Have you ever felt that cooking meals during the week is a pain and not a great use of your time or the last thing you want to do after you finally get home after a long day? I’ve been there, especially with the ease of campus dining not being an option with out a meal plan this year. Its also so expansive and probably not the healthiest option to pick something up on my way home everyday. In order to get the nutrients I need with minimal effort during the week, I’ve been using batch cooking. Batch cooking is similar to meal prep but gives you more flexibility throughout the week to mix up your meals. This week I’m sharing with you one of my favorite meals to batch cook, spaghetti squash. Once cooked the edible part of the squash comes apart and looks just like spaghetti noodles! It’s one of the easiest ways I incorporate more vegetables without even realizing it. It’s also pretty cheap. I shop at Kroger and its less than one dollar per pound for the squash and if I get a larger one it will feed me all week long.
I use the squash as the base for all of my dinners, but I get to mix it up through out the week with the toppings and sauce. Or you can even make your sauce in a large batch and have it ready to go as soon as you get home. I usually sauté a few different types of vegetables, my favorites are mushroom, sweet peppers, or spinach. Then I add jarred sauce to the veggies in the pan, heat it up, and serve over the squash “noodles”. This week I also baked a salmon burger and cut it up. I added this to my dinner with some sautéed mushrooms and spinach. No sauce needed for this one. Make it your own and try something new out! Any of your typical pasta toppings is going to be just as good with the squash as it would with pasta.
Even when life is crazy, taking the time during Sunday to prepare food for the week has helped me save time during the week. Each day I come home, it takes me about 15 minutes to prepare my meal and clean up afterward. I love having spaghetti squash because it allows me to still be able to have variety throughout the week as well. I have plenty of other batch cooking recipes and ideas to share with y’all but I thought I’d start out with this one because squash is perfect for fall.
Here’s how you make it:
- Preheat oven to 425°
- Cut squash in half, long ways. Remove the seeds with a spoon and discard.
- Turn both halves of the squash so the inside is facing upward. Rub the inside with olive oil so that it is lightly greased. Season with pepper.
- Turn the insides facing down on a cookie sheet and place in the oven.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the squash is soft (may be longer is the squash is larger). There should be some browning along the parts where the squash had contact with the cookie sheet. That is perfect and helps to bring out some of the natural flavors in the squash!
- Turn the squash so its insides are facing up and let cool for about 5-10 minutes.
- Using a fork scrape away at the inside. The individual pieces should pull apart and look exactly like spaghetti.
- Store in containers and refrigerate throughout the week, or place on plate and serve with your favorite sauce.
Doing this on Sundays has been a lifesaver this semester and always hits the spot after a long day of classes. Hopefully you enjoy it just as much as I do!
Adjusting to taking the time to cook every week can be difficult at first. But if you schedule some extra time for it whenever it works best for you, I promise it will ultimately save you time and money. I usually do my cooking on Sundays because it is my most free day throughout the week and I can be home early enough to get a head start.
This week I’m taking a break from batch cooking because I’ll be heading back to Toledo to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and take some much needed time to unwind and rest up for finals week. I’ll be unplugging a bit to catch up with family and friends and also trying out some new things in the kitchen, hopefully to share with you all. Until then have a happy Thanksgiving and enjoy a little bit of a time-out on life.
~Josie
