PH Texans, I hope you don't take offense to the name. This is what this dish was called in my house growing up. I always really enjoyed it and it seems my kids enjoy it too. It's not fine dining by any stretch but it is pretty easy to make, creates minimal mess and is readily adaptable. So here it is:
1.5 lbs lean ground beef
1 medium/large sweet onion, diced
1 bell pepper, pick any color you want, cut into bite sized pieces
4-6 stalks of celery, cut into small bite sized pieces
14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes
2-3 TBS of chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
cooked rice, whatever 1 cup dry gets you go. I typically make rice pilaf with chicken bullion and orzo for this purpose.
salt and pepper to taste
Options:
I sometimes make it spicy by using hot peppers or cayenne chili powder. I wouldn't do this for my kids yet but maybe when they are older.
I also like to add a couple of tsp of smoked paprika.
Another good filler is frozen corn.
Preheat a small amount of oil in a large skillet over med/high heat.
Cook the onion, pepper and celery until just starting to get tender.
Add in the ground beef, chili powder, seasonings, and a little salt and pepper. Cook the beef until it's more or less cooked through.
Add in the stewed tomatoes and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes.
Add in the cooked rice and mix everything up. This would also be the time to add frozen corn if you wanted to do that.
After a minute turn the heat off and serve as you'd like (cheddar on top isn't a bad option).