This is one of our favorite “go to” meals…my kids (and husband) actually ask me for this one which doesn’t happen nearly as often as I’d like…   It is better known in our house as Christy Nockels hotdish…  (She is a contemporary Christian singer who is one of my favorites!)  A few months back, we drove over three hours to attend a Night of Worship with her, and took this stew with us to eat on the road.   If you ever have the chance to see her in person…GO!  She is an angel.  Anyhow…I digress.  And Christy, if you ever read this, I hope you think it’s pretty cool that my children have named a stew/hotdish after you.  🙂

Since my three year old and I are on the GAPS Diet…eating on the road gets challenging sometimes, so we always go prepared.  I threw this together for the whole family before we left and we brought it in our Foogo Thermoses.  A side note on the Foogo’s…if you are on GAPS or any special diet, get like four or five.  You won’t regret it.  We have five, and some days, we seriously have them all in use.  I have a couple others that I’m not as happy with – my food is inevitably cold by lunch time – but my kids report things are still hot in the Foogo’s by the time they eat lunch at school.

GAPS Hamburger Stew (aka Christy Nockels hotdish)

3 lb ground beef

1-10 oz pkg of frozen beans (optional – this time I didn’t have any, but I usually do add them)

1-10 oz pkg of frozen peas

6-8 peeled and chopped carrots (you could definitely use a bag of frozen carrots, I just haven’t been that organized to have them on hand!)

1 qt homemade broth (I have used everything from duck to beef, I don’t think it matters!)

1 chopped onion

1/2 batch of homemade barbecue seasoning (see recipe below)

Homemade Barbecue Seasoning:
(I think I found this on Allrecipes.com awhile back – can’t take credit for it myself.)

1 T. salt

1 T. pepper

1 T. chili powder

2 T. paprika

1 T. cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne (you can leave it out of you don’t like “spicy” stuff)

I prefer to use homemade seasoning mixes…one of these days I’ll share my cajun and taco seasonings too.  You just never know what you’re going to find in store bought packets (like…MSG – an excitotoxin that literally stimulates brain cells to death (and since it comes in somewhere around 40 forms…good luck figuring that out easily!), sugar or HCFS, and other unmentionables that I don’t care to ingest!).  This comes together quickly, with spices that are generally on hand.  At least here.

Brown hamburger and onion until thoroughly cooked.  Add chopped carrots and broth.  Cook til carrots are nearly tender.  I then add the peas and beans – since they’re only frozen they don’t take as long.  The liquid will cook down some, which is fine.  At the end, I add the barbecue seasoning and mix in well.  Real food doesn’t get much easier than this!!!

I can only speculate on servings.  I like to make alot of food – since there are five of us – and it is extremely helpful to have enough left for lunch the next day.  I’d guesstimate that this serves 7-10 depending on serving size.

Enjoy!

This post was shared at The Prairie Homestead’s Homestead Barn Hop; The Better Mom’s Mondays Link Up; Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesdays; Simply Sugar and Gluten Free’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays; Cooking Traditional Foods’ Traditional Tuesdays; Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays; The Tasty Alternative’s Allergy Free Wednesdays; GNOWFGLINS Simple Lives Thursdays; The Cultured Palate’s Tasty Traditions; Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday; 21st Century Housewife’s Gallery of Favorites; Vegetarian Mamma’s Gluten Free Fridays; Butter Believer’s Sunday School Blog Carnival;