Healthy can be Easy

I started to title this post "Zero to Hero in 40 minutes". As a farmer's wife (or anybody's wife) the phrase "dinner's ready" can make you a hero! It's all the more satisfying for me if the meal is simple and healthy and I know I'm doing something to help keep my family healthy.

Last week I had a hectic day full of unforeseen happenings, and was running late starting on dinner. After scoping out what we had in the kitchen, I decided to time myself to see how fast I could get a healthy meal ready from start to finish.

Results will vary depending on whether or not you're stopping to take photos along the way ( 🙋), and having a toddler grab and hang on your legs while you're trying to walk ( 🙋😂).  I didn't know how long it would take... But here's what I did.

 ...Now, I'm no food photographer. I'm just a wife, a mom, and a farmer with a passion to help people eat simply and live healthily (To be totally transparent, I took all these photos with my iPod... Sooo... Not top quality.) 

I took note of the 'start time' by taking a quick screenshot of my trusty iPod.

(Side note, don't you love this screen photo? I do!! It was taken at Polyface Farm a few days after we got engaged!!!)

My first step was going to the freezer to choose meat. For me, a meal hinges around whatever meat I decide to use. I chose a round steak. My main reason for this was the thickness, or rather thinness, of round steaks. I knew it would thaw quickly.

Next step, rice. I don't know why, but I always feel like there's something to eat if there's rice. There are just SO many options for what to do with rice. I like to add a bit of butter and a smidgen of salt to the water.

Tip: whenever you cook rice, cook more than you know you need. Doing this gives you options for later on and a quick meal the second day.

Next I sliced some mushrooms, diced some onions, and rough-chopped some kale.

Since onions usually take a little longer to cook, I put them in a skillet with coconut oil several minutes before the other things, so they'd be nicely caramelized.

Now here's the part I got really busy and forgot to take photos... The STEAK!

Since I had run some hot water over my steak as soon as I got it out, it was by this time nicely thawed. To help it cook faster, I chopped it into "steaklettes". I seasoned it with salt and pepper before dropping it into some hot coconut oil to cook just a few minutes on each side. 

Tip: While working at Polyface, I learned to cover grassfed steak for a few minutes after taking it out of the pan. This helps seal in juices and lets it cool slowly, enhancing the taste! 

As I listened to the steak sizzle, I decided that this meal needed one more thing: browned butter sauce. 

You can find super simple instructions for making browned butter and taking your recipes up a notch here: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_brown_butter/

I added two cloves of diced garlic to infuse into the butter, and drizzled this over our steak before serving.

I checked the time... Exactly 40 minutes after I started, a delicious, simple, healthy meal was dished up! We also ended up drizzling my browned-butter-garlic sauce over the rice. I had a happy husband, a happy toddler, and a toothsome meal.

Want more meal ideas? Let me know!!

- Live well,
Hannah