Spaghetti of the Squash Variety

Spaghetti for dinner!

No, not noodles… Squash!

I purchased a giant spaghetti squash a couple of weeks ago and it has been waiting patiently for me to use it to create a delicious dinner.

Tonight was the night!

After prepping the squash, I set it in the oven and let it bake away while messing with Sadie. Sometimes she is just so fun to terrorize. 😉

I think she thoroughly enjoyed dancing and twirling to Bonnie Raitt.

“Let’s give ‘em somethin’ to talk abooooout!”

After 40 minutes in the oven, the squash was ready for noodleizing. (You may read about how I prep spaghetti squash here.)

Once I had a bowl full of squash noodles, I topped them with Newman’s Own Sockarooni pasta sauce and a bucket load of Parmesan cheese.

Newman’s Own pasta sauce was buy one, get one free at my local grocery store so I nabbed two jars. Ryan selected the Sockarooni flavor that we used tonight and it is a winner! Loads of flava!

Sadie clearly wanted to sample it as well…

Though my bowl of spaghetti squash was quite large, I still wanted a little somethin’ somethin’ when I was done eating, so I popped open a cup of Chobani strawberry banana Greek yogurt to enjoy while I blog away.

Now I’m off for an evening stroll with Ryan and Miss Sadie.

Enjoy your night!

Cilantro: A Polarizing Herb

I love combining strong, flavorful cheese with tart apple slices.

Apple + Cheese

What a winning combination!

Today’s lunch featured a Granny Smith apple and Muenster cheese sandwich that I enjoyed along with leftover roasted asparagus.

Salty + Sweet + Tart

Asparagus

The leftover asparagus was oh-so-tasty!

I know I’ve touched on the asparagus and stinky pee connection previously, but did you know that cilantro is another one of those funky foods that affects people differently?

According to The New York Times, the herb tastes like soap to some people. These people, according to studies conducted by Charles J. Wysocki of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, “may be genetically predisposed to dislike cilantro.”

Interesting, huh?

Let’s Get To Know Each Other A Little Better…

So tell me…

• Does asparagus make your pee stink?
• Do you hate cilantro?

Why Don’t We Get Drunk and…

And the DJ Plays My Favorite Song…

Just a lil’ Miley Cyrus reference to get your day started. 😉

I must say the DJ on Orlando’s 98.9 was playin’ my favorite tunes as I was preparing my breakfast this morning.

These songs, played back to back, had me and Sadie dancin’ up a storm in the kitchen:

• Jimmy Buffett – Fins
• Alanis Morissette – Head Over Feet
• Steve Miller Band – Fly Like an Eagle

Anytime my day starts with a little ’90s music (Alanis, I love you) and some Jimmy Buffett, I know it’s going to be a good day.

(Side note: If you are also a ’90s music fanatic, you may wanna check out my rockin’ ’90s playlist here.)

My love of Jimmy Buffett can be attributed to my parents who would play his music all the time.

Hi Jimmy!

His tropical lyrics and laid back music would always make us feel more relaxed and happy, especially when the winter months in Chicago hit and all we could think about was how cold and dreary it was outside!

Funny story about good ol’ Jimmy…

One night during a normal family dinner when I was in elementary school, my dad put on a Jimmy Buffett CD. As we were eating, the song “Why Don’t We Get Drunk” came on.

I was no more than nine years old, but both my sister and I knew all the words to the song and sang along. I can remember my parents exchanging awkwards looks when we sang these lyrics…

I really do appreciate the fact you’re sittin’ here
Your voice sounds so wonderful
But yer face don’t look too clear
So bar maid bring a pitcher, another round o’ brew
Honey, why don’t we get drunk and screw

It wasn’t until I was a few years older that I figured out exactly what it was that I was singing about and why exactly my parents looked so uncomfortable that night at the dinner table. 😉

Oh, innocence.

Breakfast

Well, that was quite a tangent, huh?

Let’s get to breakfast!

Taking a cue from the deliciousness of yesterday’s pumpkin peanut butter French toast, I recreated the meal in a more simplified way, by simply making a pumpkin peanut butter sandwich.

PB & P

I combined 1/3 cup of canned pumpkin with two tablespoons of PB2 to make the pumpkin peanut butter and smeared it on a honey wheat sandwich thin.

Cinnamon Dusted

I dusted the sandwich with cinnamon and enjoyed it alongside a ripe banana.

A Bite of Autumn

Breakfast is Served

I also sipped on a tumbler full of free hot coffee from my gym. I combined three flavors of Barnie’s Coffee (pumpkin spice, cinnamon butter cookie and French vanilla) to make a delicious cinnamon pumpkin vanilla butter cookie flavor!

Sadie was very intrigued…

"What's that You Got There, Mama?"

I was also quite intrigued with the matchy-matchy thing going on between my skirt and the tumbler, considering both patterns were quite unusual.

Kinda Matchy?

What can I say? I’m easily amused.

Workout

My workout was the Wednesday usual: BodyPump class + 15 minutes on the elliptical.

I read a super-old issue of Real Simple magazine while ellipticizing and must say that magazine is highly entertaining. I love all of their quick and easy recipes. I definitely tore one out to try soon!

Time to work!

Hope you have a faaaantastic day.