It's well-worn advice at this point that one of the highest-impact ways to eat more healthily, and also spend less money, is to get it together and prepare your own food. Which is fine, because it's true!

Whether you stocked up at a sale or bought time on a looming best-by date, you very likely have some ground beef in your freezer. It seems so useful, like such a good starting point for so many recipes, but when have you ever remembered to defrost frozen ground beef in advance? Then you've got to brown it or cook it through before it goes into your pasta dish, casserole or taco shell. It's not such a time-saver after all.

I try to eat healthy. I really do. But if I haven't planned ahead and don't have a healthy meal in the fridge, I could end up eating anything. I won't go into detail except to say that one time I had cookies for dinner right before rushing off to teach a nutrition class. I'm not proud.

Welcome back to Prep Cook, where we test out a week's worth of recipes so you only eat the most delicious ones! Just in time for your weekend grocery run, we have black bean taquitos, walnut apple meatloaf, and cauliflower pizza bites on the menu.