#WildernestMealPrep: Avocado Spinach Spaghetti with Almonds

Dinner last week was the first time these babies actually had spaghetti, but instead of the classic sauce and meatballs, I went for something a little healthier - Avocado Spinach Spaghetti.

This was a relatively simple meal with a lesser amount of ingredients than the pizza from my previous post. It also required a lot less chopping of veggies, so I was already on board. Aside from the pasta, there also isn’t any cook time that you have to wait around for, so overall it took my inexperienced-with-cooking-ass about 2 hours to make and pre-portion everything.

I started by chopping the garlic (I need to suck it up and pay for the pre-chopped kind because chopping garlic gets old fast), then put the water on for the spaghetti to get that going. I used the “nut blade” of my Baby Bullet to chop up all the almonds until they were a dust-like consistency and threw them into a mixing bowl with the chopped garlic, then dumped the cup of shredded parmesan cheese in as well. I also sprinkled a bit of parsley into the bowl - even though these extra spices and things seem unnecessary, I’ve heard it’s good to expose their taste buds to the different flavors.

Because I usually do a month’s worth of food shopping at a time, the majority of our fruits and veggies are the bagged frozen kind, including the spinach I was using for this sauce. To soften it a bit for the blender, I tossed it in a saucepan with a tiny amount of water and let it come to a boil, then removed the water with a small-holed strainer in order to not lose half my spinach. If you typically get the fresh stuff, however, there’s no cooking of the spinach required and you can just toss the measured amount in the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

The only left for the “sauce” was peeling and scooping the avocados into the same mixing bowl, making sure to remove the seeds and any little hard bits the ends sometimes produce.

With the garlic, almonds, spinach, parsley, and avocado all in the same bowl, I used a wooden spoon to mix it all together and get it ready for the blender.

At this point, the pasta was done and ready for straining, but be sure to save that pasta water! I accidentally didn’t put enough water into the pot initially, not realizing how much spaghetti an entire box actually was (classic problem), so I didn’t have much to work with. I had to substitute with just regular water, which turned out fine, but the starchy pasta water helps thicken the avocado sauce a bit and really “glues” it to the noodle.

Now it was time to blend the sauce into a puree-like consistency. Because I make such large batches (7 days a week x 3 babies), I had to scoop the ingredients into the blender in batches. I’d use a little bit of pasta water mixed with a little bit of regular water and blend until smooth, transferring it into a new mixing bowl before repeating with the remaining sauce ingredients.

Before combining everything together, I chopped the pasta into a smaller length because I still spoon feed them once they’re done “feeding” themselves.

With the pasta ready and the sauce made, all that was left to do was mix it all together and it was technically ready for serving. I even had a bowl myself that night and it was delicious.

Each baby gets 1/4-1/2 cup of food per meal, which when combined x3, usually fills up one of my smaller tuppaware containers. So I portioned out 7 of those and put the rest in a glass container for my husband and I. There was no freezing necessary for any of these, as they stayed good in the fridge for the week (I would not keep them longer than a week, however).

As for the triplets, the boys were ALL about this pasta. Marin, however, who is usually our best eater, was so apprehensive about it that I had to give her a side of sweet potato to make sure she had enough to eat that night. By day 2 it still wasn’t her favorite, but by day 4 she was willingly opening her mouth for the next bite and seemed to love it by the end of the week. Considering how much she loves brussell sprouts, broccoli, and other green veggies, I was surprised at her reaction.

avocado spinach spaghetti with almonds

SERVES
An entire wedding

INGREDIENTS

• 1 box of spaghetti (unless you’re The Duggars, you may want to just use what you normally use)

• 3 avocados, peeled and seeded (if you need less sauce, use 1-2 avocados)

• 3 cloves garlic, chopped (1 clove is never enough garlic I don’t care what anyone says)

• 1 1/2 cups of spinach

• 1 1/2 cups of almonds

• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

• 1 cup of pasta water (or regular water)

• A few shakes of parsley

METHOD
Cook the spaghetti to package instructions, making sure to save the pasta water when done.

While the pasta is cooking, use a blender or food processor to chop the almonds to a dust-like consistency. Put the almond-dust and all the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.

Transfer the sauce ingredients into a blender along with 1 cup of pasta water and blend until smooth, doing in batches if necessary. If you need to blend in batches, use a little bit of the pasta water each time, adding more if needed to blend (regular water works okay too).

Add the sauce ingredients and pasta to a large mixing bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon until all the pasta is covered green. Can be served right away, or stored in containers for the refrigerator.