What's for dinner??????

A lot of people have asked me how I make dinner every night. How I have time to spend so much time in the kitchen to make dinner. The truth is I spend about 5-10mins making dinner. I wish I could spend a lot time cooking (since I enjoy it so much) but when you have kids and things to do it is almost impossible to spend that much time in the kitchen preparing dinner!

I am going to share one of my favorite recipes that will turns into three different meals! It is so so so easy and so yummy!!! I usually take Monday's to be my prep day for other meals as well so when I make dinner everything is already done and I just have to throw everything together.

1st Meal --- Beef Roast with Vegetables

(This is easy just prepare it in the morning and it is done in the evening)

1/2 cup chopped onion
6 red potatoes, cut into cubes
1 (5-pound) boneless beef roast, trimmed of fat
Salt and ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Arrange onion, potatoes, in bottom of slow cooker. Season beef all over with salt and black pepper. Rub flour all over beef. Place roast on top of vegetables in slow cooker. Whisk together tomatoes, maple syrup, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour mixture over beef. Cover and cook on LOW for 12 hours or on HIGH for 8 hours. Remove beef from slow cooker and shred with 2 forks. Serve 1/3 of shredded beef with this meal (and all of the vegetables) and refrigerate remaining beef for another use.

Meal 2 --Beef Empanadas

(this one is one of my favorite favorite meals) You just use the left over beef!!

2 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crusts
2 cups cooked shredded beef
1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Unroll pie crusts onto a flat surface. Top each quadrant of crust with 1/2 cup of beef, 1/4 cup of cheese and about a tablespoon of chiles, making even layers and spreading ingredients to within 1/2-inch of the edges. Top with second pie crust. Using a pastry cutter or sharp knife, make an X across the circle, making 4 equal sections. Pinch around the edges with a fork to seal. Transfer empanadas to a baking sheet and make small slits in the top of each one to allow steam to escape during cooking. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

3rd Meal -Asian Beef Salad

1 tablespoon sesame seeds
4 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
2 cups cooked shredded beef
1/2 cup shredded carrots
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Salt and pepper
Place sesame seeds in a small skillet and set pan over medium-low heat. Cook 1 to 3 minutes, until just golden brown, shaking the pan frequently to prevent burning. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place lettuce in a large bowl (or divide onto individual dishes). Top lettuce with beef, carrots, scallions and cilantro.
In a small bowl, whisk together broth, vinegar and sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour mixture over salad, and top with toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

This is what I do for most of my meals-- I usually just bake a big batch of whatever meat I am using that week and try to use the left overs in different meals!