4 Ingredient Broccoli Beef

This broccoli beef has become one of my go-to recipes because it's quick, easy, and delicious. My toddler loves it (minus the broccoli) and calls it sticky beef. 

Here's what you need:

a pound of ground beef
a broccoli crown
soy sauce
brown sugar

That's it. And salt and pepper for seasoning your beef, if you want to get fancy. It's also scrumptious served over sticky rice. So you're looking at a maximum of 7 ingredients if you want all the extras, which is still pretty sweet.

Thoroughly cook ground beef in a skillet. At the same time, broil broccoli florets in the oven until toasted to your desired level of brown-ness. Once the beef is cooked, mix together roughly equal amounts of soy sauce and brown sugar (err on the side of more soy sauce; I usually do about a quarter cup of each) and pour over the beef. Simmer for a couple of minutes to let the flavors combine. 

If I'm serving this over rice, I'll layer rice on the bottom, broccoli in the middle, saucy beef on top. 

Simplify Meal Planning: Identifying Family Favorites

With other bloggers creating lists of their go-to meals, I realized I don’t have anything like that for my family. And I probably should. After all, having a list of meals you know your family likes makes meal planning easier. I’ve been compiling this list over the last couple of weeks and then reviewing it after checking my fridge (and freezer and pantry) and grocery ads before coming up with my shopping list for the week. And I’m saving about $20 a week on groceries and spending less time planning! Win-win!

Our go-to meals: 

Chicken fajitas 

Chicken fried rice 

Chicken and rice bowls

Chicken salad sandwiches

Grilled cheese 

Taco bowls (or tacos)

Stuffed peppers 

Lettuce wraps 

Stuffed chicken parm

Steak rolls

Broccoli beef

Chicken fried steak 

Burgers 

Ribs

Chili

Pigs in a blanket 
Beans and cornbread

Thai chicken wraps

Stuffed shells 

Meatball subs

Mac and cheese
Pumpkin-sauced spaghetti

Pizza

Carnitas

Barbecue pork

Breakfast 

Sides:

Salad

Coleslaw (regular or peanut)

Cornbread 

Sweet potato fries or chips

Roasted potatoes 

Garlic toast 

Carrots and ranch

Breakfasts:

Whole wheat muffins

Donuts

Banana muffins 

Oatmeal 
Not overnight oats

French toast
Apple crumble

Pancakes 

Breakfast burritos

Breakfast sandwiches 
Scrambled eggs

Snacks:

Apple with peanut butter (or pb dip)

Nuts

Yogurt and granola

Protein shake

Fruit

Desserts:

Ice cream

Cookies

No bake cheesecakes

Fudgy brownies
Microwave brownie

Pizza, pizza

Pizza is one of my go-to meals. It's quick and easy to throw together with ingredients I almost always have. Except when I don't. Tonight, I'd already decided that we were having pizza when I realized I didn't have yeast. This yeast-free pizza dough from House of Yumm saved me. I thought the dough turned out a little more biscuit-y than pizza-y, not that there's anything wrong with that. Hubby thought it was delish. It made a pretty pepperoni pizza, right? 

And I love that the dough doesn't have to be pre-cooked, you just layer the toppings on the raw dough (sauce, cheese, pepperoni, cheese, pepperoni, cheese... in case you were wondering).

And half the recipe made a perfect sized pizza for the two of us. 

And I realize that if I'm going to share food pictures on the Internet, I should probably invest in a shiny new baking sheet. Probably.

The Ultimate Barbecue Chicken Post

This post may contain affiliate links, which means you're supporting my stay-at-home blogging efforts if you make a purchase using these links.

Because Hubby is from Texas (or maybe because he's a weirdo... could go either way), he doesn't share my love for barbecue chicken. Which means one batch makes me about a week's worth of lunches for while he's at work! It's literally the easiest thing to make in the slow cooker and it's so delicious and versatile once it's done. If you don't have a slow cooker, I definitely suggest getting one. They're great for when you don't want to spend a ton of time cooking.

This recipe works just as well if you have a nice pork tenderloin, except then it's pulled pork instead of barbecue chicken. And then it won't last as long, because Hubby will eat it, too.

Here's how you make it: put 2 or 3 boneless chicken breasts (or 1 pork tenderloin) in the slow cooker, pour about half a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce over the top, turn the slow cooker on low for about 6 hours and walk away. When it's fully cooked, shred the chicken with a fork right in the slow cooker. You don't want to lose any of the chicken-y barbecue-y juices. And then comes the hardest part... trying to figure out how you want to consume your delicious barbecue chicken. 

Here are some of my favorites.

Pizza: barbecue chicken, red onion, green onion, extra barbecue sauce, and jack cheese (cheddar works, too) on a homemade pizza crust.

Salad: barbecue chicken, green onion, black beans, corn, lettuce with equal parts barbecue sauce and ranch dressing.

Sandwich: just barbecue chicken on toasted sourdough works just fine for me. I'm so California.

Nachos: barbecue chicken, black beans, green onion, any shredded cheese, and tortilla chips.

Quesadilla: a substitute for nachos if you don't have tortilla chips.

A la carte: with a fork, unless you want sticky barbecue fingers.

What's your favorite way to enjoy barbecue chicken?