Use ‘Em or Lose ‘Em

For lunch today I knew I had to use up some veggies that were threatening to go bad before I abandoned them in my fridge for the weekend and they stunk up the joint.

Well, I guess they wouldn’t really stink, but they would shrivel up a bit and look like wrinkly skin. I’ll deal with wrinkly skin in due time, just not in my fridge… and not when I’m 24.

The looming overly ripe veggies made the decision to make a veggie bagelwich for lunch an easy one.

I toasted a sweet wheat Alternative bagel before spreading it with a French onion Laughing Cow Swiss cheese wedge.

Laughing Cow & Bagel

Cheesy Bagel

I used yellow squash and portobello mushrooms as the “meat” of my bagelwich and dug in.

Veggies

Cheese and Veggie Bagelwich

This was pretty darn good, but I’m glad I had a bowl of my cocoa oats at 11:30 this morning, otherwise I think I’d be hungry in no time.

I’ll see ya later from my parents’ house in St. Pete.

To my family: “Get ready, ’cause here I coooome!“

Acorn Squash Salad

Is a salad a salad without lettuce or leaves? I’m thinking yes because there’s chicken salad, tuna salad, fruit salad… all without lettuce.

Therefore my lunch today merits the term “salad.” 🙂

The base of my salad was a roasted acorn squash. Last night as I was makin’ pasta for dinner, I let the squash roast at 350 degrees face down on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray for approximately 30 minutes.

Roasted Acorn Squash

I then cut a grid into the flesh and scooped out cubes of the squash.

I topped my squash with sauteed onions, portobello mushrooms, yellow squash and creamy goat cheese.

Acorn Squash Salad Topped with Goat Cheese

Thursday's Lunch

I also added a big ol’ scoop of cranberry relish to this mix to round out my meal.

Squash Salad with Cranberry Relish

I love leaf-less salads!

What’s your favorite kind of salad?

Rave Reviews for Lobster Ravioli

When Ryan was off being a wild man of nature on his hiking adventure last week, I took my time browsing around the grocery store. I can spend shockingly long amounts of time in grocery store aisles and without Ryan rushing me encouraging me along, I often stumble upon fun foodie finds.

Last week the lobster ravioli caught my eye. At less than $5 a pack, I figured this would be a great way to enjoy a dinner that tasted gourmet on a poor writer’s budget.

Lobster Ravioli

YUM

Before boiling the ravioli, I sauteed yellow squash, onion and portobello mushrooms to add to the marinara sauce I used to top the pasta.

Veggies!

I wanted to incorporate extra veggies into this meal since the only vegetables I seemed to ingest this weekend were the ones on my burger. Oops!

Ravioli Bowl

My Bowl

Ryan said this dinner was a great way to carbo-load before our run tomorrow. 🙂 (Anyone else remember that episode of The Office where Michael carbo-loads on fettuccine Alfredo for the 5K Rabies Awareness Run? Hilarious!)  Ryan is joining me and Sadie on our morning run as we resurrect Family Fun Run now that his hamstring injury is healed.

With big full bellies we’re poppin’ The Proposal in the DVD player to enjoy a movie and relax for the rest of the night. See you in the morning!

Pumpkin the Savory Way

I may be pumpkin’s number one fan. I love the fall because places begin carrying pumpkin-infused goodies. Pumpkin muffins, Frappuccinos, cookies, scones and pies are popping up everywhere and I am in heaven.

Whenever I incorporate the yummy squash into my recipes, I generally make sweet dishes, sweetened with cinnamon, nutmeg or pumpkin’s lover: pumpkin pie spice. This evening I was determined to use the fall delight to make a savory dish: pasta with pumpkin sauce.

I began to make the pumpkin sauce by sauteing chopped yellow squash and onion in a pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Sizzlin' Squash and Onions

Once the onions became slightly carmelized, I added a splash of chicken broth and some finely diced garlic and let it simmer for a couple minutes.

Chicken Broth and Garlic

While the veggies were simmering, I cooked up some pasta.

Noodles

I then added half a cup of canned pumpkin and a splash of Almond Breeze almond milk to the veggies.

Almond Breeze Almond Milk

Pumpkin Sauce

I seasoned the pumpkin sauce with salt and pepper before topping the noodles with the savory sauce.

Savory Pumpkin Pasta

When I tasted the sauce on its own, I wasn’t sure if it was what I was going for, but when I used it to top the noodles, I was very pleased. The pumpkin and veggies created a thick sauce, making this a wonderful fall pasta dish.

Yum, Yum

It was kind of weird enjoying a food I normally associate with sweetness without the typical cinnamon and spices, but I enjoyed using pumpkin in a different way. Plus, I felt like I was making a seasonally appropriate dish which put me in a fabulous fall mood!  

Time to clean up the apartment a bit and read more of The Lost Symbol. Poor Dan Brown’s book has been very neglected lately because we’ve been so busy! I gotta give it some lovin’ tonight. 😉

Takin’ the Pasta Out of Spaghetti

Spaghetti with meatballs may be one of my all time favorite comfort foods. The only problem with this dinner is that I like to eat a biiiig helping of the pasta and am left feeling overly stuffed every time.

I recently discovered a wonderful substitution for the noodles: spaghetti squash.

Sliced Spaghetti Squash

To begin making tonight’s dinner I preheated the oven to 375 degrees and had Ryan cut the squash in half (it’s very tough, so be careful).

I removed the seeds and placed the squash face down on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

Seeded Spaghetti Squash

Ready to Bake

I let the squash bake for around 40 minutes, though you could bake it for a little less time if it’s a smaller squash. Once the squash was tender, I forked out the “spaghetti” strands.

The "Noodles"

This squash yielded a lot of “spaghetti.”

Lots of Squash

I placed a large amout of the squash in a bowl and topped it with roasted zucchini, squash, marinara, Morningstar Farms crumbles and Parmesan cheese.

Morningstar Farms Crumbles

Dinner Time

Dig In!

Once I stirred it all up, it looked a lot less attractive, but tasted phenomenal!

Looks Gross, Tastes Good!

I have a tendency to love disgusting-looking food. I think I get this from my dad. Our plates at Thanksgiving are utterly repulsive. We mix everything together: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas… the works!

I’ll never forget one of my first dinners at Ryan’s mom’s house. She served mashed potatoes with gravy and peas and I stirred mine all together. She said she knew I was “one of them” when I turned such an attractive meal into a plate of delicious mush! I guess this will be a tradition Ryan and I will continue together!

Question: What is your favorite nasty looking food?