Beef Queso

Time Planning Notes

1. Phase 1	Dice Potatoes and Toss them in the Oven
   Phase 2	Add beef to the skillet It takes time to cook.	Chop veggies while the beef cooks
   Phase 3	Add tomato sauce to the beef and let it cook	Add veggies to a skillet and let them cook

Potatoes

1. 1Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. 2Wash the sweet potatoes
3. 3Dice them into medium sized cubes
4. 4Add the sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl and add the following items
   • 1 tbsp of oil
   • salt
   • pepper

     Toss it such that all cubes are evenly coated

5. 5Get a baking tray and spray it with oil
6. 6Spread the sweet potatoes and make sure they are evenly spaced
7. 7Place the tray in the oven and bake for 25–30 minutes, flip them halfway

   Keep the cubes fairly spaces, to make sure they turn out crispy. If they are too crowded, the steam will not have enough space to escape making them steam instead of roast

Beef

1. 1Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat

   Do not use a cast iron skillet since we will be adding tomatoes later. Tomatoes don't go well with cast iron

2. 2Place the beef in the pan in a single flat layer. Do not stir.
3. 3Add the following seasonings on top of the beef
   • 1 tsp salt
   • 1 tsp garlic powder
   • 1 tsp cumin powder
   • 1 tsp paprika
4. 4Let the ground beef cook undisturbed until a dark brown crust forms at the bottom. This is Maillard reaction happening.
5. 5Then flip it over and continue cooking the beef.
6. 6When the beef is 90% cooked add the tomato sauce to the skillet
7. 7Stir it in and continue to cook until
   • The beef has cooked and
   • The sauce has reduced down and thickened

     This should only take a few minutes

Vegetables

1. 1Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a separate skillet over medium-high heat
2. 2Add 1 diced onion and 1 diced bell pepper to it
3. 3Add 1/2 tsp salt
4. 4Only cook the vegetables for about 5 minutes. The goal is to cook them well but also retain their crunchiness.

Queso

1. I prefer to get store bought queso because it is
2. tastier
3. saves time
4. doesn't add too many calories
5. I do not have use for the ingredients elsewhere, so they usually get wasted
6. But if you'd like,
7. 1To a microwave safe mixing bowl add the following ingredients
   • 1/2 cup cottage cheese
   • 1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
   • 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
   • 2 tsp of chipotles in adobo
   • 1/4 tsp salt
   • 1 tsp garlic powder
8. 2Mix it well and heat it in the microwave for about a minute to soften the cheese
9. 3Transfer the mixture to a blender jar
10. 4Add 3 tbsp of 2% milk
11. 5Blend it until smooth

Putting it all together

1. 1This creates 5 servings, so divide the beef, sauted veggies, sweet potatoes into 5 mealprep containers
2. 2Keep all the items separate in the bowl
3. 3Store the queso separately and add it when heating the mealprep bowl. This is because the queso does not need to be heated for as long as the other items. Add it when 30 seconds left on the microwave.
4. 4If you are not stretched for time, air fry the sweet potatoes to get them crispy again