Meal Planning Made Easy - Buy Bulk!

Did you know that Zephyr's 1 Source ground beef comes in a five pound bulk package? It's a cost-effective way to taste the difference between Zephyr's ground beef (made up of all the awesome steak cuts like the whole chuck, rib, loin, brisket, and sirloin) from one single Black Angus cow from one US farm, and traditional ground beef (made up of fat and trim from hundreds of cows from around the world).

If you're not feeding a crowd, though, you may be wondering exactly what to DO with five pounds of ground beef at a time. Buying products in bulk is a great way to streamline meal planning and meal prep. Cooking up a large batch of ground beef in a few different ways can take the stress out of coming up with lunch or dinner ideas at the last minute. Spend an hour or two upfront to save time and having to answer that ever-fun "what's for dinner?" question on those especially busy days or nights. 

If you know you will use the beef in a recipe within the next week, it can be stored cooked in the refrigerator. If it will be longer before you will use it or you just need to have it on hand for when you are in a pinch, store it in the freezer. Use meal planning containers, freezer bags, glassware or your favorite food storage system to portion and store in the way that works best for you or your family.

Need some ideas? Here are a few of our favorite ways to use five pounds of beef to make our meal planning and prep a snap:

• Burgers! Burgers! Burgers!
  
• Pro-tip: place parchment paper between patties before freezing to prevent them from freezing together so you can easily pullout a single patty or as many servings as you need.
• Meatballs in your favorite flavor. A few flavors that work well for meatballs:
  
• Italian
• Southwest
• Mediterranean
• Asian
• Neutral, such as just salt and pepper, for versatility to use in whatever recipe you are feeling! Neutral flavors work well in dishes like stroganoff, fondue or soups, and stews
• Crumbles, our favorite!
• Italian - use as a pizza topping or in pasta dishes
• Taco Meat - check out the recipe below
• Asian-inspired - use in bento boxes, lettuce wraps or rice bowls
• Neutral - much like the meatballs, a little salt and pepper has endless possibilities, like cottage pie, empanadas or even queso! 

Once you get used to cooking in bulk, don't be afraid to mix-and-match. Do a combo of burger patties and a couple of different flavors of crumbles, or roll some meatballs, patty out some burgers AND cook some crumbles. Think about what you use the most and prep what will make your week go by most smoothly. Be sure to check out our IGTV channel for more tips and tricks on cooking in bulk! Head over to Instagram now!