How I Used Prepped Ingredients and Pantry Staples for Multiple Dishes

This post was sponsored by BUSH’S® Savory Beans as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

I’ve been getting a lot better about meal planning. I’m all creating menus and my shopping trips no longer take over an hour and I feel very accomplished lately. But, let’s be real — to continue this streak is not easy. If meal planning isn’t exactly your strong suit, you aren’t alone.

You may also be thinking just a tad much about the task of meal planning. Once I broke it down into ingredients, rather than full meals, I found that I could meal plan much easier and efficiently. The idea is simple: prepare ingredients that can be applied to a wide variety of dishes so that when it’s dinner time, you can grab these ingredients, maybe make a fresh element to your meal, and serve.

First, we always buy a rotisserie chicken at the start of the week because you can use shredded chicken in a countless number of meals. I also prep potatoes (both white potatoes and sweet potatoes) to use for breakfast and the other meals of the day. I love to sauté onions and peppers because that combo will always add great flavor to a dish, especially on Taco Tuesday.

I love to create sauces too, like my cilantro pesto and this homemade Thai aioli that I throw together with just three ingredients. 

Then, it’s important to have pantry staples, like these BUSH’S® Savory Beans. Beans are one of those pantry items that I whip out very often because, being half Cuban, it’s sort of in my blood to love beans and the dishes that tend to include them like moro rice, tacos, burritos and more. (Who doesn’t, right?)

These BUSH’S® Savory Beans is perfect for the busy mom, like myself, who frequently doesn’t have the time (or energy, if we are being honest) to up the flavor profile of pre-made foods. The BUSH’S Black Beans Fiesta™, Southwestern Style Pinto Beans™, and Southern Style White Beans have all the flavor you need — simply heat and eat! Or heat and throw into dishes, like burritos and rice bowls, with other prepped ingredients. No matter what else is on your plate, you can add hearty beans to your plate in no time at all. It doesn’t get any easier than this, while also promising flavor for your family.

Available at Walmart, BUSH’S Savory Beans is part of the BUSH’S line of bean products that are delicious, real, honest, and made with simple ingredients. They are all naturally gluten-free and cholesterol-free, and my favorite part is that even after over 110 years, BUSH’S is still family-owned and operating out of Chestnut Hill, TN! 

I used the same prepped ingredients to make both the rice bowls and the burrito. It includes:

• Rotisserie chicken rehydrated with some taco seasoning, tomato paste and chicken stock
• Roasted potatoes with cumin, paprika, taco seasoning and oregano
• Rice tossed with fresh cilantro and lime juice
• A mix of BUSH’S Black Beans Fiesta™ and Southwestern Style Pinto Beans™

You can make some of each, depending on your mood, or have a rice down one night and a burrito the next. Easy!

Don’t let family meals get you flustered. Let BUSH’S Savory Beans come to the rescue!