After another week of My Fitness Pal avoidance and copious chocolate binges, this morning I woke up with the intention to plan and prep like a pro. Pro-what I’m not sure but I knew it’d involve butternut squash and kale rather than crisp sandwiches and Cadbury’s.
I have to confess, when it comes to squash I am reprehensibly lazy. If someone has gone to the effort to peel and dice it for me then I couldn’t be happier as my window for cooking is limited with a toddler hanging from my knees. I hate the additional packaging pre-prepped veg entails but at least it’s a big batch made rather than unpacking something each day.
Today I’ve only gone and done the double. Two sets of meals that will provide lunches for the next two weeks. I AM A PRO PREPPER.
First up we have the salad option. Now – it’s not fully prepped as I like to nuke certain parts as warm salad in the winter is far more preferable in my eyes.
So easy. Three packets of ready prepped butternut squash and sweet potato in the oven with a sprinkling of olive oil and chilli flakes. Kale, with the stems removed, sprinkled with the same and whacked in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Nuke 6 slices of chorizo in the microwave for 40-50 seconds if you can’t be arsed to fry them up (guess which option I went for). Then 20-25g of goats cheese crumbled over the top with a light lacing of balsamic vinegar. Boom. Each day I’ll just need to whack a serving of kale in the oven and warm the veg and chorizo. Job done!
Whilst my squash was doing its thing I decided to prove a point to my husband. He of the ‘you can’t have a slow cooker because you never use the kitchen appliances you have’ fame. I will have a slow cooker. And I did use my soup maker! See!
Tescos now conveniently sell bags of B’squash and sweet potato soup mix. It’s just too easy. Three bags of pre-prepped veg, 1.5ish litres of veg stock, a teaspoon of ginger purée, a teaspoon of chilli paste, a good old slug of pepper and press a button (I did it in two batches). Kappow. Ten servings of heartwarming soup to freeze for next week and then some! Or basically till I get bored of liquid lunches and opt for a crisp sandwich.
What batch-cooked lunches do you recommend? Don’t be shy – drop me a comment!
The Unyoung Mum 