Dinner Dilemma

Last night I got home later and still needed to cook dinner. Even though I had a plan of what I was making I still found myself in a bit of a dilemma, when I realized we did not have a main ingredient – it was accidentally missed while grocery shopping.

So here is was we made instead and why I am glad to have some helpful items in the freezer.

A few weeks ago I purchased a large club pack of extra lean ground beef. When I got home I cooked it with some chopped onion and then froze it in 1 cup amounts.

My daughter set the table, while I cooked some pasta and defrosted the cooked ground beef in a large frying pan. As the beef heated up I broke it apart. Once I got it all broken apart I added a can of crushed tomatoes. Sprinkled the pan with black pepper, Italian seasoning and a dash of red pepper flakes and let simmer until bubbly and heated through.

While the sauce was simmering I made a ranch dressing and my daughter chopped a pepper and carrot for a salad.

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

• 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• few dashes Tabasco sauce (I found 4 not enough but 8 too much)

Voila! Dinner in 20 minutes.

Enjoy,

Shannon RD

Ranch dressing recipe: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/ranch-dressing-recipe_n_3769342.html