I was trying to think of something for dinner the other night to use up some hamburger and I thought I'd make a shepherd's pie (never have before) but after more thought I decided it may not go over too well with the family.  No one but me likes cooked veggies.  Anyway, I found some recipes on line that use hamburger and hashbrown potatoes to make a casserole but most of them called for cream soups--mostly mushroom, which also would not go too well.  Ok, so what to do?  Well this is what I did.  I browned my hamburger w/onions and then added the frozed hash browns to the mix.  Then I added some bacon.  Then I took 16 oz of sour cream and added just enough Hidden Valley Ranch dressing to make it smooth and creamy.  I added that to the meat mixture and transferred into a baking dish and topped with colby jack shredded cheese. Baked for 25 min at 350.  Yummy.  I was able to serve w/salad and garlic bread.  It was like a sour cream potato casserole brought up a notch--I called it a Bacon Cheesburger Casserole.  Everyone liked it--even me and I am the one who isn't a big fan of ground beef dishes.  They remind me of hamburger helper--which I am just learning to tolerate. It was fast and easy and I didn't have hardly any dishes to clean up.  I thought about just baking it in the iron skillet that I cooked the meat in, but thought I'd like to use the baking dish instead.  You could probably add corn or peas or veggies to it too, if you wanted. 

I bought a pound of whatever type of gr. beef was on sale & browned it, intending to have homemade "Maid-Rites".  My stomach has been "off" and that didn't seem like it would hit the spot so I kept chopping away at the meat in the pan 'til it was all tiny pcs, browned/drained it, rinsed it, threw it back in the pan, added just a little taco seasoning mix, simmered it about a half hour (adding water, then checking to see that it was boiling away so the spices could go through it), took a cpl of tortillas I'd bought at Big Lots out of the pkg., laid them on a cookie sheet, then put shredded taco cheese on top of the tortilla, then the meat mixture, popped them into the oven for about ten mins. at 325 just to melt the cheese, took them out and added leaf lettuce, tomato, and sour cream.

The dog sure liked the broken-off pieces of tortilla I kept giving him  

Condi, my mother used to make that also...I loved it!  Another treat was what was called "poor man's meal".  Alot of people I know don't like it, but I love it.  It is fried eggs, buttered toast, broken in pieces and placed in a bowl with warm milk over it.  I like to eat this for breakfast on cold days.

My mom made the same thing, called it the same, and I sure do love it. When growing up in PA you don't buy it in a jar, they supermarket or deli, chips the beef for you.

I'm not sure I've heard of the dried beef... is there a brand name to it? This is in canned goods?

I believe it is Armour.

Claire, yes! That is exactly where it came from! My greatgrandfather was a WWII navy vet, and it was a staple in the house when that's all you could get from the store during the war.

Ooo, here's another one. (Can you tell I'm about to starve up here?)
Hamburger pie

1 lb. hamburger meat
1 pkg. hashbrown potatoes
1 pkg. onion soup mix
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 pkg. premade pie pastry (pillsbury in refrigerator section)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or you can make your own)

Brown hamburger and drain the fat. Add onion soup mix and 1 pkg. water, boil until liquid has evaporated. Add potatoes, and cook until they are not frozen anymore. Place one sheet of dough in a pie pan. Fill with meat and potato mixture, then cheese, then pour cream of mushroom soup over and spread evenly. Cover with other sheet of dough and pinch edges. (just like a pie) Bake at 375 until crust is done, about 45 minutes. Yum!