A day late...

I didn't have a chance to get on the computer last night so I couldn't post yesterday's lunch and dinner.

Lunch

I had leftovers for lunch. It was the rest of the spaghetti squash with half the leftover meat sauce with some parmesan cheese.

Yesterday was the last day of physical inventory in the building where my department works. We are the only ones that have nothing to do with what they do. haha We are quality and they are all distribution, but it is helpful because we do sort of work hand in hand. Anyway, they've been catering food for breakfast and lunch for it and yesterday was fried catfish. OMG, it smelled delicious! Then, I got the call that there was a lot leftover - I could not resist! I got a little even though they encouraged me to get more. I had to explain I had actually already eaten. Here's my little plate. The piece of catfish was actually smaller than it looks I think. This was on one of those really small styrofoam plates.

Dinner

Tonight was shuffleboard night so we had "fend for yourself" night. The boys opted for mac and cheese so I made some enchiladas out of leftover chili. I could not decide if I wanted queso cotija or colby cheese, so I sprinkled both and make it very tasty! I also made some kale chips on the side. Amazingly I made 3 enchiladas and ate them ALL! Probably should have only had 2...

As I waiting for the fiance to get home from shuffleboard, I decided to make some homemade vanilla cupcakes:

I'm not sure why the picture came out so dark. I was going to make a lemon icing to go on top, but I decided they tasted delicious just like that!

Pleasant surprises

Snack

Today was a day for experimenting and the experiments going pleasantly well. First, I found a snack size cup of Sabra Roasted Red Pepper hummus with pretzel chips. I was a little hesitant to try this because I am not the biggest fan of chickpeas. However, I really liked it! It tasted sort of like bean dip!

There was actually a lot of hummus for the portion of pretzels. At least I thought so. Luckily, the two cups fit together tightly so I could save it. I have some snap peas that I might take tomorrow. Exciting! I wanted something I could eat with some veggies!

Dinner

The second experiment was spaghetti squash! I considered it a success since everyone ate it, including the kids. Of course, I did bribe them with ice cream. hehe

The fiance and I decided to have a beer before dinner as I was cooking and he relaxed playing a video game. Here was my Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale:

Here is the "spaghetti" in a casserole bowl. I personally thought the spaghetti squash was really good and a delicious change from pasta. I could have stopped eating about 2/3 of the way through my bowl, but it was so good I managed to finish it. Here is my bowl with spaghetti squash, meat sauce and shredded parmesan cheese with bread "crackers" as Kath says:

I didn't drink the beer with my dinner, btw. It just happened to be next to it. I threw the rest out and drank a La Croix lime sparkling water with dinner.

Spaghetti Squash "Spaghetti"

1 spaghetti squash

1 lb. ground beef

1 jar prepared pasta sauce

1 can roasted diced tomatoes

1. Cook the spaghetti squash in the oven. I think I cut mine the wrong way. I cut it length wise but the spaghetti was short and not long like I've seen in other pictures and demonstrations. It was still good. I put it cut side down in a baking pan with about 1/2 inch water. I baked at 400* for 30 minutes, then dumped the water turned over the two halves andbaked for another 15 minutes. It seemed to work out well. Let it cool and then use a fork to scrape the spaghetti strings out of the squash.

2. Season ground beef to taste, cook and drain. Return to pan and add pasta sauce and simmer adding fresh or dried herbs. I used fresh basil and oregano. Add the can of diced tomatoes.

3. Once everything is ready, portion some "spaghetti" in a bowl and a couple of spoonfuls of the meat/tomato sauce. Top with parmesan cheese.

Simple as 1-2-3!