Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats

This recipe is from Skinnytaste and looked awesome.

Spaghetti Squash Sausage Lasagna Boats

Via Skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

• 3 small to medium spaghetti squash (about 5 cups cooked)
• salt and fresh pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup part skim ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley (or basil)
• 3/4 cup whole milk shredded mozzarella cheese

For the Sauce:

• 1 tsp olive oil 
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 14 oz Italian chicken sausage
• 14 oz (1/2 can) crushed tomatoes (I prefer Tuttorosso)  
• salt and fresh pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp chopped basil

Go to the website for the directions.

*I used organic Gouda cheese instead of Ricotta Cheese and didn't add any Mozzarella and organic ground beef.

But, basically...

Cutting a Spaghetti Squash can be difficult in fact dangerous!

The shell is hard hard hard.

So, I've come to learn to cook it in the oven for abt 15mins in a dish w/ water to let it soften up and then remove it and cut it in half. Much easier! But be careful because it will be hot.

Cook at 400deg. for an hour more or less.
It usually takes 45mins.

You'll know if it's needs to cook longer because the "noodles" are stiff and crunchy.

Spaghetti Squash is actually a beautiful thing once it's cooked and tastes yummy.
It should taste yummy and to me sweet.
Not bitter and gross that you have to spit it out.
Yuck.

For the meat sauce...

Chop up garlic and onions
Infuse in hot pan w/ oil
Then add meat and cook
Add can of diced tomatoes.
Plus, S&P
Dried Basil
& Bay Leaf.

Let it simmer for 20+mins.

I really wanted to add fresh basil, but the grocery store down the road from was closed and the other two stores I went to didn't have it. Darn it!

It still smelled good.

Grate your cheeses and chop up the parsley and mix together to top it all off.

Once you have the squash shells ready...

Mix the "noodles" and meat and put inside
Then add a little more meat sauce on top.
Top it all off with the shredded cheese/parsley mix

Wow, this smelled delicious and of course the Fish Fam enjoyed it :)

And for leftovers I put this over baked potatoes and grated more fresh cheese.

Yum.

Brussel Sprouts & Sausage

While we were food shopping I asked my should we get Brussel Sprouts?

My oldest exclaimed, "YES! I love Brussel Sprouts."

Haha, there was a lady standing next to us that looked over with a surprised look.

I threw together this dish by chopping up...

Fresh Garlic, minced

Onions, diced

Potatoes, peeled and cubed

Brussel Sprouts, bottoms cut off

and cut in half

I started to pre cook the sausage in a pan on the stove, but didn't cook all the way.

I put everything in a big bowl and added sea salt (I like Redmonds), peppercorn (from the pepper grinder), and Italian Herb Seasoning, and then drizzled plenty plenty of oil all over and mixed it all together.

Preheat oven 400 deg or so for 30-40 mins.

While the food was baking I rinsed and washed the quinoa and cooked in on the stovetop.

To get the Quinoa to turn out good I always add 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa on high heat and bring it to boil, then once it starts boiling, immediately turn it down to med-low, a tiny bit on the low side put a lid on it and set the timer for 15 mins. Take the lid of and stir it around a bit. It should come out really great and fluffy.

I also made some yummy cornbread.

Recipe here. My hubby says it's too moist and to try less liquid.
Instead of butter milk, we cow milk alternative.
Coconut, Rice, or Soy Milk. The coconut and soy are thicker.

I like that this recipe has very little sugar 1T, but I added honey.
We buy this super good kine for many healthy reasons.

My kids like to go and dip their little finger in the jar all the time!

I love that the kitchen is the heart of our home and that...

:) Happy Tummies = A Happy Heart <3 

Chicken Potpie Soup

Taste of Home has some really great recipes and this Potpie soup looked good.

The recipe here was easy to follow.

Instead, of your traditional pot pie in a pie crust, which was my absolute favorite that my mom made, you make these little pie crust disks to dip in your soup. The Fish Fam enjoyed it!

Two days later we had the leftovers and this time my sweetie wanted it over biscuits.

So I found this recipe.

 I just wish mine would come out looking like that. Work in progress!

Both meals turned out great and smelled delicious :)

Very nice fall time comfort foods!

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!

Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

My kids of course loved the sprinkles we added!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Instead of chocolate chips I added special Halloween pumpkin spice M&M's.

The fam loved these ones!

I dropped some off to my next door neighbor and she said they were super good.

Last, but certainly not least...

Real-Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got to enjoy these almond flour based cookies w/ Enjoy Life's dairy, nut, & soy free chocolate chips.

I'll tell ya it's been over a year since I've had a cookie, so these were awesome.

But, even one little cookie was too much and I had to just take a bite, but wow they are the real-deal!


I made all these cookies within one weekend and had so much that we froze some for later. Perfect!

"Even Better Than The Real Kind" Banana Bread

This Banana Bread didn't come out like any others I've made.

I didn't add any of the refined sugar. Instead, added one more banana and a little maple syrup abt 1/8c.

It was very moist and a little bit soggy in the middle.

Probably because there is yogurt in there too.

After my kids got home from school I asked if they wanted some and of course they did, but I told them it's not like other b bread I've made, it might taste different, and it's soggy in the middle.

After the first bite, the reply I got was, "Ummm, this is the best banana bread, it's even better than the read kind you make!"

Lol. Oh, the things kids say!

Coming out of the oven it looked and smelled good though.

Recipe from: So Good Blog

Delicious Healthy Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

4 Eggs
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of 2% yogurt
4 ripe bananas (mashed)
1 cup of Wheat flour
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder

*I omitted the olive oil and used coconut oil, white & brown sugar, added 1/8c maple syrup.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Beat eggs in medium size bowl.
Mash 4 ripe bananas and set aside.
Add oil, yogurt and bananas to beaten eggs.
Combine wheat flour, sugar, walnuts, baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
Add banana mixture to the dry ingredients and make sure everything is thoroughly combined.
Pour mixture into two greased loaf pans.  Make sure they both have equal amounts.
Bake for 35-45 minutes.  Or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread.

Take a slice and enjoy this better than the real kind B. Bread!

 

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner Recipies...

And of course dessert too!

L to R, top to bottom...Bibimbap, Perfect French Toast, Irresistible Potstickers, Almond Flour Zuchini Bread, Flavorful Fajitas, Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins, Teriyaki Chicken, Pumpkin Carmel Poke Cake, Spaghetti w/ a Chance of Meatballs.

Just scroll down to see more :)

Irresistible Potstickers..

 Who doesn't love jiaozi, shuǐjiǎo, guōtiē, dumplings, aka Potstickers!

My kids sure do, but have you ever made them from scratch?
It's quite the process, but very authentic and so good.

When we lived in China my oldest went to a nursery school and I was welcomed to stay too, which I did some days with my 1yr old, one day we made Jaozi all from scratch. The kids loved it. No one talked at the lunch table and they were gone before we knew it!

These however are far from homemade, they are the all famous Ling Ling Potstickers.
A easy and fast go to frozen food in our house.

I either boil them, which is super super fast and easy, or pan fry them, which isn't that much harder, but the Fish Fam certainly prefers it this way.

To do it up a bit more I chop up fresh mushrooms and green onions, then fry them in butter with some garlic and white pepper.

 Then plate it with steamed calrose rice, green beans, and dipping sauce.

Simply irresistible!

好吃得不得了 Hao chi de bu de liao!!

Translated as: Incredibly Delicious

Perfect Peach French Toast

We picked up some yummy Organic Peaches at Costco, don't you just love when peaches are in season?!

Sunday morning I made the Fish Fam some delicious French Toast!

I made the my own peach syrup and then topped w/ sliced peaches. Yum.

For the Syrup....

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 T cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon

(cinnamon if desired)

Stir constantly and bring to a boil.

Sugar should be dissolved.

Turn low & stir constantly so it thickens.

Don't burn it.

Cut up 3 peaches.

Then blend them w/ the syrup.

Let it sit for about 30min.

Can use immediately if needed.

 Drizzle it all over and enjoy...

PERFECT!

The One-Bowl Wonder!

Bibimbop (be-bim-bop), is a Korean dish and it's my absolutely favorite.

It translates as "mixed rice." Pretty much it's a one-bowl wonder of steamed rice, sauteed veggies, marinade beef, and a fried egg. Throw on some gochujang (hot paste) and/or Kimchi. Then just stir and mix it all up together in the bowl. It's great way of using up day-old rice and veggies that are less fresh.

I can't even say how much I love eating this!

I marinade the meat in a Korean Beef Bulgogi sauce with some onions.

I'd recommend making your own sauce, something I need to do still.

Chop up any veggies. 

This time I did...carrots, mushrooms, and spinach.

Using my julienne(r) saves so much time.

You can also put...

bean sprouts

zuchinni

seaweed

cucumbers

daikon

etc.

Any veggie that pleases you.

Saute them separately. Sesame oil give a great flavor. 

Then top it with a fried egg.

 Once you have the bowl in front of you add some gochujang (hot paste) found in the Asian cooking isle or search for a homemade recipe, then stir the bowl mixing everything together.

And eat it with some Kimchi too. Umm, yum!

This dish is best served in stone bowls, which I hope to invest in one day.

I love it when they bring out the HOT stone bowl with the egg not cooked thoroughly, so you stir it all together in the bowl and let it keep cooking making the rice nice and crispy too.

So good.

I've always said whenever I can hire a Korean cook to teach me how to make Korean food I'd love that!

Healthy Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins

I was looking for a pumpkin muffin recipe that looked good...

These Healthy Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins via Pinch of Yum looked great!

I like how she puts it...

"This recipe is basically five simple things: mix the wet, mix the dry, mix them both together, bake, and glaze. I love recipes that can be explained in one sentence."

And Healthy because...

This “healthy” version follows a basic rule of halves.

• Half the sugar of the original, subbing real maple syrup for some but not all because DANG girl that stuff is expensive.
• Half of the flour swapped out for whole wheat. Fiber. Healthy. Simple as dat.
• Half of the total oil, using olive oil. Guess what? NO TASTE. I served it at a brunch with friends and they were all surprised when I mentioned the olive oil. And ironically my other friend who had brought pumpkin bread also made hers with olive oil. This is one where you can get away with that sort of healthy debauchery.
• Half of the glaze. NOT! Hello? The maple glaze is the bedazzling crown of this puffy little muffin.

Author: Pinch of Yum

Serves: 16

 

Ingredients

For the Muffins

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon each cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup real maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 eggs

For the Glaze

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1¼ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tbs. maple syrup
• 1-2 tablespoons water

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and sugar). In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients (pumpkin, oil, maple syrup, milk, and eggs).
2. Combine the dry and wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stirring until just combined. Fill each muffin tin almost to the top with a scoop of batter - I like to use an old fashioned ice cream scoop with the little thumb press to get a nice rounded top.
3. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops are puffy and spring back when you press them. Remove from the muffin pan and let cool before glazing.
4. For the glaze, melt butter in saucepan. Add powdered sugar and vanilla - it will be thick and sticky. Stir in maple syrup. Add water until desired consistency is reached.

 *Her trick to getting perfect domed muffin tops is using a disher aka ice cream scooper with the thumb button.

*I also used coconut oil instead of olive oil.