Making dinners from scratch each night can be daunting. Which is why I’m always trying to figure my way around it… without resorting to take-out.
My latest discovery?
Frozen sweet potato noodles!
Rather than scrubbing and spiralizing a sweet potato each time you want pasta, you can prepare a large batch all at once, then freeze the leftovers!
Why didn’t I start doing this years ago?
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I recommend freezing the noodles into individual portions, so you can simply throw the entire portion into a hot pan, without trying to break apart a chunk of frozen noodles.
You can pair it with a few cubes of frozen curry sauce, for a complete frozen dinner that can thaw in the pan all at once!
Simply throw 4-5 cubes of sauce into a skillet over medium-high heat, along with the noodles and a splash of water (to prevent sticking), then cover with a lid for 3-5 minutes.
Once the noodles and sauce are warm, and tender enough to stir together, add in your favorite chopped veggies, and cook for another 5-8 minutes until everything is piping hot!
In less than 20 minutes, dinner is ready.
Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and serve immediately! (I sauteed a batch of mushrooms on the side, while everything else was cooking… they’re Austin’s favorite!)
Now, if only I had a bigger freezer… I could be set for the month!
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Reader Feedback: Do you prepare your meals ahead of time? Any other time-saving tips to share?
Hi
I wanted to ask you two questions:
1) What is the name of the spiralizer you use?
2) What is the length of the ‘noodles’ it produces? (or is it one that it varies and you don’t have to cut your vegetables to a certain length to spiral it?)
Thanks
I use the Paderno Spiral Slicer. It’s the best one I’ve tried!
As far as length of noodles, they can be as long as you want! It will keep spiralizing for the whole length of the vegetable… so you could wind up with some very long noodles! I actually spiralize the whole potato, then cut them down to size later, for shorter noodles that are easier to manage. You don’t have to cut the veggies to a certain length to spiralize it, though I do chop off the ends so that there is a flat surface to work with on each side.
You’re so helpful! Thank you!
What did veggies did you add to the potatoes?
I usually add whatever happens to be in my fridge or freezer. I almost always have peppers and onions on hand, and sometimes I’ll add chopped asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, etc.
Hey Megan I been making your recipes and loving them, I can’t wait to make the pizza but time has been hard to come by even my meat eating hubby has loved them. this tips helps thanks
adina
So glad you’re enjoying the recipes, Adina! I hope you can find some prep time soon!
I haven’t bitten the bullet and bought a spiraler yet, but I really want to!
I took a while to buy one, too– but now I’m so glad I did! I use it every single week.
This looks delicious! Do you cook the potato before spiralizing or do it raw?
PS: Last night I was pms and miscombined some food and way overate…a giant goat cheese salad followed by a full TJ chocolate bar (should have stopped there!) then I was still munchy for sugar and had a carton of soy yogurt with honey, a few hands of brazil nuts and half a box of dates. I am REALLY paying for it today, I feel absolutely awful and my stomach is killing me. Lesson learned, stick to proper combining! What’s your go-to when pms cravings hit?
You definitely want to spiralize the sweet potato raw, so it’s nice and sturdy. You can even eat it raw, if you like! (for a crunchy noodle)
For PMS cravings, I usually enjoy sweet stuff all day long! I figure, if my body is asking for it, I should just go with it. Often times, I’ll have a green choco-cado smoothie for lunch (dessert in a glass!), and some decadent nut-butter treat with my dinner. I usually plan for more nuts during that time, because they satisfy my desire for something more decadent. Dark chocolate just doesn’t seem to cut it sometimes, but raw almond butter fudge does! And if you happen to overeat, it’s still properly combined. Also, it’s hard to over-do it too much, since it is filling!
Hot drinks are always good for quelling the need to continually eat, too. When you know you’ve had enough, but can’t seem to stop grabbing for the sweets, I find a mug of warm peppermint tea, or even just a cup of plain hot water, will calm me down and help trigger my mental “off” switch.
Hi, This is so practical! I see that you “spiralize” the sweet potatoes while they are raw, but do you then freeze them raw or do you quick-cook/steam them first, then freeze? Thank you!
I freeze them raw! If you allow them to thaw before cooking, you’ll notice that they are naturally more tender after freezing– like they’ve been cooked a bit. You can also just throw them directly in the pan, and cover to thaw and cook quickly!
wow, what a great idea. I love having easy~healthy~Fast options ready & this is a great idea.
maybe I’ll go look on amazon again….
I still have to get a spiralizer tho….
T
I love this post- great tip on freezing the extras. Its funny, I was actually online this morning looking at Spiralizers! Lol. I am thinking I may treat myself to one
thank you for always making my life easier, I love it!
Amazing!!! I have sweet potato noodles at least once a week and this is a wicked tip!!
Wow, this looks really good with that curry! Most of the time after work what I really want is a massive goat cheese salad…I crave the cheese on the car ride home! I feel a little bad for my bf though because he can’t cook and usually ends up eating a frozen T.Joe’s meal or a bowl of cereal…I will make this for us both some time soon, if I can get over my salad addiction for a night!
GENIUS!!!!
This is a really great blog! Nice job.
Hi Megan,
I was researching the paderno spiral slicer but i found that many people are complaining about how cheap the material of this tool is. Many people say that the handle breaks after they used it once. Others say that they couldn’t even cut something because the blades were located in the wrong place. Could you please recommend me another brand? OR what is your opinion about this tool? Also is that truth that it get stains easily like when you use carrots or sweet potatoes? Have you ever had problems with this tool?
Thanks.
I’ve owned my Paderno Spiral Slicer for 3 years, and have never had any of those issues! I’ve spiralized carrots, raw sweet potatoes and raw beets, and have never worried about the handle breaking or not cutting correctly. The professional chef that I trained with also uses the same brand, so it’s the best one I know of. It does stain somewhat easily, but once it’s washed, I don’t really care if it’s slightly off-color. Hope that helps!