Beef and Broccoli Casserole

I took these photos a while ago, so I don't have a main "pin this on Pinterest!" image.  Sorry about that.  Plus, we haven't even eaten this casserole yet!  I'll explain as I go along.

So, you can see that huge bowl of cooked ground beef below, and you're probably wondering why you would want to cook up that much for one recipe (it's four pounds).  Well, that's because it's a quadruple batch.  A family at church was on the verge of having a baby (they now have a new little boy!), and we wanted to bless them with a freezer meal--something that could be pulled out when they needed a meal, and thawed and baked.

I don't have very many recipes that can be frozen like this, but I created this one for this very purpose.  For this particular day of preparation, we made four casseroles and froze all four, one for the D. family and the other three for future meals for our family.  Or, perhaps someone else would need a meal and then we'd be able to quickly bless them without having to make something all over again!

Brown rice goes very well in this tomato-based dish (you can use white, too).

I left off the cheese topping in all but the D. family's dish.

We'll top ours with fresh when we're ready to bake them.

Here's the casserole with cheese on top.

Four pans destined for the freezer.

I put plastic wrap on top of the cheese/meat before covering it with foil.

Quick and easy directions right on the aluminum foil.

Beef and Broccoli Casserole

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
2 14.5-oz. cans diced tomatoes
one head broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces and steamed just til tender
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Northwoods seasoning (from Penzey's spices--substitute some paprika, thyme, and pepper)
shredded cheddar cheese for topping (or use your favorite)

Mix everything up and pour into a 13x9 casserole dish.  Top with shredded cheese.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Easy!  Freezes well!  The D. family loved it.  And now I have some in my own freezer for one of those busy days...

If there's another photo below, then we've eaten one of our casseroles and I remembered to take a picture of it.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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