoy).

** You might need to thicken at the end. Mix about a qurter cup of flower and quarter cup of corn meal with a bit of water to make paste and drizzle it at the end when the chili is about done. Let it stew about 20 more mins then cool.

Brown the beef. Add the onion when its mostly brown, then when onion is transparent add everything else except thickener. Stir often enough to not burn on the bottom and keep it occasionally stirred. Let it low boil or at a simmer until it is chili, 2-3 hours.

Here is one for Sloppy Joes. This is from Rachael ray. Here are the ingredients put them together like you expect. Simmer the wet stuff at th end.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan

1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cups tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered

Garnish: sliced ripe tomatoes, pickles, Deviled Potato Salad, recipe follows