2 Steps to a Dish Free Life!

 

As anyone who has ever lived with me can tell you, I HATE DOING DISHES. Sign me up to clean counters, take out the trash, vacuum, clean the bathroom or even scrub the toilet. But dishes: blah!

Years ago when I made the commitment to my own health, I went from Subway lunches and frozen Lean Cuisine dinners to homemade quinoa veggie bowls and green protein smoothies. The first week I prepared every lunch at home and cooked each single-serving dinner…and because I was working MORE than full time I ended up with a full belly and a sink full of dishes. I got excited to cook, thoroughly enjoyed my meal and then had no energy (or motivation) to do the dirty work. Have you ever left dirty dishes in the sink for a week? Probably not- because that’s absolutely disgusting (I know from experience)! Well sometimes I hid my disgust for dishes under the premise of “letting them soak” or waiting for a full dishwasher. Whatever the excuse I used, the idea of spending precious “after-work” time cleaning pots and pans every day was a real obstacle in my new healthy lifestyle.

I know that preparing my own meals with all the best ingredients is one of the best choices I can make for my long-term health and wellness. So I found myself in a dilemma: opt for the prepackaged convenient and highly processed frozen meal (with no cleanup) or bust out the pots and pans, make them very dirty and make my own meal? I knew the healthiest decision was the latter.

So to avoid the shivers I get at the thought of doing dishes EVERYDAY, I developed a Golden Rule for my kitchen. Cook ONCE, Eat TWICE (or 8 times as you’ll see below). I solved my problem of eating healthy and avoiding the daily dish wash. Here’s how it works:

 

#1: Choose a meal that you can make to have for dinner, leftovers for lunch, or even freeze and come back to in a month or two!

#2: Make the meal in bulk and then divide into single servings (great example is with soup- I freeze it in mason jars as individual portions)

#3: Enjoy the extra free time you have !

Now while I still don’t have the funds to hire a human dishwasher, I only have to worry about dishes once or twice a week AND am still putting the best quality food into my body.

I’ve been able to use this mantra for making veggie burgers, homemade soups, egg frittatas, desserts and more. Now I spend less time in the kitchen and have more time to spend with my family, friends, and pup!

Have a meal that you can cook once and eat twice? Share it with us in the comments.

Live your WHOLE life!

 

Shannon & Meg

 

HAPPY COW CHIPOTLE BLACK BEAN VEGGIE BURGERS W/ ADOBO SAUCE 

2 (15 oz.) cans low-sodium black beans, rinsed & drained

4 Tbsp. EVOO

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 large bell pepper, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 chipotle in adobo sauce, finely chopped plus 1 tsp. sauce

½ cup finely crumbled feta cheese

1 whole egg

1 slice sprouted bread (toasted and very finely chopped, to resemble bread crumbs)

Toppings as desired: avocado, fried egg, tomato, hummus (great topper)

 

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spread with beans. Place in oven and roast until beans are mostly split (about 20 minutes).

Step 2: While the beans are in the oven, heat 2 Tbsp. EVOO in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add in onion and bell pepper, stirring until softened (about 5 mins). Add garlic and stir (about 2 mins). Add chipotle chili and sauce and stir (about 30 seconds). Transfer to large mixing bowl.

Step 3: Combine the feta cheese and black beans in a food processor and pulse until beans are roughly chopped (about 1/3 of the full bean in size). NOTE: If you don’t have a food processor you can use a fork or potato masher to work the beans and feta cheese together. Add the bean & cheese mixture to the bowl with onions and peppers. Add egg and sprouted breadcrumbs to bowl and season with salt and pepper. Fold together gently but thoroughly with hands.

Step 4: Form bean mixture into 6-8 patties. Heat 1 Tbsp. of EVOO in a pan over medium heat. Add patties (as many as you want for dinner tonight) and cook, swirling the oil in the pan occasionally. Flip after 5 minutes, until each side is browned.

Step 5: Enjoy! Add your favorite toppings to the delicious Happy Cow Black Bean Burger. You can use lightly toasted sprouted bread as a bun, spread with hummus, avocado, fried egg or the standard lettuce, tomato and onion.

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Arrange patties on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and place in freezer until fully frozen (about 1 hour). Take baking sheet out of freezer, and stack frozen burgers, with parchment paper in between. Place in freezer Ziploc bag and return to freezer. Voila!