Smart Ingredient: Ground Beef

There’s nothing more simple, there’s nothing more basic. But when we’re talking about an easy weeknight meal, there is nothing that opens up dinner possibilities for my family like ground beef (or some version of ground meat). We’ve already talked about stocking up on Smart Ingredient chicken broth, and how to pair the two to make my family’s favorite — Salisbury Steak. There’s also Beef Dumpling Soup, and Chili. And we talked about my other favorite Smart Ingredient, canned diced tomatoes. Combine these with ground beef for a start on meatloaf, baked pasta, meatball sandwiches, and stuffed peppers. Simply brown it with onions, and you’ve got a start on tacos or taco salad. Alone it becomes easy hamburgers. Bam! Right there — ten dinners for my family that can be made with what I’ve got on hand, just with the start of a package of ground beef. Oh, and Did I mention it’s inexpensive and can be frozen for weeks? Buy ground meat in bulk, and freeze it in 1 to 1&1/2 pound quantities to help keep Smart Ingredients on hand in your home. Are you starting to get a sense of how the Smart Ingredients add up to dinner success? The plan is outlined in more detail in the 70 Meals, One Trip to the Store cookbook. Click here for the great recipe from the book for Stuffed Peppers.