Abby's Conundrum

Sometimes, something magical happens in the kitchen and I make something truly delicious. Really. Some kitchen magic happened earlier this week, all because of a spaghetti squash and left over cream cheese. Wanna know what happened? Okay, I’ll share with you.

Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

-1 medium sized spaghetti squash (of course it’s best if it’s organic but it doesn’t matter too much since you don’t eat the outside and the inside is nice a protected).

-2-3  16 oz. cans of diced tomatoes (I WISH I  had fresh ones)

-1 cup of cream cheese

-1 cup of chicken stock (or broth)

-1 small zucchini chopped

-1 whole sweet onion diced

– 1/4 cup of flour OPTIONAL (I used wheat and gluten free but I’m sure any will work since it’s just used as a thickener if you think you need it)

-1 cup lightly steamed broccoli

(here is where it gets intense but you gotta stick with it, I promise you’ll love it. In case you could’t tell, I swear by the spices in my cooking)

-1 t. basil

-1 T rosemary

-1 t. oregano

-1 T garlic powder

-1 t. thyme

– 1 t. sage

-1/2 t. fennel

-1/2 t. savory

-1 t. pepper (teaspoon! Not tablespoon! Or more if you want I guess….)

– 2 t. salt

– 2 cups of cheese (I recommend anything white. I used an italian cheese mix.)

*Note: this is NOT an allergy free meal, but it can easily be made so. I was just being bad and cheating because I didn’t want to waste our left over cream cheese.

Directions:

Take your squash and slice it in half length wise. Put it on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 min, really that time is “ish” because some people’s ovens take 30 min, mine takes 40, really it is done when a fork and get into the middle easily. It should look kinda like this: (ignore my gross pan, its just doomed to be that way, I’ve tried everything.)

That white stuff in the middle is just bubbly water from the squash.

NOW, while that is cooking, throw everything else (EXCEPT THE CHEESE)  into a big pan on the stove and heat it till it’s bubbly. It should look something like this:

If it DOESN’T look like this, thats fine, feel free to tweak the ingredients till it does. The veggies can be different, but I’d really try and go for that creamy reddish color. That what makes it so savory. And feel free to tweak the spices, but I LOVE very, very flavorful food as does Brownie and Husband.

Now, while that is getting all bubbly, your squash should be done. Take it out  (use hot pads to hold it since it will be hot to the touch) and take a fork and scrape out all the inside till it yields a couple cups of delish spaghetti looking “noodles”. These noodles will be crispier than regular noodles ( try some plain, they are super good!).

YUM.

Once you have all your squash ready and your mixture is all hot, mix the two together in a large bowl and combine in a casserole dish. It should be a tiny bit runny so don’t worry if it’s not all solid (think lasagna consistency).

Cover the top with the cheese.

Put in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

If you want a slightly crispy top ( I know I do), put the oven on broil for two-three minutes before you pull it out.

Dish and ENJOY!

…Luckily, Lil’ Man is already VERY easily distracted. Unless he wants the computer or into the dishwasher, then there is very little to be done except tolerate the one minute rage fest that ensues when either is denied him. In one of our more brilliant moments, Husband and I decided to make a sensory board for our very, very hands on little dude. This was in part to just make his room the little-boy-dream-come-true-playland but also to help with the recovery of his surgery, for which he in being encouraged not to move much (something that is almost impossible for him).

Before I even saw ideas on Pinterest, Husband had come up with the idea of using zip ties and a board with pre-punched holes, from Home Depot. Pure genius. That way, the sensory board can be changed out with different items really easily and grow right along with Brownie’s ever-expanding intelligence level. We got the board, husband cut it, and we came up with a list of things we thought would best capture Caidoc’s attention. We already had zip ties, so we only had to make a trip to the dollar store and then assemble it! Husband and I had SO MUCH FUN making it!

We have put a good amount of toys in Caidoc’s room, but luckily, we have really figured out how to utilize wall space, like with the felt board, so we just plunked the sensory board right next to his door (the door still closes, yay!). It has already been a showers taking/meals cooked/cleaning done savior! Haha! Caidoc loves to keep those little fingers busy. The board has really helped with keeping him in the house and relatively still while he heals. You should really make one of these boards if you have a busy toddler!

The finished product…

Hi! As promised, here is my post all about my families’ fitness and health. Since our little Brownie developed his egg allergy, we have completely eliminated eggs from our diet, that means in all baked goods and everything. In the early stages of his allergy Caidoc was also very sensitive to wheat, gluten, dairy, and soy. We have since worked those back into his diet but we kinda miss eating totally allergy free, it makes the body feel to light and happy! So, we have decided to re-commit to a allergy free eating lifestyle, at least at home. The best product’s I’ve found that are a necessity for allergy free living are:

Bob’s Red Mill Rolled Oats

I use these in lots of baking as a flour substitute, I simply blend the oats into a fine powder. Be careful of the recipe you pick, it’s best to use recipes that are already allergy free by design. I also get these oats in bulk from Cash and Carry, MUCH cheaper!

Egg Replacer

My sister in law introduced this to me and it changed my life! This makes baking without eggs unnoticeable.

Almond Milk

Husband and I tried rice milk for awhile but this is so much better, AND we get it from Costco which is about half the price of the stuff on Amazon.

Applesauce

This is the best and most simple replacer in baking ever! And it’s much better for you.

Chips

Okay so these aren’t totally “healthy” but MAN they are good and also fit our diet restrictions. YUM.

Those are the main staples I can’t live without in our allergy free eating. I’ll keep you posted on anything else cheap and easy I find! As far as health goes we like to keep VERY active. Husband has soccer once and week, we walk every evening together as a family, and I try and keep active with running four times a week and doing some strength and ab work three times a week. Sometimes I feel like I need to make more time for husband to work out since he loves it as much as I do. One thing we have started doing as a family is running 5K’s together. We did our first one when Caidoc was only 7 months old! We love it. This October I’m running a 5K with one of my friends and I’m very excited about it!

My advice for staying fit and healthy is by doing it as a ritual. It’s our families’ ritual, rain for shine, to go for a walk in the evening. Caidoc now asks to “go on an adventure” which is his way of saying that it’s time for a walk. Another ritual we have is by eating healthy, we love discovering new things to eat while having a couple handy “go-to” recipes for when we feel weak and want fast food 🙂

How do you eat healthy? How do you like to stay active?

One of my biggest woes with being a mommy is not being able to work out as much as I used to. I used to work out and diet like CRAZY, and I find that so difficult to do with a little one running around who loves to be involved with everything I do, and (what seems like) endless housework, paperwork, cooking, and job work to do. I know so many people just say, “make the time!” “get someone to babysit!” “trade off with your husband!”, well I do a lot of those things. I go running and walking with Caidoc in the stroller, and I workout in the afternoons, and I walk in the evenings with Husband and Caidoc as a family. We also don’t eat fast-food, or eat out much in general, and we get a lot of our food from our local farmer’s market. So it all sounds good right? What’s the problem?! With running three days a week, core and arms four days, and some yoga on days I’m feeling are particularly “Om-ish” , I’m not sure what’s the problem! Some people say running is the problem, but let me stop you right there. I can’t, and won’t stop running, not until it’s physically impossible for me to do so. I ran when I was nine months pregnant, and I ran when I tore some cartilage in my knee. Its not smart, but I do it anyways. The Oatmeal knows how I feel.  Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s not the running…

For some reason, I’m just not getting the same results that I usually always got doing the same type of works that I did in college. I still have 25% body fat and can’t wear my cut off jean shorts without wincing at my reflection. It’s one of the most aggravating things. I’m still nursing so I feel like I cant diet like I used to. I am determined to do infant led weaning and Caidoc has no intention of stopping anytime soon which is just fine, but I think causes me to think that I still need to eat like a pregnant woman, so really I wonder how much of my woe is self inflected. Ultimately, I think age is finally starting to take it’s effect and I’m not burning calories like a freshman anymore and I’ll just have to figure out how to do something different . Oh, the woe of getting old.

To deal with this woe, I developed a semi-alterego named Fat Abby. I say “semi” because it’s not a real alter ego. It’s just someone I refer to when I am being particularly lazy or indulging ridiculous cravings, example: ” ERMYGWAD I love Coldstone!! GOTTA HAVE IT! NOM NOM NOM”, “WHAT? One slice of pie you say?! NAY, TWO SLICES OF PIE, I SAY. PUT IT IN MY MOUTH! NOW!”.You’ll know what I mean if you follow me on Twitter, Fat Abby and I have battles occasionally, sometimes it’s not even a battle, it’s just a pathetic surrender. Sometimes she come out all of a sudden, “THAT PICTURE OF AN APPLE MAKES ME WANT FRENCH FRIES, DON’T YOU WANT FRENCH FRIES?! I LOVE FRENCH FRIES, GO GET FRENCH FRIES NOW!”

Anyways, Fat Abby has given me the ability to joke about my woe without becoming too introspective or whiney. She gives me the ability to openly admit that I am being bad, which usually keeps me from being AS bad as I probably would. Anyways, I can appreciate that side of Fat Abby, the other sides of her though (and there are many…) are my down fall. Either way, she is there. Perhaps she is some manifestation of my childhood nickname, Flabby Abby, given to me so lovingly by my older brothers. Or maybe she came from the massive weight gain I had when I was pregnant, or that I’ve always just gained weight reeeallly easily. Who knows? How she got here is not important. What IS important is that she’s useful at times, and for that I am grateful.

Now I think I’m gonna go have a glass of….water.