My Make-Ahead Taco Bar Saves our Suppertime!

This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Rubbermaid®.

I love eating, and I love food. But there are weeks when I do NOT love food prep. For those heavily scheduled weeks, I try to save our suppertime by choosing make-ahead meal ideas! These meals are usually simple, like my Make-Ahead Taco Bar that saved not one, but TWO suppers and a lunch last week!

Make-Ahead Taco Bar Will Save your Suppertime Too!

I teamed up with Rubbermaid and their new BRILLIANCE meal prep containers to show you how easy it is to gather your family around the table, even on busy nights.

Now, as I’m sure you know, making tacos is not that hard to do. But as it does tend to use a large variety of ingredients, it can sometimes be hard to pull out of your hat last minute. Here’s what I did one weekend to get dinner ready in advance so I wouldn’t rush around and get stressed.

Prep a Make-Ahead Taco Bar

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
2 heads lettuce
2 packages taco shells or soft wraps
1 tub sour cream
1 jar salsa
1 8-oz bag of shredded cheddar cheese (I like to use the finely shredded because it sticks into the little grooves easier!)
1 cup of sliced black olives (or substitute another favorite topping of choice).

Directions

Prepare the meat by browning in a pan, then draining the fat. Mix seasoning packet according to directions and simmer a few minutes. Cool.

Slice lettuce finely and run through a salad spinner to remove all water.

Store. Heat. And dinner is saved! Er, served! Well… both, actually!

Store and Serving is the key to Saving Suppertime!

Now here’s the brilliant part. Pun intended. I used our new Rubbermaid BRILLIANCE storage containers to store the individual ingredients since I wouldn’t use them until the following day.

The large container held all my lettuce. The medium containers held meat and cheese. The smaller containers held salsa and black olives. My sour cream was the squeeze variety so that didn’t need a container. And wraps can just go on a plate.

The BRILLIANCE containers are rectangular with nice lines that fit together nicely in the fridge. The tops seal out the air, then snap shut for a firm lock that won’t pop open unexpectedly. The seal pushes the air out, so my food stayed fresh for days! And check out the salsa above – not a drop leaking out! That’s because these containers are 100% Leak-Proof Guaranteed!

When it was time to have our Make-Ahead Taco Bar, I just took my containers out of the fridge and arranged them on the table. The meat container I popped the top off and sat it loosely on top to heat in the microwave (which isn’t really my heating of choice, but just so you know it can be that simple).

I literally had our Make-Ahead Taco Bar ready to eat in minutes. These gorgeously clear containers look fabulous on the table, so you don’t have to empty the food into other serving ware. That means, no extra dishes after dinner! And then? Even better… after dinner, I just popped the tops back on the containers, and clean up was a breeze! And our second dinner was ready to go! I even had enough left for a lunch for hubby after that!

What’s awesome about the Rubbermaid BRILLIANCE containers is that they are crystal clear, and their rectangular shapes are classic and sleek. Their modular design saves space in my fridge, because all the containers fit together perfectly.

These food storage containers are so clear, they look almost glass-like, and one day when I opened the fridge, I had a shock, thinking someone took the top off the cheese container. No, it was just SO clear I didn’t realize it had a lid on! Ha!

Okay I could go on about my love for our new containers, but I think you get my point: you don’t have to sacrifice family meal time just because you’re busy. With the right tools, like a good set of store-and-serve containers, and a good make-ahead meal idea, you can sit down and eat dinner without the stress! This is really what happy, strong family time is all about!