How to cook Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash has been one of my favorite foods for quite some time now. I really can't get enough of it, and it's a healthy replacement for so many things! 

This is a frequent dinner for us at my home. I always have a spaghetti squash on hand because they last awhile and are super easy to cook.

Here is how I usually cook it:

1. Start about an hour before you are ready to eat dinner.

2. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees.

3. Cover a flat baking pan with tinfoil (helps with the mess after).

4. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, and scrape out the seeds/goobers on the inside. Cutting it can be tough on bigger ones. I sometimes make my husband do it for me. You can cut it in half the night before, and just cover the open side with Saran Wrap and put it in the fridge.

5. I drizzle olive oil, pepper, and basil on it, but you can use anything or nothing.

6. Cook for 30-50 minutes. I know this is a big range, but each oven seems to cook them differently. Also the bigger the spaghetti squash, the longer it will take. 

7. It is done when you can stick a fork into it and begin to pry apart the strands. If the strands don't separate, it isn't done. I find it better to take it out early, than to over-cook it. If it is a little hard once you've scraped out the strands you can put it in the microwave for a minute or two.

8. Once it has cooled a little, I use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti squash.

The best part about spaghetti squash is it takes about 2 minutes to prepare, and then it cooks itself!

The rest of the meal is just as easy to cook. For this dinner I cooked chicken and asparagus in a pan, and then mixed in spinach and mozzarella cheese when it was almost done. Mushrooms can also be really good with this dish. One of my other favorite ways to eat spaghetti squash is eating it with spaghetti sauce and broccoli. I get to feel like I'm having a nice Italian dinner, but without all the carbs.

Shrimp and Pine Nut Salad

I've been trying to eat more salads for lunch, and have been running out of ideas. This is one of my favorite go-to salads. The only problem is for me to fill up on a salad I have to have lots of ingredients and it has to be huge! I end up eating so much that I'm probably counter-acting the positive effects of eating a salad, but I'll keep trying to be healthy!

INGREDIENTS

Pine nuts

Shrimp

Asparagus

Avocado

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Walnuts

Red Leaf Lettuce

Balsamic Vinegar

Red Wine Vinegar

Olive Oil

Pepper

I add however much of each ingredient I want depending on the day. The salad is super filling and it tastes so good. I grill the asparagus and shrimp with olive oil, pepper, and garlic salt. Then I mix in the rest of the ingredients and it's ready to go!

Blueberry Cupcakes

My goal this week has been to empty out my freezer. When I needed to make cupcakes for something I decided to make blueberry, only so I could finish off my frozen blueberries. I couldn't find any blueberry cupcake recipes that I either liked or had all of the ingredients too on hand. I decided to go with one of my favorite vanilla cake recipe and add blueberries. They turned out SO good and now I just want to make them again. They are a perfect summer cupcake.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
4 tsp vanilla
1 cup oil
1 cup milk w/ 1 Tbls white vinager
1/4 warm water
2 cup frozen blueberries

Makes a little over 2 dozen

Use with Cream Cheese Frosting

DIRECTIONS

Take the bluerries and rinse them thoroughly in cold water until water stops turning Purple. When you are done rinsing them, let them dry while you mix the rest of the cake.

Next mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then slowly add dry mix to wet mix. 

I then added the mix to my cupcake holders in the baking pan. I mixed in about 6-8 blueberries per cupcake after the batter was in the cupcake tin. This made it so the cupcake didn't turn purple and it remained its white color. If you want to mix in the blueberries before you add them to the cupcake tin, make sure to softly fold them in. 

Bake at 350º for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

I used a simple cream cheese frosting, adding a little extra butter to fluff it up.

Shrimp and Teriyaki Quinoa Bowl

I've been trying to make healthier choices in my meals. I keep getting in ruts, where I make the same things over and over again. Recently, I've been replacing all of my rice or noodles, with quinoa. Some of the mixes haven't turned out that great, but using it in my Asian dishes is wonderful! You can use almost any veggie, teriyaki or peanut sauce, and quinoa. The main thing for me is using less quinoa than I think; it tastes better when I focus on the veggies in the meal.

This particular bowl was on a night that I hadn't been to the grocery store in awhile. I simply mixed shrimp, broccoli, cabbage, egg, teriyaki sauce, and quinoa. Sometimes I make my own sauces, but I always have some on hand for quick dinners. This took me about 10 minutes to make. The longest part was cooking the quinoa. I sauteed the shrimp, broccoli, and cabbage at the same time in the teriyaki sauce, then added the egg when they were almost cooked. It was quick, easy, and delicious.

Blueberry Oatmeal Quinoa Breakfast

This is a great healthy start to your day, and its extremely filling. I've been trying to eat a lot healthier lately, and it feels like I am constantly hungry. I know it's supposed to be better to eat 6 small meals a day, but I often don't have time to do it or the energy to cook that much. This has been my healthy solution to a feeling breakfast.

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup uncooked Oats (I use steal cut oats)

1/4 cup uncooked Quinoa

1-2 T Chia Seeds

Large Handful of Blueberries

2-3 T Low Fat Greek Yogurt

Milk

If you need to make it a little sweeter add honey or brown sugar, but the blueberries and Greek yogurt sweeten it up enough for me.

I often cook a big pot of quinoa at the beginning of the week to add to my food during the week. If not, I start by cooking the quinoa for a few minutes first, then add in the oats. Once they are cooked thoroughly I add my chosen amount of each ingredient. I sprinkle chia seeds on top, and then add one big scoop of Greek yogurt with my regular spoon. I don't add much milk, just enough to make it creamy. Sometimes I even cook the quinoa and oats with milk instead of water.

This breakfast can obviously be made lots of ways. I get bored eating the same thing everyday so I try to make simple twists on everyday foods. This is a mix I really enjoyed.

Pesto Mozzarella Panini

Panini's are one of my favorite foods. I don't know what it is about grilling a sandwich that makes it taste so much better, whatever it is, it makes me happy. Here is one of my favorite takes on one of my favorite foods...

INGREDIENTS:

Turkey

Tomato

Avocado

Spinach

Feta Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Pesto

Pepper

Basil

Dave's Killer Bread is always my bread of choice. I prefer the one in the green package. It's fresh, organic, healthy, and extremely delicious. 

Add Pesto to both sides of bread and then add your desired amount of each ingredient. I always use a thin slice of turkey. Throw it on your panini maker, and your done!

I also prefer to pair this panini with tomato bisque soup.

Greek Quinoa Salad

I made this the other day for a BBQ. It's healthy, delicious, and super easy to make. I had all of the ingredients on hand making it even easier. It's a delicious way to spice up quinoa, and make a traditional pasta salad better for you.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup uncooked)

1 cucumber

1/4 Red Onion

1 large tomato or 2 small

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

Feta or Mozzerella Cheese

Olive Oil

Red Wine Vinegar

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt & Pepper

Garlic

Cut all of the vegatables up into small bite size chunks. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Add cooked Quinoa. Mix in about 1/4-1/2 cup feta cheese. I used both feta and mozzerella. Both work great. I diced the mozzerella up into small pieces. Then add a little oil and vinegar to taste. I use a small amount of balsamic vinegar and then a lot of red wine. It turns out quite tasty!