March 22, 2024
You just got home from work, the family is hungry, and you’re staring into the fridge, waiting for ingredients to magically appear so you can transform them into a tasty meal. We’ve been there!
But, with just a little planning, dinner can be simple and fast. It’s all in the prep. Taking time up front to prepare for the week will end up saving you time on weeknights, money spent on eating out, and, you’ll have delicious and nutritious dishes ready at home. A 3-oz. serving of beef packs in a ton of nutrients—over half of your daily protein needs plus choline, iron, niacin, phosphorus, riboflavin, selenium, vitamins B6 and B12, and zinc.
Here are three easy ways to use smart prep to make nutritious weeknight meals stress-free.
1. Cook Once, Eat Multiple Times: The Magic of Batch Cooking
With a big batch of our 100% grass fed and finished ground beef and a little support from mix-and-match ingredients, you’ll have multiple meals in a snap. Cook your Grass Run Farms ground beef on the weekend to avoid asking, “What’s for dinner?” during the week. With our cooked ground beef, you can make a protein-packed chili as well as tacos, spaghetti, or hearty salads.
For inspiration, start with this fantastic recipe, Easy Mix-and-Match Beef Chili.
2. Prep Fruits and Veggies Ahead of Time
Don’t start from scratch every time you cook—get all the slicing and dicing of your fruits and vegetables done at once. Dedicating 20 minutes after your grocery run to prep ingredients is a gift to your future self. Pre-chopped veggies are perfect for stir-fries, salads, sheet pan dinners, and quick Instant Pot creations.
Grass Run Farms beef pairs perfectly with:
- Flat Iron Steak Salad with Citrus Marinade: A refreshing and flavorful salad featuring our juicy flat iron steak
- Skirt Steak Tacos with Mango Salsa: Tender skirt steak and a vibrant mango salsa create a taste of fiesta
- Korean BBQ Skewers by Food and Sachi: Marinate our flavorful ground beef and assemble kebabs for a fun and interactive dinner
3. Mason Jar Meals: Grab-and-Go Goodness
Drinking glass, cold brew storage, bulk pantry ingredient holder—Mason jars are our favorite versatile container. Grass Run Farms is adding one more way to use them to that list: lunch box. Layer your ingredients (prepared in advance, of course) strategically to avoid soggy greens: dressings on the bottom, followed by heartier items like cooked beef and beans. Top it all off with those delicate mixed greens for a perfect grab-and-go lunch.
Get creative with your own version of these Mason jar meals:
- Big Mac Salad Jars: Deconstruct the iconic burger into a healthy and satisfying salad.
- Steak Salad in a Jar: A Grass Run Farms steak makes everything better, including this steakhouse-inspired salad.
- Healthy Taco Salad in a Jar: Beef, beans, cheese, and greens—with a zesty taco dressing to top it off (well, it goes on the bottom, but you get what we mean!).
There are so many ways to meal prep—this is just a taste! No matter the method, with a little planning and some high-quality grass fed beef, you’ll be eating delicious, nutritious meals all week.
Get more fast, family-friendly beef recipes here.
