Works For Me Wednesday: Hamburger Helper

My husband loves meatloaf (well, mine anyways). I love a good Italian meatball. And we both enjoy good hamburgers on the grill. But I hate - despise - getting ground meat under my fingernails. My trick: I buy meat in 3lb. packages and divide it equally with a butter knife. A 3lb. pack of ground beef or turkey should yield 12 burgers. Once divided, the sections are easy to pick up and form into patties of uniform size. I form them all, then wrap two at a time in plastic wrap. I wash out the styrofoam tray the meat came in, stack the burgers in that and head for the freezer. Meatballs are equally easy. I just divide the meat into more sections and quickly form each into little balls to be dropped into sauce or baked in the oven and individually frozen. Lastly, I never use my hands to mix a meatloaf. After adding all the ingredients to the meat, I use my potato masher to mix them together and then turn into a baking pan. (I usually use a 11x7 pan because a thinner meatloaf cooks much more quickly).

Meatloaf, hamburgers, meatballs and clean hands to boot - Works for me!