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What I Ate Wednesday + New Twist on Spaghetti Squash!

By Melissa · Comments (10) ·: January 30th, 2013

Happy Hump Day! It’s been a great day so far. Keenan and I met Giselle and her adorable little guy, Ayden, this morning for a play date at Art Beast. On a side note, Giselle has a great blog, so I highly recommend checking her out! Anyhow, Keenan spent most of his time in the play area with the kitchen and shopping cart, as he wasn’t too interested in painting or doing anything art-related (maybe he had enough art yesterday with making Valentine’s Day cards!). It was nice to get out of the house and do something new, as well as chat with Giselle. I always feel so refreshed after a change of scenery, and especially talking with other moms. It is SO vital to get out every once in a while!

The boys playing!

Since it is Wednesday, it is time for another What I Ate Wednesday link-up with the lovely host Jenn, from Peas and Crayons!

Peas and Crayons

Breakfast:

- No Oat Oatmeal with baby kale and dried blueberries (of course, topped with almond butter!).

I love adding dried blueberries in it!

- Mocha Latte with dark chocolate and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

My new favorite morning coffee ritual!

Lunch:

- Cilantro Lime Spaghetti Squash leftover from last night’s dinner with arugula, tomatoes, avocado, a hard boiled egg, turkey and Tapatio hot sauce (It doesn’t look appetizing, but it was SOOO good!).

Not the prettiest of lunches, but it was SO good!

Soon-to-be snack before CrossFit:

- Half of a banana with one tablespoon of almond butter

Dinner:

- On the menu for tonight is either leftover Paleo Shepherd’s Pie with a side of sauteed zucchini with onions and campari tomatoes or a simple one-pot meal of chicken sauteed with zucchini, onions, garlic and tomatoes. I can’t decide.

But, before I go, I have to share last night’s dinner, Cilantro Lime Spaghetti Squash with Chicken. I saw the recipe from Sarah at A Gutsy Girl and my mouth was literally drooling. I made it last night, changing up a few things and it was AMAZING! My husband, who isn’t a huge fan of Spaghetti squash, said that it was one of the most satisfying meals he has eaten since doing our Paleo Challenge! We will definitely be adding this to our “regulars!”

YUM!

Questions:

- What was your favorite thing that you have eaten, today?

- Have you cooked with spaghetti squash? If so, how do you prepare it! I really love the squash, so I’m looking for new ways to prepare it.

Comments (10)

Cilantro Lime Spaghetti Squash with Chicken

By Melissa · Comments (2) ·: January 30th, 2013

I’ve only microwaved spaghetti squash, scooped out the flesh, and used it for my Spaghetti Squash Tomato Bake, or topped it with pasta sauce. Roasting and tossing it with a sauce (especially a tart and tangy one) was AMAZING! Thanks to the lovely Sarah at A Gutsy Girl, my world has been rocked. This is now one of my favorite ways to eat spaghetti squash! I tweaked things for a different flavor and added chicken, so I can’t wait to use the same method of cooking spaghetti squash from now, on. Next time, I’ll try a different type of sauce…maybe Asian or African.

Cilantro Lime Spaghetti Squash with Chicken

Prep Time: 15 hours

Cook Time: 4 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Yield: 2-3

Cilantro Lime Spaghetti Squash with Chicken

Ingredients

1 large spaghetti squash
2 frozen chicken breasts
3 lemons (juiced)
2 limes (juiced)
4 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
5 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For Sauce: Add all ingredients except for squash, chicken, honey and 3 Tbsp of olive oil to blender or food processor and mix until smooth. Taste test and if sauce is too acidic, add honey gradually. Set sauce aside.
For Chicken: Place frozen chicken breasts into the bottom of a crock pot and pour half of the sauce on top, making sure to coat each breast. Cook on high 1 hour and then low for 2 1/2-3 hours.
For Squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Next, cut squash into quarters and place onto a baking sheet.
Drizzle 1- 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil onto each squash quarter and rub in (you made more or less oil, depending on how big your squash is).
Sprinkle salt and pepper on each squash quarter.
Roast squash in oven for 40-45 minutes, or until slightly browned and flesh is soft when pierced with a fork.
To Serve: When squash is done, scoop out flesh with a spoon or fork into a large bowl and toss with the remainder of the sauce. Serve chicken breast on top, and top with fresh tomatoes, avocado, or cilantro. Enjoy!

Notes

You don't have to use your slow-cooker for the chicken. You can marinate fresh chicken breasts in half of the sauce and broil or grill them and serve on top of your quash. Since I needed to have dinner ready when we got home from CrossFit, I made the chicken in my crock pot and set my oven for a delay start, so the squash was roasting while we were at the gym. It saved so much time and was super-quick to prepare when we got home!

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Questions: What is your favorite type of winter squash? Mine is definitely spaghetti squash (maybe because I am Italian and I love pasta, ha!).

Comments (2)

Valentine’s Day Kids’ Craft Fun and Paleo Comfort Food

By Melissa · Comments (6) ·: January 29th, 2013

Before I forget, I have to share another “Keenanism” (as my husband and I call them) from Last night when I was putting him to bed. As I was holding him and singing our usual song, he asked me what our hose was doing, as well as the faucet and our little waterfall in the backyard. I told him they were in the backyard. He said, “Mommy, they are probably going sleepy sleep.” I said, “Yes, you are right, they need their rest, too.” Keenan then asked me if Slinky was going sleepy sleep and I told him yes, she was probably in her bed by the door getting ready to go to sleep. He then proceeded to list everything in our backyard (including Slinky’s food and her dish) that was going sleepy sleep, as well as his friend, Amalia. Last, but not least, he said, “Mommy, I go sleepy sleep in my bed; it’s time for night night.” It was too cute and SO random, that I had to share with you all!

Anyhow, onto today: Keenan and I enjoyed a fun morning at home being crafty and making all of his Valentine’s Day cards. On our way home from his music class yesterday, we stopped at one of my favorite stores, Target (who doesn’t love that store?) to pick up some supplies in their $1.00 bins, such as glitter, heart stickers, paper, glue, etc for Keenan’s cards. It was the first time that we have used glitter in our house (we have only used it outside, but since it was pretty chilly, we stayed inside) and boy, was that a mistake! Keenan enjoyed putting glue on EVERYTHING and sprinkling, or rather, dumping glitter on everything, thus getting everywhere. I tried to use a cookie sheet to contain everything, but that sure didn’t work. Even after vacuuming, our floor has a nice sparkle to it! At least we both had fun!

Showing one of his cards!

Anyhow, for our project, I made one heart out of red paper and used it as a stencil to cut out the remaining hearts. Next, I glued each heart onto white construction paper and wrote Happy Valentine’s Day. Once the cards were ready, I gave them to Keenan to decorate with heart foam stickers, pom poms, glitter glue, and glitter. He had a ball decorating each card, especially using the glitter! It was a fun project, perfect for his age and super simple to make (perfect for me, since I’m not really the crafty type!).

So proud of his cards!

I’m going to keep today’s post shorter than most, because of a few things that I need to finish up before heading to CrossFit. Speaking of, yesterday’s workout was ROUGH. My body was still tired and slightly sore, so doing burpee box jumps and power cleans was tough, not to mention my stomach felt weird all day. Anyhow, I’m looking forward to doing better today.

Before I go, I am SUPER excited to share another new recipe with you, and this time, it is a traditional comfort food, Paleo Shepherd’s Pie! After having red kuri squash last week, my husband wanted to see if he could use that as the topping for Shepherd’s Pie, since it was so dry. He made the pie on Sunday night and boy, was it good! It turned out so well, that I would rather have that than regular Shepherd’s Pie. It is perfect for a cold winter night. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Perfect comfort food (Paleo or not!).

Questions:

- If you have kids, what is one funny thing that they have said recently?

- What kinds of Valentine’s Day crafts do you like to do?

- What is your favorite comfort food? Mine is a toss-up; I love my mom’s raviolis, black bean chili with sharp cheddar cheese on top and chicken scallopini.

Comments (6)

Paleo Shepherd’s Pie

By Melissa · Comments (3) ·: January 29th, 2013

If you love comfort food as much as we do and are eating the Paleo way, you will love this recipe! You won’t even miss the regular version. The recipe may look long and labor intensive, but it was rather easy to prepare. The longest part is roasting the squash ahead of time. Also, it yields a lot, making two 9X13 casseroles, because we had 3 lbs of ground turkey to use.

Paleo Shepherd’s Pie

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: Two 9X13 casserole dishes

Paleo Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

2 Red Kuri squash, halved, seeded, and oiled
1 egg
4-6 Tbsp Olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 big handfuls of mushrooms (16-20), sliced
3 lbs ground meat. We like 85/15 turkey, as it has great flavor.
1 branch of fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped; ½ t dried
2 bell peppers, seeded and diced
2 summer squash (yellow, Zucchini, etc.), or whatever veggies you want to use, diced
Splash of red wine
4 Tbsp tomato paste
A few splashes of Worcestershire sauce (if you’re hard-core Paleo, skip)
2+ cups of stock (veggie, chicken, beef… whatever you want)
1-4 Tbsp spices and herbs that you like (you’ll want to season at every step, as you’ll be adding liquid)
Pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

At least 1½ to 2 hours before prepping the rest of the pie, preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the oiled squash halves cut-face-up on a sheet, pan, or layer of foil laid right on the oven rack. Bake until they’re getting a little brown at the edges, and are easily pierced with a fork (45+ minutes, depending on the size of the squash. Ours took an hour). Remove from the oven and let cool out of the way.
Once the squash halves are cool, scoop out the flesh into a bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste, and mash well.
Set oven to pre-heat to 400°F.
In a large pot over medium-high heat, saute onions, garlic, and mushrooms in the olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and herbs/spices. Cook until they start to get tender, and remove to a large bowl.
Add a splash of oil to the pot, and add ground meat and rosemary. Break up meat and season, cooking until cooked through. (If you want the meat to brown, cook it in a wider, shallower pan, and remember to cook off the good, brown bits with some liquid and add back into the mix!) Remove to the bowl with the onion mix.
Saute bell peppers and squash/veggies with some olive oil, and season well. Cook until just tender. The bottom of the pot might get really dark. This is great, just don’t let it burn.
Add the meat and onion mixture back to the pot, along with all of the wonderful liquid. Add the wine, tomato paste, and Worcestershire. Mix well, until tomato paste has dissolved. Add just enough stock to make the mix light and stir-friendly. You don’t want soup. (We needed 2½ C of chicken stock.)
Once the contents starts simmering, lower the heat until you maintain a light simmer for 10 minutes, or so, stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken, and flavors should meld. All that beautiful brown stuff from the bottom of the pot should be making amazing, rich flavors, at this point.
Season one last time, if needed.
Mix one egg into the mashed squash.
Pour ½ of the meat mix into each of the (ungreased) casserole dishes (we used two 9x13 glass dishes), and cover with spoonfuls of the mashed squash. Smooth out mashed squash, or texture the top to promote browning.
Bake for 20 minutes, and check the dishes. If the sides and bottoms are bubbling well and the top isn’t browned, you can broil it (we were too hungry and impatient to wait for it to brown more than a little). Don’t broil until you’re seeing some good bubbling.
Once the Shepherd pies are done, remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Top with avocado slices and salsa or hot sauce of your choice!

Notes

This makes two casseroles. Eat one tonight, and freeze the other for when you need a quick meal. Feel free to add more veggies if you want this to be a true one-pot meal. You could probably substitute other types of squash for the Kuri, or starchy sweet potatoes. The red kuri squash was from a local farm and fresh, so it was chopped and bopped. We only had one squash, but two would give a much better topping.

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Comments (3)

Competition Weekend Recap + Two New Recipes

By Melissa · Comments (5) ·: January 28th, 2013

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. We are starting the third week of our Paleo Challenge (less than 2 weeks to go, which my husband is excited about!). He is SO excited to be done with the challenge that he has been making a list of foods that he wants to eat and meals he wants to make the second it is over! I’m looking forward to being done with the challenge to allow a little more flexibility in my eating, but I’ve learned a lot, and have been thinking of where I want to go from here. More to come…

Now, about the competition: I had a blast, probably the most fun I’ve had in all three of the competitions that I’ve done! It was great to compete as a team and with such a strong one, especially with our coach being a part of it. We took 17th out of 34 teams, the middle of the road, not bad, but not the best. There were a total of five WODs: three main ones assessing strength, conditioning and gymnastics and two floaters testing accuracy and efficiency. We did things that you don’t typically see in a box: spear throws, log cleans, tire flips, stone lifts and sandbag runs! By the end of the day, my body was tired to say the least. I have done three WODs in a day with the previous two competitions that I did, but for some reason, with the type and amount of work we had to do on Saturday, I was more exhausted than I have ever felt!

When I got home, all I could think of was taking a hot bath and relaxing on the couch (which is what I did!). I brought lots of food and water to keep me fueled and hydrated on Saturday, i.e. protein smoothie, homemade trail mix, almond butter, bananas and apples, but I don’t think it was enough protein, or the right kind that my body needed. I was so tired and fatigued by the time we finished our fourth WOD, I didn’t think I could do another one. Also, it probably didn’t help that I went to bed late the night before (I had planned on getting to bed early, but like always, it didn’t quite happen!). So, I learned that I definitely need a full eight hours of sleep or more, in addition to bringing better protein sources, such as hard boiled eggs, sliced turkey meat, low-sodium jerky, etc.

Will I do another competition? I definitely want to do another one, but at this point, I’m going to take a break and concentrate on improving my technique for all lifts, finally getting a muscle up (I’m SO close!) and increasing my strength, especially, since the CrossFit Open is in a couple of months. I saw so many incredible athletes on Saturday and girls doing muscle ups like they were effortless and lifting weights that seem impossible to me. Seeing them has inspired me to work harder, be faster and be the best that I can be. (Sorry, my husband completely forget (or rather didn’t have time, since he was watching Keenan) to take any pictures of the competition.)

Fortunately, my husband, who is also a Massage Therapist (not practicing professionally , gave me a full body massage yesterday and it made a world of difference! I’m still sore, but not as bad as I felt Saturday night and yesterday. Also, we enjoyed a lazy day starting with Paleo Coconut Banana Blueberry Pancakes (finally not as dry or crumbly as the other coconut flour pancakes that I have made) and almond milk lattes. It was a perfect recovery day after the competition!

So good and not crumbly like other coconut flour pancakes!

Before I forget, here is my Chicken Scallopini recipe that some of you have asked for.

Have a great rest of your day!

Questions: What have you learned from a recent competition or race? What changes have you made in your training in order to do better at your next race or competition?