In the spirit of dirtying as few dishes as possible (which my husband appreciates very much since I’m the cook and he’s the kitchen clean-up crew), I plan to brown a couple pounds of ground meat every Sunday as part of my meal prep. I assume that ¼ lb will be about 1 serving of whatever I make as long as I have more than just meat on the plate. You'll have to consider everyone’s typical appetite when you’re prepping. 

I prefer to use ground pork or pork sausage. What’s the difference? Salt, pepper, and sage in this case. The bulk pork sausage I use has those 3 ingredients which is an awesome base flavor that you can take in a lot of different directions. If you prefer, you can use ground pork, which has no ingredients added and then you’ll have a totally blank palate to season however you like.
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Once I crumble the meat up and cook it fully, I drain off the "drippings" and begin parsing it out into different recipes. One thing to keep in mind is that if you want to make sausage gravy, you should save the drippings AKA all the liquid in a container to the side. 

So how many ways can I use my sausage crumbles? With the right added flavors, the possibilities are endless! And many of them call for sautéed veggies, so I would also suggest prepping those in one big batch. Here are a few recipes to consider:
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1. Morning Scramble: Scramble eggs in a pan with oil or butter. Add in sausage crumbles and sautéed veggies and cover until the meat is warmed. Just before serving, top with shredded cheese, avocado and/or salsa. (I personally prefer to cook my eggs just before I eat them since they don’t reheat with the best texture but having crumbles and veggies ready-to-go significantly shortens the overall prep time in the morning.)
2. Sausage Gravy: my 1983 Betty Crocker cookbook is Tried & True for making gravy: For every cup of Gravy, use 2-Tbsp drippings, 2-Tbsp flour, and 1-cup liquid (meat juices, water, or broth). Add drippings to a medium pan, then stir in flour until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in liquid. Heat to boiling and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. 
3. Spaghetti and marinara: sauté chopped peppers, onions and mushrooms in a skillet with olive oil. Cook pasta of your choice. Mix together the pasta, veggies, meat, and red sauce of your choice.
4. Spaghetti squash with veggies, & parmesan: Cook and pull the spaghetti squash with a fork, add about a ½ Tbsp of butter per cup of squash. Add reheated sausage and sautéed veggies as well as grated parmesan, salt and garlic powder to your personal taste.
5. Tacos: Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder to the crumbles while they’re still warm. Once I drain my original batch of crumbles, I just place about ¼ of them into the pan and add the seasoning along with a small amount of the grease/drippings that I just removed from the pan so it distributes the seasoning and doesn’t dry out. When you’re ready for tacos later in the week, just warm the meat and some sautéed veggies and add the fixin’s you like to a tortilla shell. Lettuce, sour cream, shredded cheese, olives, avocado, salsa, black beans, etc.
6. Lettuce wraps: Add hoisin sauce, garlic, ginger, and potentially sriracha to the meat in a pan when you’re prepping. When you’re ready to serve, reheat the meat and cut a head of iceberg into 6ths or use romaine spears. Top with scallions and shredded carrots. >>Find the start-to-finish recipe inspiration here.
7. Egg Roll Bowl (low carb version of an egg roll): Add garlic and ginger to the meat in a pan when you’re prepping. Cook shredded carrots, and thin-sliced cabbage and onion in equal quantities in sesame oil. Mix veggies together with meat and add soy sauce and sriracha to your personal taste. >>Find the start-to-finish recipe inspiration here. 

I love to cook, but with just two of us in the house, I get tired of eating the same things over and over. My husband would be perfectly happy to eat the same thing day after day, but luckily he’s willing to try my more creative “recipes”, which are often a combination of whatever is in the fridge.

But in 2020, it’s my goal to actually plan meals, prep them on weekends and have food ready all week long. I know this would have been a big help after work in 2019 and will be an even bigger help in 2020 when our family grows by one this February!

Although I haven’t been great at pre-planning, my favorite strategy is to use one protein and see how I can add different seasonings and sauces to the leftovers so I don’t feel like I’m eating the same thing over and over. And it’s a big bonus that I always have a freezer full of meat to choose from.

There are two main pork ingredients that I like to use that have the most versatility: Pork Butt and Pork Sausage. I’m going to talk about the pork butt here.

​If you're more interested in sausage recipes, click here. 
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Recipe
Ingredients:

• 1 pork butt, bone-in 4lbs (served 5 adults & 2 kids along with 2 meals of leftovers for 2 adults)
• Salt
• Sugar & Spice Rub
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp seasoned salt
  • ¼ tsp onion powder
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp nutmeg or allspice
  • ¼ tsp paprika

 ​Steps:

• Make sure your pork butt is fully thawed (at least 24 hours). Trim the fat cap down to ¼ inch. Cut hash marks across the fat cap so that the salt and rub will penetrate.
• Mix Sugar & Spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl.
• Coat all surfaces of the roast with salt using a salt shaker and rub in.
• Coat all surfaces of the roast with the sugar & spice rub and rub in.
• Place in an oven-friendly pan and allow to set for at least 2 hours to absorb the flavor (you can do this the night before if you refrigerate it).
• Pre-heat oven to 450°F.
• Cook uncovered for 20 minutes until the fat begins to brown, but not burn.
• Drop the oven temp to 250°F and cover the roast with foil. Continue cooking 5-6 hours until it reaches 190°F internally. (I monitor it with a digital thermometer that has a wire and probe and alarms when it reaches my target temp).
• Pull the roast out and leave covered with the thermometer inserted and allow to rest at least 15 minutes. (Longer is better as long as it stays above 140°F until it’s served). 

Teriyaki Pork Kabobs:  This is another great combination; zesty, fruity flavors combined with teriyaki glazed pork. This one takes a little more prep and ingredients, but it's worth it!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of Pork chops or pork butt, chopped into 1-inch squares
• Teriyaki sauce
• 8 oz Fresh Pineapple chunks about 1”
• 1 can of Coconut milk
• 3 Tbsp - Sugar
• 2 tsp - Cinnamon
• Red and Orange Bell peppers in 1-1.5” pieces
• Yellow onion cut into 1” chunks
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• Skewers, metal or wood

Directions:
      In advance:

• Marinade pork chunks in teriyaki sauce in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours).
• Place the sugar, cinnamon and coconut milk, both the solids and liquid into a large bowl and mix together. Add the pineapple and allow this to marinade for the same duration as the pork.  

     Day of:

• If using wood skewers, soak in water for at least 15 minutes before use.
• Place vegetables in a bag with olive oil, salt and garlic powder. Close off the top and shake/massage until all pieces are coated.
• Alternate stringing the chunks of meat, pineapple, and vegetables on the skewer.
• Preheat the grill and then set to medium-low heat.
• Place the skewers on the grill and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the meat is done (145 F inside). Make sure to turn the skewers frequently. 

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