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.
Looks amazingly delicious- Could soo go for one of those right now!! If only there was a kitchen in my dorm room!! lol
To answer your question of the day, I like to freeze vegan muffins and cookies
i have indeed eaten hamburger helper but it’s been about 15 years haha. it’s difficult for me to find a veggie burger i like. i usually go with something mushroom burger-esque if i’m not eating bison burgers (my fave).
Hollaaaa! I am ALL about freezing leftovers! Now that I live with my boyfriend.. we almost need a second freezer (my leftovers, his meat…ick) I also like to keep frozen fruit and berries on hand for all my green monsters. Needless to say, frozen food rocks.
I do like to freeze leftovers, though I usually just end up refrigerating them and eating them fairly quickly. I like leftovers.
Yes, I have eaten Hamburger Helper, but it’s been a very long time. I did love Tuna Helper when I was a kid. Your vegan version looks much better and healthier, though!
I usually refrigerate my leftovers and eat them in a new form a few days later (like quinoa one night, quinoa burgers the next!). I do make HUGE batches of homemade soup and freeze that in portions though 🙂
mmm!
congratulations to catherine!
katie, where can you buy reasonably priced unsweetened coconut on the internet? no stores around me sell it.
i didn’t start freezing foods until recently and now i’m alll about it! lol
Sorry, I don’t know :(. I honestly don’t like to shop online because of shipping prices. But maybe Amazon?
Never eaten hamburger helper and honestly, I NEVER plan to 🙂
I usually cook single- lady style, so I never get around to freezing leftovers or large batches of food. It just doesn’t seem as fresh to me, I guess.
Mmmmmmm. This looks deeeeelish! 😀 I can’t lie and say that I’ve never had Hamburger Helper… (Unfortunately, I have… :/ ), but I mean, we all have our past and things to get better at. 🙂
Also, freezing is my new favorite. Whenever I’m paranoid about food waste, I just toss it in the freezer and pray that it comes back soon. 🙂 At least that way I get to enjoy it longer…?
Love,
Aly
“Freezing is my favorite” makes me think of Elf. “Make work your new favorite.”
Have you seen that movie? 🙂
I have indeed!! One of my favorite holiday go-to movies! Sooo funny! 🙂 I want to watch it now!! Hahahaha. Thanks a bunch! 😉 “He’s not the real Santa!!!”
You smell like beef and cheese…
“You sit on a throne of lies!” Hahahaha. Goodness, we’re silly! Instead of doing philosophy I’m sitting and quoting ELF. 😀 Productivity…? What’s that?!
Our freezers (TWO of them) are always too full for leftovers! I often wonder what the heck we keep in them. Two freezers!
I love cooking at my boyfriend’s apartment because he and his roommate eat the meal/leftovers and nothing goes to waste!
LOL we have THREE! One full-sized, and two fridge/freezers. It’s kinda ridiculous, and not exactly environ-friendly. We’re trying to use up all the stuff in one so we can turn it off. 😕
I think I’ve eaten Hamburger Helper once in my life when I was younger. I was never into red meat even when I did eat meat though.
I am a HUGE fan of making triple what I need and then freezing the leftovers, especially with things like spaghetti sauce, soups, breads, etc. It saves so much time!
And dishes! I LOATHE doing dishes!!!
Ditto for the LOATHING dishes! 😉 Ick!