This is another super simple recipe that I have made multiple times when I am short on time or just don’t know what I want to make. I always plan dinner meals for the week before I go grocery shopping. But, I don’t always schedule those meals for specific days. I just plan enough to make sure that I have the stuff on hand to make dinners for the week. Sometimes, though, what I’ve planned doesn’t sound good, or I forgot to thaw something, or we use up our planned meals faster than I expect. When those things happen or, when it is planned for the menu because everyone really likes this meal, Beef Fried Rice is an easy rescue for me. In fact just last week, I couldn’t bring myself to decide on what to have for dinner and made Adam choose instead. He asked if we had any ground beef and vegetables and then requested Fried Rice. It turned out that I didn’t have the bag of frozen veggies that I thought I had, but I did have some zucchini and yellow squash, so I used those veggies that time and it was still delicious. This recipe is especially easy when I have browned ground beef in the freezer. I started browning ground beef and freezing it when the last homegrown beef we got from a friend was packaged in 2 pound packages. I was generally only making a meal that required one pound, but would have two pounds thawed. So, I started freezing the other pound to have on hand to speed up supper prep. I have tried to keep up with this with our new beef. But, it is a little harder to stay in the practice since our meat is in 1 pound packages now.

I got the original form of this recipe from the Pillsbury Fast & Healthy Cookbook. It calls for sesame oil and ginger. I have been using ginger lately because I had a bunch given to me. I just peel a chunk and keep it in the fridge. The rest is kept in the freezer to keep it fresh. Then for this recipe I use the small part of my cheese grater to grate the ginger. However, since I don’t generally have it on hand I usually just leave it out make and the meal is still delicious. Also, I’ve never bought sesame oil, so I just use olive or vegetable oil in the sauce. And sometimes, I just leave the oil out completely since I will use some extra coconut oil or butter in the pan when mixing everything together. This is a very changeable recipe that is way harder to mess up than to customize. I have used both coconut aminos and soy sauce and personally I prefer the coconut aminos. If you use cauliflower rice and coconut aminos and acceptable veggies like snap peas, green beans or squash then this can be a Whole30 meal.

Beef Fried Rice Ingredients:

1 pound Ground Beef

1 bag Frozen mixed veggies

1 1/2 cup Rice (measured dry)

2/3 cup Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos

1 tablespoon Grated Ginger (optional)

2 tablespoon Oil

2 large Eggs

1/2 tablespoon Butter

A splash of Hot Sauce OR dash of Red Pepper Flakes (optional to taste)

Beef Fried Rice Directions:

1. Cook Rice according to package directions. I use my rice cooker so that I can focus on the rest of the ingredients while the rice cooks. Ideally you could/should make the rice the day or night before and then the prep would go even faster. I’ve never managed to pull that much prep off, but I’m sure you could!
2. If using frozen browned meat start by making the egg. Otherwise brown your ground beef in a skillet.
3. Take meat out and set it aside.
4. If needed (there isn’t enough grease from the beef) melt the butter in the skillet.
5. Beat the two eggs well and pour into buttered/greased skillet
6. Allow the eggs to cook through
7. In a bowl mix together the soy sauce or coconut aminos, ginger if using, the splash or dash of heat, and the oil.
8. Reduce heat to medium/low, slice cooked eggs, add the meat back in (or warm the frozen browned beef), stir in frozen veggies.
9. Stir together meat, eggs, veggies and rice.
10. Pour sauce over the whole thing and stir until well combined.

Let me know how this meal goes with your family. What are your favorite veggies? If you like this recipe or if you have any delicious substitutions please be sure to share below so that we can continue to learn together!

I am really loving the chances I have had recently to help a couple of friends with some simple supper ideas and supplies! It’s been super fun to pack their baskets with all the “groceries” they need to make a yummy, super simple, fairly fast, but still wholesome and nourishing dinner for their families. I have sent out two of these baskets for close friends to try. They both had the Beef Alfredo Casserole, that I created from my Nanna’s pantry. I was so excited that both families really loved the food. My first actual “purchased” basket is set to go out tomorrow with the goodies for Smothered Pork Chops!!!! In an effort to share and help more with quick, easy and nourishing family dinners, I am sharing another recipe that our family enjoys regularly!

One of our family’s go-to dinners when I am running late or don’t know what to make is beef or chicken pot pie. This was a pretty simple recipe that I made several times before I felt like I really figured out the broth ratio part of it. The perfect ratio came after making Kansas City Steak Soup a couple times from my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. This soup is another go-to recipe during colder months for our family and has become the soup we always take to the Vore family Christmas get together (they always do soups and chili). I used the flour and broth combination that is called for in the first part of the recipe and it worked perfectly! Now, in light of complete honesty here, for both the soup and the pot pie (okay, really almost all of my “recipes”) I don’t always totally stick to the plan. I use whatever vegetables I have on hand, and I have been known to use chicken broth with beef pot pie because that’s what I had in the freezer when I needed a quick, nourishing supper. My favorite veggies to “keep on hand” now are the Season’s Choice frozen mixed vegetables from Aldi. We generally buy 1-2 bags each week when we go grocery shopping. Once I had figured our the broth/filling/thickening ratio this recipe became easy to keep throwing together and pleasing our taste buds while nourishing our bodies! However, the last step in making it truly simple came one evening when I just couldn’t bring myself to make a crust for the pot pie. Whenever I make pies or need a crust for cobbler or pot pie, I again turn to my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook and use their single or double pie crust recipe, depending on how much crust I need. Pie crust is one of those things I always dread making, but find surprisingly easy once I get going. Anyway back to the night I just couldn’t get myself motivated to make a pie crust. I did think pot pie sounded good, but I didn’t want to mix, roll and clean up a crust. I did however have some of our favorite biscuits in the freezer. So, I cooked the meat, added the veggies and broth and put the frozen biscuits on top. Then I just set the oven to the 450 degrees needed to bake the biscuits, and baked the whole thing for the 14 minutes that are necessary to cook the biscuits when they’re frozen and a newer, simpler recipe was born! Now, here is that recipe!

Beef/Chicken Pot Pie Recipe:

1 pound ground beef or cut up/shredded chicken (thighs or breasts)

14 ounces beef or chicken broth

1/4 cup flour

1 Bag frozen Mixed veggies (I have used canned before if I don’t have frozen on hand, they just aren’t as crisp)

5-6 Frozen Biscuits (I use this recipe)/or a pie crust

Beef or Chicken Pot Pie Directions:

1. Brown the meat in a cast iron skillet (any oven safe skillet will work, I just happen to love cast iron)
2. Preheat the oven to 450 for biscuits and 350 for crust (if using my recipes, otherwise follow the baking directions for the ones you are using)
3. Whisk flour into broth
4. Add veggies to the cooked meat
5. Pour flour/broth mixture over meat and veggies
6. Stir and cook over medium/high heat until broth just starts to bubble and thicken
7. Stir a final time to fully combine everything
8. Salt and pepper to taste
9. Place frozen biscuits or crust on top of mixture
10. Bake at 450 for 14 minutes for biscuits, follow the directions for the pie crust recipe that you use. I think I generally bake mine with a pie crust for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Your biscuits or crust should be golden brown and your filling bubbling once it’s done.

That’s it, a delicious, filling, one pan dinner! I hope and pray your family enjoys it as much as our family does!! If you make it and love it please be sure to leave a comment below! Also, if you like to experiment with recipes like I do, please share your variations below so we can continue learning and cooking together! What are some of your family’s favorite simple suppers?

I have tried various recipes for biscuits throughout the years. I have been fortunate enough not to have the trouble some people have had with getting biscuits to turn out. But, I have had various levels of success depending on the recipe I use. Some of them turn out really well, but are more complicated than I enjoy. The recipe I am sharing today is a wonderful mix of success and ease. I first tried this recipe from 100 Days of Real Food when I was trying to bake more with whole wheat flour. I try to use more whole wheat flour in order to provide food for my family that is as close to the way God created it as possible. I am continually trying to find ways to serve more whole and minimally processed food to my family. That can be tricky with a husband who was raised on processed food, is very healthy and maintains a healthy weight with no effort (except maybe to gain back weight he’s accidentally lost!!). Because of that and always trying to use what is readily available and on hand, I have used whole wheat, white flour and a mix of the two since starting to use this recipe. I also generally use coconut oil in place of part or all of the butter. I have even used bacon grease before (those were extremely flavorful!!). All of those variations have turned out very well and my family actually eats the whole wheat version as well as the white flour version. I also typically double the batch and put some in the freezer for easy meals later. That is what the picture is of at the top of the post. When I need an easy meal, I can pull out some ground beef, beef broth, frozen veggies, flour and frozen biscuits and have a hearty, filling, flavorful meal on the table in about 30 minutes. Without further ado here is the recipe:

Whole Wheat Biscuits:

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (I’ve also used White or a combination of the two)

4 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt (I suggest adding extra if you use coconut oil in place of the butter)

4 Tbsp Butter (I have used coconut oil and bacon grease in place of part or all of the butter)

1 cup Milk

Whole Wheat Biscuit Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 if baking when you are making them. I often just make them to freeze for later.

2. I whisk all of the dry ingredients together.

3. Add the fat (coconut oil, butter, bacon grease or a combination of those), and I use my hands to mix the fat and dry ingredients together until it is a crumbly mixture.

4. Pour in the milk and use hands to mix it all together until it has almost completely come together.

5. Dump it onto a floured surface and knead just enough to make a finished ball of dough.

6. Either roll or pat the dough out to between a 1/2 to 3/4 inch and use a biscuit cutter, or cookie cutters if the girls are helping, to cut out the biscuits.

7. You are supposed to place them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes, if baking immediately after mixing. I have found it helpful at times to go ahead and grease the sheet a bit under the biscuits to limit sticking, but they have never stuck too much regardless of greasing.

If I am freezing some or all of the biscuits to use later I lay them out on plastic wrap and with plastic wrap in between layers to freeze solid. After they have frozen that way, I pull them apart and put them in a freezer bag for longer term storage. I have found that I cannot stack them more than two high for their first freeze, and a single stack is best. If they are stacked more than two high the weight of them still causes them to freeze too tightly together to get apart, even with the plastic wrap between them.

I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine does. My oldest daughter is known to eat several plain biscuits at any point of the day! If your family loves these biscuits please like this post or leave a comment about your experience below! What is your favorite go to freezer meal or food?