Salisbury Steak

I am finding my kids are at a very impressionable age.  I want to start eating more 'clean' in our house.  What do those have in common you ask, well, nothing I thought until yesterday.  My kids asked me what we were having for dinner.  I told them "Salisbury Steak" and my six-year old quickly said "That is GREAT Mommy, I loved that the last time...."  I was hesitant, 'last time' I made this dish I used the Stouffer's version (aka, TV dinner style, for those of you who know that lingo) c'mon hubby is deployed, at least it wasn't McDonald's right?!  ha......when I made it the last time I think I told them it was a TV dinner and my 4 year old was so excited to eat "a dinner in front of the TV" (God bless her..ha)!...I digress.....quick on my feet (in hopes of selling this new salisbury steak, that was homemade) I said "Oh gosh Jacob, I am trying a new recipe this time, this one is homemade, not out of that box."  My 4 year old said (in her saddest tone) "But Mommy we loved that salisbury steak you made last time" and my response was "Well, I am trying this one because it doesn't have chemicals in it" (aka, surely a frozen prepackaged meal has some chemicals in it right?) and she gasped and said "We ate chemicals Mommy?  GROSS!!!"  ...okay so I might be on to something with this clean eating idea...hmmmmm....in the meantime, made this as a freezer meal, whipped it out of the freezer, thawed, sauteed and whisked up some beef broth with cornstarch for a gravy, instant meal.  Enjoy!

I have taken two of my favorite recipes and merged to come up with this one.

2lbs ground beef (I used a lower fat content so I couldn't have to drain anything when I fried the patties)
1/2 c. of 'fake' cream of mushroom soup, I used this SOS mix and added a small can of mushroom pieces (we like mushrooms)  --but 1/2c. of canned cream of mushroom would work too, make two meals and you can use the whole can (see, planning!)
3/4c. dried breadcrumbs (I made from left over, getting old hamburger buns, those seem to be plentiful in my house)
2 egg, beaten
1 1/2 TBSP dried onion flakes, again no time for that grocery store, must use pantry
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

In a medium bowl mix together ground beef, 1/4 c. mushroom soup, bread crumbs, egg, onion, salt and pepper.  Shape into patties, I get about 8 out of this. 

From here I wrap each patty individually with saran wrap and place them in a freezer gallon bag.  That way I can thaw out as many as I want at a time.  I often near triple this recipe so I get several freezer meals out of it.  My kids (ages 7, 5, 3) can easily eat 2 patties each.

I thaw in the fridge overnight, who am I kidding, I use the counter thaw over several hours (sometimes I am good enough to plan ahead, the night before, but not always).  Day of cooking I cook patties in a skillet until browned.  Remove to serving plate when cooked all the way through.  Using drippings in pan I mix 2c. of beef broth (made from granules and following directions on the jar) with a tsp of cornstarch and whisk that into skillet to make a 'gravy' of sorts.  If I have another small can of mushrooms I throw that in too.  Pour gravy atop meat, viola!

Here is the frozen meal about to thaw....see planning, but it is on the counter-ha!