Making dinner easy
By Staff
Cook once, eat twice
Busy lifestyles make it difficult for families to spend time together on a regular basis – but parents overwhelmingly agree dinnertime is the best time to nurture and nourish their kids. A recent survey found that 78 percent of respondents feel eating dinner together as a family is important, but the majority (55 percent) said they are only able to have dinner together as a family four times – or less – each week.
Simple ideas to get dinner on the table are the key to making dinnertime together a habit. Try this simple idea – cook once; eat twice. By cooking the meat and turning it into two or three great meals, you can cut down on kitchen time and have plenty of room for more family time. For more ideas and shortcuts for dinnertime planning, preparation and cleanup a great resource is DinnerMadeEasy.com.
Bring one of these great complete dinner ideas to your family dinner table tonight! It's easy as 1 + 2 + 3 = a great meal.
Make-Ahead Seasoned Ground Beef
Cook a batch of ground beef now, then package to use for quick meals later.
Makes 10 cups
5 pounds lean ground beef
1 package (1.25 ounces) Old El Paso taco seasoning mix
Sprinkle taco seasoning mix evenly over ground beef; pat lightly. Cut beef in half. Heat 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat about 2 minutes. Cook half of beef about 10 minutes, breaking up and stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Repeat with remaining beef.
Divide Seasoned Ground Beef into DixieWare containers for
future meals. Use 3 cups to make Crescent-Topped Burger Bake, 2 cups to make Quick Italian Soup and 2 cups to make Tomato-Vegetable Stroganoff. Label containers and freeze up to 3 months.
Note: One pound of browned, drained ground beef equals approximately 2 cups cooked ground beef.
Note: Taco seasoning used to season the beef will not overpower the flavor of individual recipes.
Crescent-Topped Burger Bake
Makes 8 servings
3 cups Make-Ahead Seasoned Ground Beef (see recipe)
3 cups frozen diced hash brown potatoes
1 bag (1 pound) Green Giant frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 jars (12 ounces each) beef gravy 1 can (8 ounces) Pillsbury refrigerated
crescent dinner rolls
1. Heat oven to 375¡F. Mix thawed Seasoned Ground Beef, potatoes, vegetables, onion and gravy in 12-inch skillet. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Spoon hot beef mixture into ungreased 2 1/2- to 3-quart shallow casserole. Separate dough into 8 triangles. Place over hot mixture with points in center and wide ends around outer edge of casserole. Bake 14 to 17 minutes or until crescents are golden brown and mixture is bubbly around edge.
Serve with frozen broccoli florets, prepared as directed on bag.
Tomato-Vegetable Stroganoff
Makes 6 servings
2 cups Make-Ahead Seasoned Ground Beef (see recipe)
1 package (6.5 ounces) Hamburger Helper stroganoff dinner mix
1 cup frozen broccoli cuts
1 can (19 ounces) Progresso tomato basil soup
1 cup hot water
1 cup milk
1. Mix thawed Seasoned Ground Beef, Sauce Mix, broccoli, soup, hot water and milk in 10-inch skillet. Heat to boiling; stir in uncooked Pasta.
2. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve with Bisquick Complete cheese-garlic biscuits, prepared as directed on pouch.
