This is what two hours in the kitchen on a Sunday morning can get you:
That would be 10 meat muffins, 6 turkey burgers, 1 pan of lasagna (baked in 3 individual pans) and 2 containers of spaghetti sauce.
Also known as “what the hubby will be eating on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings for the next several weeks.”
Spring quarter starts today, and since I’ll now be gone on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, I knew I needed to prepare some simple meals for the hubby…unless I was ok with him eating an entire frozen pizza two nights a week! That doesn’t exactly jive with my “Dietitian in training” status so I got to work.
I started with the meatloaf and the turkey burgers. Since they have pretty similar ingredients, it was easy to make them at the same time. I opted to cook the meatloaf in muffin form to make it easy to store in individual batches.
While those were cooling, I got to work on the meat sauce for the lasagna. As usual, I added a ton of vegetables and garlic. After they had been sauteing for a while, I added two big cans of no-salt-added crushed tomatoes and a can of no-salt-added fire roasted diced tomatoes to the pan.
While the sauce simmered, I cooked the lasagna noodles and mixed together the frozen spinach and ricotta cheese. I had to trim each noodle by about 2 inches so that they would fit in the disposable pans I bought, but I knew it would be a lot easier to store the three separate pans than it would be to make room for an entire pan of lasagna in my freezer. I essentially put one “row” of my typical pan of lasagna in each container.
I covered each one with foil and into the oven they went for 30 minutes. Once everything was cooled, I got it ready for the freezer. I wanted to divide everything into typical “dinner portions” for the hubby so I paired the turkey burgers and split the meat muffins into 3, 3 and 4. This will make it easy for me to simply grab a bag out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge so that all the hubby has to do is heat it up. For the lasagna, I can take out on pan at a time and he can eat half for dinner and the other half for lunch.
I divided the remaining sauce into two tupperware containers so I can just pull one out and defrost it for an easy spaghetti dinner during the week!
Later in the afternoon, I did some more prep work. I cooked a big batch of quinoa to eat throughout the week and I roasted a couple cans of chickpeas (one of my favorite snacks!) so that I could pack them to munch on between classes.
Last week, I saw Heather’s post for Crunchy Green Split Peas and I was immediately intrigued. I’ve never cooked split peas myself and have no conscious memory of ever eating them…although I suspect my mom probably made them when I was younger…but they’re packed with protein and fiber so I decided to give them a try. Like lentils, you don’t have to soak them- just rinse them off, put them in a pot with some water and let them simmer for 20 minutes or so. Since I was already roasting the chickpeas, I decided to do the same to the peas. I patted them dry, sprayed them with olive oil and seasoned them, then stuck them in the oven at 400 degrees F, stirring them every 10 minutes or so until crunchy.
The result? They’re good! I saved half of them after cooking so I can try them non-roasted. I’ll have to get back to you on my opinion.As for the roasted kind? Perfect to munch on mixed with my chickpeas.
If you close your eyes and use your imagination, they taste just like candy buttons. Remember those?!
Ok, so not exactly….but the size and shape are dead on!
So there you have it! I’m ready to face this quarter head on 🙂 Now you tell me- have you ever had split peas? What’s your favorite way to eat them?
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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wow, you are such a good wife! 🙂 i LOVED those candy buttons when i was little! lol…except i always ended up eating sooo much paper!
i don’t think i’ve ever had just plain split peas, but my mom made pea soup all the time when i was growing up!
i loved them too!!! i had the technique down perfectly to avoid the paper 🙂
VERY impressive m’dear…and I have yet to try roasted chickpeas…some day soon, I promise. 🙂
get on it girl! i mixed the chick and split peas together after roasting and i can’t stop eating them!!
Oh what a great way to get ready for the chaos of spring studies!! I may have to do something like this for when I’m just in no-plain-mood-to-cook! What a girl scout – always being prepared! (Don’t worry, I’m not judging I’m a former girl scout myself hahah)
power to the girl scouts! it’s definitely nice to have some backups in the freezer for lazy/busy nights!
Prepping meals and having them ready is so nice.
And ah! Candy buttons, completely forgot about those.
i know! i did too…until i ate one of those peas and it was exactly the same size and shape
Love your planning skills 🙂 I really would love to make this happen. I finally started meal planning, which has been a big step in time management! Now I need to get on the make-ahead train!
that’s awesome! menu planning is huge. i’m not always good at making ahead…i feel like i’d be even better if i had a bigger freezer! i’m working on that 😉
Wow talk about having a productive Sunday!! I’m impressed!
thanks! it was relatively painless 🙂
Oh man. I hope my Fiance never reads your blog – he’ll expect that I do this for him! You amaze me by how prepared you are!
aww thanks! i do my best 🙂
I like that you put the meat in a muffin pan..such a good idea!
it’s perfect when you’re too lazy to slice it! and it makes portioning easier 🙂
Well way to make the rest of us look bad. I usually scream to Binks to fend for himself when I’m out of food and busy. LOLOL!!
haha…just call me wife of the year 😉
My husband would be in heaven with all that food. He loves Italian! And sadly, I do not like those candy buttons. They always bothered me. Kind of like how I hate sprinkles. I’m weird. I know. LOL
haha…no sprinkles? no candy buttons? it appears you’re more of one color candy lover?! 🙂
If you ever want to make extra and send it my way, I won’t complain!!! HAHA!! You’re such a good wife! 🙂 Good luck with classes!
thank you 🙂 “extras” don’t really last very long in our household…so you’ll have to fight the hubby for them!
Feel free to come cook in my kitchen any time your little heart desires…i want that lasagna!
haha, wish i could ship some to you!!
Wow—you’re so on top of things in the kitch!
Lucky guy you have there—mine just fends for himself 🙂
I love the roasted chickpea idea…and everything else. I’m definitely going to try the split peas. I’ve never done anything creative with them!
you should definitely try roasting the peas…both kinds! i mixed mine together and can’t seem to stop munching on them!
Dang you are productive! I’ll have to try roasting them as well and do a comparison!
for sure! let me know what you think!
Look at you! Getting all prepared for the week. I’m impressed 🙂 I need a weekend like this to get it together!
i do my best 🙂 lol
The roasted peas look delicious! When you roast “till crunchy”, how long did that take for you? Also, where is the recipe for the roasted chickpeas? Would love to try those, too. As for your question about split peas, they are my favorite winter soup. Saute carrots, onion, celery, bay leaves, peas, and a ham hock (I dedicate the remainder of my Christmas ham for this purpose every year). Turns into creamy, green heaven on a cold day!