1 lb. ground meat
1 lg. can tomatoes
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 stalks celery (cut up)
5 onions
5 raw potatoes, diced
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. uncooked rice

Basic Recipe:

Brown meat and crumble with fork as brown. Add 1 quart of water. Simmer covered for 2 hours. Add rice and cook 10 to 15 minutes more. Add water to your liking before serving. It's best made up the day before.

My Variation of the Above: Instead of tomatoes, I add catsup to suit, 1 can vegetable soup, 6+ carrots diced (sometimes I add leftover peas and/or corn). I season to taste. When carrots are added, it takes longer to cook and should be stirred on occasion; water should be added as necessary. I also add more meat. This is eaten with fork on a dinner plate - the stew is thick.