5 Minutes to Lunch
With the help of a (vegan) hamburger. And a butternut-squash trick.
Katie, how can it be “5 minutes” if one of the ingredients is butternut squash? Those things take ages to cook! True, but here’s what I like to do: Buy the BIGGEST butternut squash you can find.
Roast the whole thing (see: How to Roast a Butternut Squash… sorry in advance for the creepy photo! :-?). Then portion it out into single-serving amounts and freeze whatever you don’t plan to use within a few days. Unlike spaghetti squash, butternut defrosts quite well.
Hamburger Veggie Burger Helper
- Steamed Broccoli (or other veg)
- Roasted Winter Squash (or sweet potato)
- Burger, crumbled (I highly recommend these burgers)
- Optional: Nutritional Yeast for topping
Mix everything together, season with salt, and sprinkle nutritional yeast on top, if desired. Try to mix/chop everything well enough that you get a little of each component in every bite :). (You can even pulse with a hand blender a few times if you wish!)
For a gourmet twist, try drizzling with coconut milk immediately prior to eating.
Seriously, why bother with complicated recipes that take hours when simple things can taste just as good? My dessert was just as easy and quick-to-prepare as lunch.
Three-Ingredient Peanut Butter Balls
Life is too short to spend it slaving over a stove (unless, of course, you enjoy the cooking process. I just don’t happen to be one of those people.)
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Question of the Day:
Do you ever freeze leftovers?
I love to cook in bulk and freeze extra servings of things. Cook once, eat twice… or three or four times! Soup is a favorite meal to freeze. But I like freezing foods like pancakes as well. The only problem is that my freezer can get pretty crowded! 😕
Other question: Have you ever eaten Hamburger Helper?
For the Stevia Giveaway Winners: click here.
Artisana winner: bottom of this post.
I always make stir fry bowls with crumbled veggie burgers. 🙂 It’s my favorite way to eat them. As for Hamburger Helper, I never liked the stuff. The glove freaked me out.
Yes I freeze food that I make ahead of time plus extra desserts 😉
Indian food freezes really well! I almost always make it in bulk and freeze the extra so it can be enjoyed at a later time!
Ohhhh I LLUUUVV Indian food~ and No, I’ve never tried a HAMBURGER HELPER! I’ve always been too scared to try it. 0_0 It just seems so unhealthy and artificial.
Mmm. I’ve never had veggie burger with butternut squash before, but it sounds enticing.
As for Hamburger Helper, we had it a couple times when I was a kid–I really liked the cheesey mac!
I’m always shoving things in the freezer these days. Its really handy when you have a busy weeks and cannot be bothered to cook!
BROCCOLI helper!
I love those 3- ingredient balls!
Whitney
Hey Katie dear! I was wondering if you got my info that I sent you.
xoxo
I did! Ron says your stevia should ship next week. If you don’t get it in 3 weeks, please please feel free to tell me! 🙂
Thanks Deary!!! 🙂
xoxo
Unlike you foodie snobs 🙂 – I’ve eaten Hamburger Helper more recently and even have some on-sale packs somewhere… They’re generally not vegan (have dairy) but many of them don’t seem to have obvious meat in them (who knows with “natural flavors”, of course). But I’ve always substituted beans or grain/soy based burger bits for the recommended dead cow bits. Beans are really quite good in it (I just add a 15 oz can), no need to buy the veggie granules really. I’m assuming garbanzo beans (mashed) would make a good substitute in their Tuna Helper since they work so well in any tuna salad recipe (like mashed tofu works in egg salad recipes). Sometimes I switch the white pasta in the box with whole grain and save the white pasta for use in bean soups. You might be wondering why bother to get the box with all the substitutions — but sometimes having a basic flavor mix is helpful for us disorganized types who have trouble finding a clean spoon… Or maybe it’s nostalgia for grad school, when Hamburger Helper was a staple. The Helper line routinely goes on sale, even as low as fifty cents a box. Not worth full price, though.
I also like those Asian noodle/rice boxes/bowls that just take a couple of minutes in the microwave – a 15 oz can of beans (okay, the contents of the can…) fits quite nicely in the Ka-Me boxes on top of their noodles/rice, just adds a minute to the 2-minute microwave time, and stretches a box from 2 meals to 3 plus adds the fiber they generally lack. They freeze well, too, after preparation.
Whether it’s out of a cheapie box or made from scratch – I routinely freeze portions of such things in small 1 cup or 2 cup pyrex bowls with rubber lids. Then just pop them in the microwave for a few minutes, and instant meal! Frozen veggies often can be added right in the bowl while they’re heating up (same thing when heating up soup, which I also freeze in portions – e.g., half a can). No need to eat the same thing for a week with a big freezer handy!
I et even my meat living hubster would live this!