I am sure everyone can relate to those nights when you come home and think….”What am I going to make for dinner???” I find myself thinking about this quite often, and when I finally come up with something..I am missing half of the necessary ingredients.This is very frustrating, and often ends with take-out or a quick rush to the grocery store. This leads to buying extra items that I didn’t really need, which equates to spending money that I never intended to spend. I left the grocery store today with a receipt for over $40 worth of items, when I only intended to purchase Soba noodles! Marketing…these stores know what they are doing!! How can you put peanut butter coated popcorn at the register and expect people to pass it up!! Especially when it’s “all natural, organic and gluten-free!”
Anyway…all that being said..I always try my best to create a weekly meal plan prior to making the trip to the grocery store. This allows you to have a list of the items you NEED and hopefully avoid those unnecessary indulgences….or at least keep you from wandering aimlessly through each aisle, randomly deciding what to buy. I encourage you to be creative, make dishes that you haven’t made before, and plan meals ahead of time. This will save you both time and money, and best of all, you will waste less food because you will need all the ingredients that you purchase.
Last week I decided to switch up the traditional tomato based pasta sauce with a butternut squash sauce. The one I found was by Dave’s Gourmet, I purchased it at Safeway, but if you can’t find it, substituting a Vodka sauce would work well. To add freshness and nutrients, I baked a whole butternut squash (cubed), and tossed in a few chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
This recipe is simple and requires only 4 ingredients, perfect for a weeknight meal…and weekday lunch! If you know you will be working late, make the butternut squash the night before and dinner will be ready within 10 mins! Mix in with your favorite pasta, I use a gluten-free quinoa pasta, and you have a delicious and creative twist on pasta night.
