Need to catch up on posts from this weekend?
7 Interesting things you may not have known about me (and TONS of Molly pictures)
A great Upper Body Workout and my obsession with canned pumpkin…
And, a pumpkin bread recipe and HIIT treadmill workout!
Sunday I spent doing a lot of cooking and trying some new recipes! I had bought a few types of squash this weekend, so I wanted to put them to good use! First up was a Buttercup Squash. Now I had never heard of a buttercup squash, but it looked similar to an acorn, the name sounded good, and so far I haven’t met a squash I didn’t like!
It was a little hard to cut through though…
But I got it eventually! I scooped out the insides and then sliced it up and put it in the oven at 400 degrees. Which may have been a little hot…
After being in there for about 35 minutes, I pulled them out and when I flipped them over, the bottom sides were a bit burnt. Probably should have flipped them halfway through and only used 350 degrees. Future reference!
Taking a break from the squash, I decided to make up some lunch! I had found these All Natural Chicken Hotdogs at Trader Joe’s, and decided to give them a whirl! I ended up making a BBQ-inspired lunch!
BBQ Hot Dog Stir Fry
Ingredients
1/2 cup sliced pepper (color of your choice!)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Chicken hot dog (or hot dog of any type… although regular hot dogs kinda gross me out now…)
1/2 cup rice
1 T BBQ Sauce
Directions
Stir-fry veggies in a hot skillet with some pam or oil of choice. Once they’re slightly tender, add in sliced hot dog. In the meantime, heat instant brown rice… Yep. I got lazy and bought some instant rice. When veggies and chicken hot dog are warm, toss them all together in a bowl with the BBQ sauce.
Sorry about the bad picture… hopefully improved photos will be coming soon! It ended up tasting great, and was just the hint of southwestern flair that I needed to mix things up! Lots of pumpkin being eaten over here… It would also be great with black beans, corn, or onions mixed in as well. Whatever you like!
For dinner, I decided to put to use one of the squashes that I had cooked today – Spaghetti Squash! Spaghetti squash is a favorite of mine because I love to use it as a pasta replacement! If you’re feeling something more Italian, try out my “Spaghetti” with Veggie Sauce!
I found a great looking recipe for Mexican Style Spaghetti Squash on The Edible Perspective and decided to try it out! I made a few changes to the recipe based on what I had in my kitchen, and it turned out great!
Mexican Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
~ 1 and 1/2 cups of a spaghetti squash
1/2 T coconut oil
1/2 cup chopped pepper
1/2 cup white beans (original recipe called for black)
1/2 cup corn
2 T chopped onion
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Directions
Too cook spaghetti squash, cut in half, scrape out center and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
For topping, put coconut oil in skillet and heat, adding peppers and onions. Once those have started to cook (1-2 min) add in the corn, beans, and seasoning. Cook until heated through.
Scrape squash out and put into bowl. Top with skillet contents and enjoy! You can also add cheese on top to give it a Mexican flair, but I used some Nutritional Yeast since I had no cheese.
So if you hadn’t noticed by all the decorations and insane amount of candy lining the aisles of stores, I’ll let you know: Halloween (and my birthday…) is coming up in just two weeks! Have you all figured out costumes yet, or do you have any plans? Molly already has her costume… Here’s a teaser:
Can you guess what her whole costume is going to be?