Tag: mealprep

Ground Beef Stir Fry

For some reason, lately I’ve really been craving stir fry and fried rice. So this weekend, after doing a little bit of research into how I could make a sauce for it, I threw together what I had in the fridge and made this delicious ground beef stir fry.

It really couldn’t be easier. I sauteed some ground beef with garlic and ginger, added some frozen broccoli and some diced bell pepper, poured my sauce in, and served it with rice. And I made sure to make extra rice so I can make fried rice on Thursday 😉

A couple quick notes– I used 80/20 ground beef so I didn’t need to add oil to the pan. But if you use something leaner you’ll want to add a little bit of vegetable oil to the pan so it isn’t too dry. I also used grated fresh ginger (which you can keep in the freezer to make it last longer!), but if you don’t have any, you can just use about a teaspoon of ground ginger. Same goes for the garlic!

So I ate this with rice, but you could totally do it with noodles if you have them! Just toss them in the pan once they’re cooked so they can get nice and coated in the sauce.

Also feel free to use any vegetables you may have! This would be super good with a frozen veggie mix, or just any frozen or fresh veggies like green beans, peppers, broccoli, corn, or squash.

2 servings means perfect for meal prep!

Ground Beef Stir Fry

Serves: 2

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (or 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • About 1 cup frozen broccoli
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Sriracha (or less)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 cup cooked white rice for serving

Instructions

  1. In a sauce pan over medium heat, cook the ground beef with the ginger and garlic until brown and cooked through.
  2. While the beef is cooking, prepare the sauce by whisking together the soy sauce, brown sugar, Sriracha, and cornstarch.
  3. Once the meat is cooked through, add the vegetables and cook until tender but not too soft. 3-5 minutes.
  4. Add the prepared sauce and cook until it begins to thicken,
  5. Serve over rice!

One Bowl Baked Oatmeal

I love oatmeal. I know a lot of people don’t, usually because it’s bland or a weird texture. But today I’m bringing you an oatmeal dish that anyone can enjoy! It’s warm, filling, and tastes like the best and softest oatmeal cookie. But healthy! AND it comes together in one bowl and bakes in 30-45 minutes.

I found this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction and it was just so good I had to share it. I doubled the recipe to fit in my 9×13 pan and it set me up for more than 2 weeks of breakfast! I just microwaved a square for about 45 seconds with a little bit of milk to make it creamy and it was amazing. Also great topped with some chopped nuts! And it freezes really well, so it makes a great breakfast meal prep! Ideal for when you don’t have much time in the morning.

Definitely check out Sally’s blog, she’s got some amazing baked goods and I can’t wait to try out some more of her recipes. But for now, definitely try her baked oatmeal!

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baked-oatmeal/

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Peppers

Here I am, back with some more slow cooker meal prep. This was my meal prep a few weeks ago, and I slightly doctored up this recipe from Budget Bytes (you should totally check her out for some amazing, easy, cheap meals!).

Really the only difference is that I used a jar of crushed tomatoes instead of marinara sauce, so I added some extra spices (like red pepper flakes for some kick), as well as balsamic vinegar and a little bit of olive oil. And it was DELICIOUS.

Like Beth says in her recipe, this is delicious over pasta (which is how I ate it on Sunday), over rice, polenta, or even on bread for a killer sandwich. I’m definitely gonna have to toast some homemade bread and add this and some mozzarella cheese.

A note, this makes a ton and my roommate really doesn’t like peppers, so I stored a bunch in the freezer. Perfect for a night when you don’t feel like cooking 🙂

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Peppers

Cook time: 4 hours and 10 minutes

Serves: 6 (freezes well!)

Ingredients

  • 3 bell peppers (any color)
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tablespoon basil
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon garlic
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
  • 24 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar

Instructions

  1. Slice the bells peppers and onions into 1/4 inch strips. Lay half the peppers and onions in the bottom of a slow cooker.
  2. Place the chicken breasts on top of the peppers and onions and season with all the spices.
  3. Cover the chicken with the rest of the peppers and onions and cover with the crushed tomatoes.
  4. Drizzle with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
  5. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Remove the lid and shred the chicken with two forks.
  6. Serve over pasta, rice, polenta, on toast, or eat on its own!

Quick and Easy Tacos

I’ve already written about breakfast tacos on the blog, and today I’m sharing my regular taco recipe. It couldn’t be easier; mostly because I just use the seasoning packets from the grocery store 😉

I know that the best homemade tacos are made with all the important spices: cumin, pepper, chilis, garlic, etc. But we’re poor college kids, we don’t want to have to buy all these different (expensive) spices that we won’t use that often. So I always just buy a taco seasoning pack (think Old El Paso), because they’re so cheap and so easy.

Along with meat for my tacos, I love black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and cheese. But you could also add lettuce, onions, peppers, rice, sour cream. Whatever you have in your fridge works! Don’t have tortillas or taco shells? Make some rice and make it a bowl to have some homemade (super cheap) Chipotle or make taco salads for lunch during the week. It couldn’t be easier and tastier. We love easy meal prep.

So here’s the quick and easy taco recipe that I make all the time. Again, feel free to add or take away anything based on what you have!

Quick and Easy Tacos

Cook time: about 15 minutes

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of ground meat (beef or turkey)
  • One taco seasoning packet
  • Small tortillas (corn or flour)
  • 1 can of black beans
  • 1/2 an avocado, sliced
  • 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Cheese, shredded, (cheddar or jack cheeses are best)

Instructions

  1. In a pan on medium heat, cook the ground beef until brown
  2. At the same time, in 1 tablespoon of oil on medium heat, cook the black beans until thick and warmed through.
  3. Add seasoning pack and follow instructions (usually, add water) and cook meat until thick.
  4. Top tortillas with meat, cheese, and all other toppings of choice and enjoy

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

One of the things I miss most about home is my parents’ cooking. Both my mom and my dad are excellent cooks (and bakers!) and I’m SO lucky I grew up getting to eat so many different things. But man do I miss my dads sausages with peppers and onions or sautéed mushrooms and my moms peanut butter cookies or spaghetti and meat sauce.

Before I moved into my apartment, as a birthday gift (since my birthday is in July) my mom gave me a recipe book full of all of our favorite family recipes as well as some of her easy go-to’s when she was in her 20s. It was the most thoughtful gift and now I can make her peanut butter cookies whenever I want 🙂 (although let’s be real they’re never as good when you make them yourself).

One of the recipes in this book is my mom’s pulled pork recipe. Since my roommate and I had kind of been in a food rut of eating the same things every week, I decided that I’d pick up a pork butt at the grocery store and we’d have pulled pork this week.

Now I feel like the phrase “homemade pulled pork” may be intimidating, but I promise it’s not! This was pretty much the easiest recipe ever because you make it in the slow cooker! All you do is season and brown the meat, cut off the twine that may be tied around it, and then stick it in the slow cooker with some stock. THE easiest meal prep.

It’s difficult to tell, but this is pulled pork atop tater tots and cheese. AKA life changing

I will say, I’ve only used a slow cooker once before and now that I’ve made this pulled pork I am a slow cooker convert. There’s nothing better than dumping a bunch of things in a pot and letting it cook for 6 hours while you get on with life.

The recipe my mom wrote calls for 3 pounds of pork butt, which feeds 9-10. I intended to buy 1-2 pounds to feed us for the week but all they had at ALDI was 5 pounds… so now we have plenty of pulled pork in the freezer 🙂

Lemme know what some of your favorite slow cooker recipes are, I’m on the hunt now that I’ve seen how easy it makes meal prep!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder (butt)
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. Rub mixture over all sides of meat, pressing to adhere
  2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the pork and brown on all sides, 6-8 minutes. Transfer meat to the slow cooker.
  3. Add broth to the skillet, scraping any browned bits. Add broth to slow cooker, cover, and cook until pork is very tender, 6-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
  4. Once finished, shred and serve: on its own, with barbecue sauce, as a sandwich, in a taco, or on tater tots!
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