Girl Scout Stew

This is my version of a Girl Scout Stew. It's ridiculously easy to make and everyone loves it. It is especially great on cold days or when you don't have a lot of time or energy to mess around in the kitchen. Speaking of mess, if you use paper bowls and plastic spoons clean up is a breeze. This can be made within 20 minutes or you can let it simmer on the stove for a little while. Put it in a crock pot or in a warm oven to keep it warm if you have people in and out (Eric has soccer, Rachael has ballet, Dad has a meeting, Mom has PTA...you've had those days).

You'll notice, the recipe calls for 1-4 cans of ... That's because you can stretch it up to 4 cans or, if you like it very meaty, you can use only one of each. Your first time I'd suggest using equal amounts of cans across the board. In other words, if you use 2 cans of one thing, use 2 of everything else. Then, if you'd like, you can adjust to suit your taste. We've found, however, that when you go past 4 cans of each the meat isn't sufficient. If you need to make a larger amount use more ground beef.

This is great served alone, with crackers, with bread (we had left over Challah tonight), or even with PB&J sandwiches which is another good way to stretch this meal and I often do that for lunch with the leftovers. This reheats well so if you need lunch the next day you might as well make a lot.

You'll need:
1 lb ground beef
1-4 cans Tomato Soup
1-4 cans Vegetable Soup
1-4 cans mixed vegetables (I like the kind with the added potatoes.

Brown the ground beef in a large pot and drain the grease well.
Add the cans of soup and vegetables
Add between 1/2 to 1 whole can of water. Feel your way through this step as you might like it thicker or soupy. Use your best judgement.
Stir well and simmer until heated through.

Ground beef is cooked and the veggies are added. The soups are next.

Everything is in the pot and ready to cook.

You may notice there is some rice in this photo. Somewhere in the middle of making this I found a container of rice left over from Shabbat in the fridge so I tossed it in (the rice, not the container).

This is a great time to use up left over veggies, pasta or soup.

I hope you enjoy!