Mama's Hamburger Beef Stroganoff

I've been making this wonderful FAST comfort food recipe for 2 decades & I don't even measure, but I will for this posting. I almost always serve over Minute Rice & with green beans, then I mix ALL leftovers together for a flavorful leftover blend the next day. This EASILY doubles, triples etc so works great for unexpected company or a pack of hungry kids when you're in a flyin hurry to get supper on the table!

• Ready In: 25 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1  lb ground beef (I prefer 80/20)
• 6 -8  fresh mushrooms (sliced OR 1 6.5-ounce canned stems & pieces is fine)
• 1  medium onion (sub onion flakes or onion powder-you get the flavor & kids don't know they're getting the onions lol)
• 1⁄2-1  minced garlic clove (sub garlic powder for same reason as onion)
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 (10 1/2ounce) can  cream of celery soup (any brand is fine to your taste)
• 8  ounces sour cream (use 2-8 ounces per batch depending on preference or how much you have on hand -regular or light work)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Start rice in microwave & it will be ready by the time the rest is done. Or of course use stove for rice or noodles.
2. Brown ground beef with mushrooms, onion, & garlic.
3. DO NOT DRAIN (This is why I prefer 80/20.) You HAVE to have some grease for the next step, so add 1-2 Tablespoons of butter or margarine if you used ground chuck. If you used a lower quality and there seems to be more than 1/2 cup grease at this stage, drain some off.
4. Make a roux (pronounced roo) by sprinkling flour on hamburger mixture (you'll know it's right when all the grease is pretty much absorbed but there's not a great excess of flour) & stirring continuously for a few minutes until mixture thickens, then reduce heat to low/medium-low.
5. Add cream of celery soup & sour cream, stir to warm.
6. Salt & pepper to taste & serve over rice or noodles (If desired & -lol- to stop kids taking more topping than rice, mix all together before you serve) NOTE: this is a great early recipe for younger cooks, even with the roux process (once you've seen/done it once it's easy to tell if you have it right.).