Squash is the new Noodle!

This was the second spaghetti squash recipe I tried and YUM YUM YUM!
Seriously if you've never tried squash, YOU MUST.
Squash is the PERFECT substitute to kick the carbs and make this a gluten free meal!

Lasagna Style Spaghetti Squash 

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb Italian sausage or any choice of meat (I used ground turkey)
2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
2 tablespoons fresh basil
½ cup ricotta cheese
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (plus extra for topping)
Olive oil or coconut oil
salt & pepper

Roasting the squash
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Wash spaghetti squash, cut off stem and slice squash lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and gunk. (save the seeds and roast them!) Brush with oil, season with salt and pepper, and place in baking dish (9×13 works well) with a little water in the bottom of the dish — as the squash cooks, you can add more water if it dries up. Roast for 45-60 minutes, depending on squash size, or until inside is soft and easily “fluffs” with a fork. It will look like very tiny spaghetti noodles… hence the name, cool huh?

While squash is roasting, brown Italian sausage in large skillet over medium heat. Remove sausage from the pan drain and set aside.
Add sauce to the pan and simmer. Add the sausage back into the sauce.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, and fresh basil, set aside.

When squash is tender, remove from oven and using a fork, scoop, fluff, flake, scrape, whatever you’d like to call it, to get the inside of the squash to look like spaghetti noodles. You don’t have to get at ALL of the squash, you can scoop more later when you get to the bottom after it’s been filled and you’re enjoying it for dinner.

Now we FILL THEM! Start with a scoop of the red sauce, followed by a layer of the cheese mixture, (you can add extra mozzarella on each layer too!) and repeat the layers until you’ve over filled your squash, ending with a layer of red sauce and then topping them with mozzarella. Totally over fill these suckers.

Turn the oven to broil and put them back in to brown up the cheesy top. Enjoy!

This recipe is SO filling, makes great leftovers and you won't feel guilty about gobbling it up :-)


HAPPY COOKING! :-)

Pinterest: it's whats for dinner (and dessert!)

For dinner tonight I decided to try out some Pinterest recipes, made some adaptations for taste and to make it all gluten free.

For dinner I made Cafe Rio Chicken

There are several things that make this recipe easy:
*very few ingredients 
*Crockpot

The recipe is as follows:
2 lbs chicken
1/2 small bottle zesty italian dressing
1 pkt hidden valley ranch dip mix (I used my homemade gf ranch)
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder (I used homemade gf taco seasoning)
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup water

Throw all ingredients and cook on low for 8 hours
or high for 4-6 hours. I always think the longer you cook the better. I shredded the chicken and laid it over a bed of Archer Farms Southwestern Quinoa.

350 calories for a cup of the chicken and a serving of the Quinoa. 

 To finish up a yummy food day I made Glazed Orange Bars

This is where all the work you did on making dinner healthy goes pfft.
But it was delicious and totally worth it!

Here's Where I found the recipe and only had to switch out the flour for gf flour to make it edible for my dear heart....

 http://www.butterwithasideofbread.com/2013/03/glazed-orange-bars.html

Happy Cooking! 
:-)

 
 

Questions, Comments, Suggestions....?

I think the hardest part of blogging is trying to figure out if anyone is even listening...
Why do I take the time to type if no one is reading?
I've gotten several kudos via facebook and emails sent telling me people have tried recipes and that they were a hit but I wanna know MORE.

I wanna know YOUR questions.
I wanna know what YOU'RE looking for.
I wanna know how I can help YOU be successful.
So that I know what to write about!

What kind of recipes are you looking for? yummy? pick eaters? gluten free? healthy?
Are you trying to learn how to make a roux? caramelize onions?
Looking for the must have tools for your kitchen?
All of the above?

IM HERE TO HELP!
So if you follow my blog, please feel free to ask me any questions, post comments, give ME tips that you have!

Ready, Set, GO!

:-)

Chicken, Proscuitto, Asparagus Roll Ups

So I recently whipped this up on a whim and everyone who ate it was certainly glad I did.
The following post was written after a friend made it for her family:

"Oh my gosh!! My family went crazy over the chicken last night! Trent asked if I had been watching Chopped, on Food Network! Lol seriously start a blog...like today...I don't know how to top it tonight at dinner!"

I informed her I did have a blog but I haven't written in it since 2011! Yikes! So thanks to Katie for the kind words and Kristin K for suggesting I start it up again as well :-)

2 Large chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise, to make it thinner and easier to roll
The following ingredients are PER chicken breast:
2 slices thin prosciutto  
1 Tbsp Chive and Onion Cream Cheese
3 spears asparagus

I took each chicken breast, spread on cream cheese, layered with prosciutto, laid 3 spears towards the end of chicken, rolled and placed on EVOO drizzled baking sheet, with the rolled end of chicken face down, so that your chicken doesn't unravel while it bakes. Grind cracked black pepper over top, bc everything's better with a little kick. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.  

Happy Cooking!! :-)

Thai Peanut Chicken

To say that this is the easiest recipe EVER, would be an understatement.
If you cant brown chicken, throw in a bag of broccoli slaw and drizzle with bottled thai peanut sauce, you need my help, like STAT.

This recipe makes you feel like you're eating naughty, delicious take out, when in reality, its all protein, veggie deliciousness!

1 Pkg Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 pkg Broccoli Slaw
1/2 bottle Gluten Free Thai Peanut Sauce
Optional:
Cilantro
Honey roasted peanuts, small handful to top (this is optional but HIGHLY recommended)

When I first made this I was trying to beat Trevor home from work to have dinner ready after going to the grocery store, this recipe took me no longer than 10 minutes, easy.

I started by cubing up the chicken, browning, and adding a DASH of the sauce to marinade the chicken a little. Here's where it gets super tricky, open bag of broccoli slaw, dump over chicken, top with thai peanut sauce and saute for 5 minutes. Can you even handle it?? I hope you can because literally, that's ALL it takes!

1 cup is 165 calories. And honestly, sometimes its even better warmed up the next day....

Happy Cooking!! :-)

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Pepps

This recipe is ALL the taste, minus all the carbs and definitely a favorite in our household. I have never liked onions, I still say I don't like them, until I perfected the art of the caramelized onion. In all honesty, it was learned through googling. Google and YouTube are my saving grace often.

The recipe for us two, or one half each for a family of four:

2 large Green Peppers, seeded and halved
1 medium sized yellow onion
1/2 lb deli roast beef
4 cloves of garlic, diced
4 slices provolone cheese

First I caramalize the onion (we all have our own ways, google it ;-) )
When that process is about finished I add the diced garlic to the pan to brown and kick the flavor up a notch. If you like your peppers softer, drizzle a small amount of EVOO over the halved, seeded peppers and toss in the microwave for a few minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Place peppers on sheet pan, if you didn't throw them in the microwave, drizzle a SMALL amount of olive oil on them now. Stuff the peppers in the following order. 2-3 slices roast beef top with caramelized onions. top with one slice of provolone cheese. Then for looks, I like to top off with a few more onions. I always finish off with a little cracked pepper. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is a gorgeous golden brown.

The calories from skipping the bread, or in our case the fact that we have to eat gluten free, make this recipe one of our favorite healthied up meals.

Happy Cooking! :-)

Breakfast Go-To

When I decide that a hot breakfast is better than more sleep (this is NOT often) I always turn to my go-to meal.

Recently Ive started using Brown eggs. Yes, it kills me to spend more money on eggs than I have to, but there is a HUGE taste difference!

I make my omelet as follows...

2 Brown Eggs
Spinach 1/2 cup torn up
hot sauce (how ever much you like)
1/4 cup cheese of your choice
Optional:
*often I add 2 Tbsp of bacon bits, 25 calories, easy and yum!

It's filling, a great way to start my morning healthy, gluten free and delicious.

Happy Cooking! :-)