Simple Spaghetti Squash (For Beginners)

I recently rediscovered spaghetti squash. Apparently I used to eat this as a kid, but I have zero memory of it, and just became interested in it again via my favorite guilty pleasure and massive time waster, the great Pinterest.

Honestly, I didn't have high hopes for spaghetti squash. A vegetable that can substitute for noodles? Yeah...that sounds great... Kind of reminded me when a friend told me if I was hungry for something sweet, instead of eating dessert I should chew gum. (We're not friends anymore. Obviously).

But actually, spaghetti squash was pretty great. If you have celiac disease like me and understand that traditional noodles are the root of all stomach evils, this is a great alternative. Or, you know, if you just want to eat healthier, this is a perfect choice, too.

Spaghetti squash with marinara sauce

Spaghetti squash isn't exactly like the traditional noodle, so don't dive into it thinking that's what you're getting. You'll only be disappointed. See my rant on imitation foods here.  I encourage you to enjoy spaghetti squash for what it is. The texture is less chewy than a traditional noodle, in an odd way it makes you feel more hydrated (you'll have to try it to believe), and it doesn't need a lot of sauce. No, seriously. I tried it multiple ways, and my favorite by far was just a little olive oil, garlic, thyme, and salt.

There are so many spaghetti squash instructions floating around there, but this is what worked best for me. Enjoy!

A large bowl of yum!

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme
pinch of salt and pepper

Directions: 

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375. Cut the spaghetti squash in half. For me, this was the most difficult part, but I can't imagine trying to do it while hot, so cut it before cooking!

Step 2: Scoop out the seeds and the stringy middle. Common misconception that this is the "spaghetti" part. Its not! Get rid of it!

This is what your squash should look like cooked. I couldn't imagine this turning into noodles, so that's why I'm adding it for you non-believers :) 

Step 3: Place spaghetti squash on tin foil lined pan and cook "face up" for 40 minutes. Take squash out, flip face down, and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Step 4: Take squash out of the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Using a fork, scoop out the insides of the squash in long strokes (if you want the longer noodles).

Step 5: In a small bowl, mix olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Drizzle spaghetti squash noodles with mixture and toss until evenly covered.

Enjoy!
Serves 2-4

Gluten-Free Chicken Pot Pie

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” - Mark Twain

Recently I went to a fellow gluten-free friend’s house for dinner and she made a fantastic chicken pot pie. I hadn’t had chicken pot pie in years. I can’t tell you how great it tasted. Better than I remembered it as a kid. Anyway, this recipe is adapted from hers. She actually makes hers dairy-free which I think is amazing, but this one isn’t.

She also introduced me to the wonder that is Pillsbury’s gluten-free crusts. So yummy! I can’t tell that it’s gluten-free, and I’m pretty picky about my crusts. Honestly, when I wasn’t GF, I still rarely ate crusts on pies. But this crust is divine. I’m telling you, you have to try it.

The dough is a little tricky to work with, especially since I didn’t read the instructions first. Since I don’t have wax paper at home, I ended up just kneading and then flattening out the dough on a plastic cutting board. I transferred it into my dish using a spatula, and then connected the crust. This actually worked pretty well for me! I’ll probably keep doing it this way, because I’m lazy and I like the path of least resistance. I just used a fork to smooth out the top at the end, and it turned out…well, see for yourself!

Ingredients:

1 Pillsbury gluten-free dough crust

½ cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon margarine

1/3 cup bob’s red mill gluten-free all purpose flour

1 ¾ cup gluten free chicken broth

½ cup milk

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon thyme

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (your choice! I used a frozen combination of peas, carrots, corn lima beans, and green beans and it was fabulous)

1 cup cooked shredded chicken

A pinch of pepper

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425F. Prepare the pie crust in the pie plate as stated on the Pillsbury container, or if you’re like me, just kind of mash it into the shape of the container haha.

Step 2: On low/medium heat, melt the margarine in a large frying pan. Add the chopped onions and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add the gluten free chicken broth, pepper, thyme, and onion powder to the pan and bring to a boil.

Step 3: In a small bowl, mix the milk and the gluten-free flour, stirring well. Slowly pour the milk/flour mixture into the boiling chicken broth mix, stirring frequently. Stir in all the milk/flour and until your mixture is nice and creamy!

Step 4: Add the mixed vegetables and the chicken to the large pan. Lower the heat to simmer and cook for five minutes.

Step 5: Pour your pot pie filling into the crust and cover with additional crust (This is the part where I flattened out the dough and transferred it using a spatula. Works great if you don’t have wax paper!). Transfer your pot pie to the oven and cook uncovered for 40 minutes. (If you made your pot-pie with a decorative crust, make sure you follow the Pillsbury directions to avoid burning it! I chose to not make a crust, again, because I’m lazy and I think it tastes the same!)

Step 6: Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Serves 5-8.

Kale Garlic Superfood Stir-Fry

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." - Hippocrates

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm totally sucked into the kale trend. It's a powerhouse of nutrients (calcium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C), helps prevent cancer according to the Stanford Cancer Institute, and it tastes pretty darn good. I'm making all sorts of recipes with kale lately, and this is one of my favorites. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

7 cups baby kale

½ yellow onion, chopped to your preference

2 zucchini

1 yellow squash

2 tablespoons gluten-free chicken broth*

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Step 1: In a large (and I mean large to fit all that good kale!) skillet, warm olive oil on low heat. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute.

Step 2: Increase heat to low/medium and add onions to the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes. Add sliced zucchini and yellow squash to the skillet. Continue to cook for 8-12 minutes.

Step 3: When your current stir-fry is almost completely cooked, add gluten-free chicken broth. Turn the heat up to medium. Slowly stir in kale, making sure it gets covered in that garlicy goodness. Cook for 1-5 minutes, depending on how well-done you like your kale. I like mine fully cooked, but you get more nutrition out of the kale if you leave it kind of crunchy!

Step 4: Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the stir fry and cook for 1 more minute. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Serves 4.

*substitute vegetable broth or water to keep it vegetarian

24 hour Juice Cleanse Results!

I started my juice cleanse last night, with my last light meal being at 2:30 pm and my first juice at 8pm. I went to bed a little hungry but feeling good, and woke up this morning absolutely starving. A juice and a half later, and I actually felt pretty full. And pretty darn good. I’m not much of a water drinker, so making myself drink water has given my body a nice hydrated feel, unlike my usual soda slog. Speaking of which…

The only thing that is bothering me right now is not having caffeine. I know I’m a full blown caffeine addict, my throbbing headache is a testament to that, and this is teaching me more about how much I need to break that habit. I mean, I can’t imagine how bad that shit is for you considering my body is raging against not having it.  Even after I’m done juicing, I’m definitely cutting down my caffeine!!!

I’ve tried a few different types of juices in my 24 hour cleanse, and I definitely have favorites. I made “mean greens” aka lots of kale, spinach, and cucumbers with granny apples to sweeten. The tomato heavy one I made was interesting…it was flavored with basil and was like drinking an Italian meal. I think I’d like that one better in small doses when I’m sick of the greens! I also made a mostly fruit drink—this one was my favorite. Grapes, blueberries, cucumber, and apples, yum! Although this wasn’t the most nutrient rich or healthy, it certainly satisfied my sweet tooth.

Overall, the cleanse was a cool experience but was severely dampened by my caffeine addiction. The one good thing about withdrawing from caffeine is that my headache was so bad I didn’t notice if I was hungry! I want to try the cleanse again when I’ve weaned myself off of caffeine more.

Making myself some tea (soda and I are in a fight right now) since its 7:15pm and the 24 hours are officially over. But since I have a lot of leftover fruits and vegetables, I’m not stopping yet! I’m going to continue on until the morning on my juice cleanse. I can tell my body is appreciating it, even through the caffeine withdrawal!

I think juicing is definitely something I'll continue. Maybe not long periods at a time, but as a way to continue to improve my nutrition. It was surprisingly easy and yummy!

Italian juice!

I'm using the Breville juicer pictured below (links to amazon if you want the same one!):

Taking a Juicing Journey

 This weekend I watched two great documentaries, one was "How to Die in Oregon" which I really can't recommend enough, and the other was the inspiring documentary called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."

"How to Die in Oregon" really affected me as a nurse, but it was "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" that really got my juices going, pun intended! See, FS&ND is about an Australian man's journey for better health through juicing fresh fruits and vegetables. His body goes under an amazing transformation and, more importantly, he drastically changes the landscape of his personal health (including becoming medication free!).

Usually I'm not a fan of things I think fall into the "fad diet" category. But I really do strive to improve my health (I run a gluten-free blog, for goodness sakes!), and every once in a while I like to try new things to jump start my body.

Some things have stuck with me that I've tried, like meditating, yoga, massage therapy, running ,and eating gluten-free. All these things have had a great, positive impact on my health.

Some things I've tried were duds. I won't name names (I'm looking at you, tapeworms!...just kidding!), but I'm terribly suspicious of anything that makes big promises or quick fixes.

But there is a lot of interesting science behind the effectiveness of juicing and how the nutrients can effectively flood your body. And I don't know about you, but I'm feeling very bogged down from all the holiday food. My belly needs a break.

So I'm basically trying juicing for fun. I've dedicated myself to a 24 hour juice cleanse (which started at 3pm today!). I'm actually really excited because I'm a fan of juice in general, but I'm also NOT excited about not having caffeine. But I think it's worth trying...who knows, it might be my next yoga!

Cheers to you!

I'm using the Breville juicer pictured below (links to amazon if you want the same one!):