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    $5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

    Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

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    Taco Meat

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    For those coming over from the Costco Meal Plan #2 post, welcome! To make this recipe for 2 meals, use 2 lbs of the ground beef and 1 can 15 oz can of diced tomatoes. Adjust onion and spices according to taste! 

    There’s a reason I don’t blog recipes on the weekend. It’s my “time off” from blogging. BUT, I don’t take time off from cooking! Well, I do. Sorta.

    We typically have spaghetti or tacos on the weekend, along with leftovers or sandwiches. In order to spend as little time in the kitchen on the weekend as possible, I like to “batch cook” my spaghetti sauce and taco meat. Ideally, I do this on the same day as my shopping trip, while I’m doing other meal prep that afternoon.

    Then when Saturday afternoon rolls around and I’m not “feeling” up to cooking, I’ve already got taco meat ready and taco shells in the stockpile.

    Dinner’s ready in a matter of minutes!

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    Freezer Friendly Taco Meat

    Brown the ground beef in bulk and freeze.
    Prep Time10 minutes
    Cook Time10 minutes
    Servings - 3 meals

    Ingredients 

    • 3 lb. ground chuck
    • 1 onion finely chopped
    • 6 oz. can tomato sauce
    • 4 oz. can green chilies
    • 1 bell pepper seeded and finely chopped
    • 2 Tbsp chili powder
    • 2 Tbsp ground cumin
    • 2 Tbsp garlic powder
    • 1 tsp salt
    • Pepper to taste

    Instructions

    • Brown the ground chuck with the chopped onion. Drain and rinse. Return to sauce pan.
    • Add the tomato sauce and spices to the ground beef and let simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
    • Divide meat into meal size portions into freezer containers. Label and freeze.

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    Comments

    1. Celine Clemens says

      April 12, 2010 at 10:32 am

      Why not freeze the meat in freezer bags? You can stack many in a small amount of space. It defrosts quickly, too.

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        April 12, 2010 at 12:07 pm

        @Celine Clemens,

        Just using what I had on hand. Freezer baggies would certainly “stack” nicer. I do that with spaghetti sauce.

        Reply
    2. Anna says

      August 17, 2010 at 2:14 pm

      Just subscribed! Love your website, thanks for the batch cooking ideas. I’m a procrastinator when it comes to meal planning and this idea will help a lot!

      Happy Tuesday 🙂

      Reply
    3. Kristen says

      August 31, 2011 at 9:19 am

      I certainly would love to try preparing tacos. I just couldn’t believe that taco meat could be affordable. Thanks for listing the prices and where to find them. I just hope that there are tortilla or taco available in the market.

      Magnavox MDR513H

      Reply
    4. John Hume says

      July 1, 2012 at 4:47 pm

      Great recipe, thanks.

      I was looking for something that would provide a nice flavorful taco bar thing for a church function. This worked perfectly. I cooked up one batch and probably will do one or two more before the event.

      I don’t believe in “tinkering” much with recipes until you’ve tried them more or less “as is,” but in this case I did add a can of kidney beans – way squashed up, to extend the recipe a bit. That worked fine.

      Thanks again.

      Reply
    5. Elizabeth says

      May 20, 2014 at 2:47 pm

      I made this the other day and tricked my kids and husband into eating the corn by just adding it to the taco seasoning. Worked like a charm.

      Reply
    6. Diane says

      May 22, 2014 at 1:55 am

      I made this tonight. It is delicious! Perfect blend of spices.

      Reply

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    I’m Erin Chase…

    Also known as the
    $5 Dinner Mom.

    I have a little problem. I cannot make a meal that costs more than $5.
    It’s a fun challenge,
    and my pocketbook
    thanks me.
    Want to join me?

    Learn more here!

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