Ground Beef, how I loathe thee!

Okay, so maybe I don't really loathe thee, but i find you terribly inconvenient. Most of my recipes that call for ground beef, you have to pre-cook it before you use it in your recipe. That seriously adds on an extra step and more time than I am willing to spend. Plus, it usually leaves me one more dish to clean at the end of the night. Oh the agony of it all!! Can you feel my pain?

How do I survive...Here's my solution: Buy your ground beef in bulk at sam's club or costco, or when it is discounted at your local grocery store. When you get home, most people I know, separate that red gooey mess into ziploc bags with a pound in each and toss it in the freezer. Do I do that? Nope. I cook it right there all together. Well, I usually cook half at a time and then divide the amount evenly into five or six bags depending on how many pounds I bought.

Also, most recipes have you cook your meat with onions. Solution to that....add dried onions to the beef while you cook it all together and that will save you the time of sauteing those little guys. Plus, no more tears over cut onions.

Then they go into the freezer until I need them again. Pull out of the freezer in the morning when you want to use it or defrost in the microwave when you are ready to start cooking dinner.

This saves so much time and less mess during the week. I sometimes try to plan ahead and if I want to make a meatloaf or something that requires the meat to be raw, I just put some uncooked beef in a bag before cooking the rest. Time saver, I guarantee, and you only have to clean the greasy pot with yucky beef remnants once in a while.

Check out my spaghetti recipe below using pre-cooked ground beef.

Green, green, green onions!

I always have this problem with green onions. I buy a huge bundle and only use about three or four stalks, and then they go to waste in my fridge. I have also planned meals for a week and knowing that I am going to need green onions for one recipe, I plan the rest of the meals to fit around green onions!! I know it's crazy but I hate to waste them!! But never fail, my sister-in-law saved me one day with her tip.

When you cut up the green onions for a recipe, cut them all up. Place unused green onions in ziploc bags and throw them in the freezer. Next time you need them just pull them out of the freezer, measure how much you need and add them. You don't even need to defrost. Sweet, right? This is also nice when the green onions are super cheap. Stock up, slice them up and then put them away when you need them.

Second tip with green onions: If you cut off the green onions where the white starts, place unused bottoms in a cup. Add some water, give it a few days and they will regrow! Perfect for toppings or a little garnish! Plus, if you grow enough of them, you can cut them up and add to the freezer batches!!

My New Favorite Cooking Tool

Does anyone hate the time it takes to clean off the inside of the crockpot?? Especially, when you accidentally leave the crockpot on after you have taken most of the ingredients out?? It is not fun to spend countless hours soaking the dish and then hoping that the next time you scrub it the chunks will come off.

My solution: Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners!

You just place on of these little babies in the crockpot before you add the ingredients. When you have finished, pull the bag out and toss it! Clean-up done!!

Only downside, you might rip the bag while scooping food out, but it rinses right off. Trust me! Try it you won't regret it!