Food for Thought

Sometimes I feel like I’m training so hard that I don’t have time to cook, and I wind up eating things that are unhealthy and/or expensive (like take-out). My days usually go like this: wake up, work out, go to work, buy lunch, come home, work out again, then holy crap it’s 9:00 and I’m starving so I’ll just go get a burrito. Rinse and repeat. I end up spending too much money on meals and then feel stupid for it. So i’m TRYING to be better about planning ahead, shopping, and making things that are easily re-heat-able and convenient to pack for lunch. But obviously that’s easier said than done. One week I tried making a menu of what I was going to eat each night and then went to the store and bought all the ingredients so I only had to shop once and this worked pretty well. Maybe some of you who are reading this have the same experience, so I’m going to post some recipe-ideas that might help (and maybe you can post some of your own).

Roasted Stuffed Squash

This is a great fall meal and its easy to make, and last a while in the fridge. You’ll need:

Acorn Squash (as many as you want to cook)

Quinoa (or any other easy-to-cook grain like brown rice, kamut, wheat berries, etc.)

Veggies (I usually use spinach and mushrooms, but you can add anything you want!)

Chickpeas (or black beans, or lentils, etc as you can see this recipe is really what you make of it)

Tiny bit of butter

Paprika

Sea Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds (save these to cook later)

2. Put squash halves on a baking sheet and cook at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes (or until the squash is soft)

3. You can coat the seeds in olive oil and any spices you want and toss them in there on a baking sheet with parchment paper for about 10-15 minutes for a super tasty snack!

4. Cook up the quinoa (or whatever grain you’re using accordingly)

5. Saute those veggies

6. In a large bowl, mix the veggies, cooked quinoa, chickpeas, a tiny bit of butter and the paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

7. When the squash is done, fill the centers with the veggie-quinoa mix and BOOM you’re done.

8. Grab a fork and get after it.

These things are small but very filling and nutritious so I usually just have one half at a time. Throw some saran wrap over any of the extra squash halves and you’ve got yourself a delicious lunch for tomorrow, or easily reheatable dinner for another night this week. Enjoy!