The Usual

So I still haven't updated the weeks before Easter weekend, I'll get to it eventually.  But I'm gonna skip ahead to now.

Wednesday I had strawberries and pineapple for breakfast.  For lunch, this deliciousness.

Now lemme tell ya.  This Fettuccine Alfredo was extremely creamy.  Very creamy.  My problem was the sweetness and...blandness?  To say it was bland would be a lie.  Maybe what I mean to say is just that it wasn't as spicy or garlicky as I like.  Next time I will be adding a little more zing.  The sweetness, however, came from the tapioca starch.  I'm not sure how to rectify that except to use less than the recipe calls for next time.  I might even try a little almond flour so it will retain it's thickness but without the sweetness.  Not to mention, I had this for lunch the day after I made it.  When it was fresh in the skillet, it was much better.  The tapioca starch clumps weren't as clumpy, fresh.  I'm gonna have to figure out how to nix the clumps.  

Anyway, it wasn't as good as it could've probably been, but it was still really good.  Alfredo is always good.  For supper, I had some leftover chicken breast from Olive Branch, mashed cauliflower that I whipped up SUCCESSFULLY this time.  Just the right flavor and not too salty.  Also, some more Roasted Curried Cauliflower- best stuff ever.  It's just really really really good.  I don't even know.  I also made some "cookie dough," but I tried a different recipe because I got my COCONUT FLOUR in the mail whooooooop.  However, the cookie dough sucked.  Do not use this recipe.  It's almost butterscotch-y.  Not good.  Unless you like butterscotch I guess.  I didn't have the Kerrygold butter, I just used the Simple Truth brand of organic, although it's hard for me to believe that solely contributed to the lackluster-y taste.  Anyway, the only redeeming quality was the Enjoy Life choc chips that were in it lol. I've been snacking on it for the past few days (it yielded about a cup) and I guess it satisfies the sweet tooth a little.  But I'd almost rather have nothing.  Almost.

Thursday I had bacon and eggs for breakfast- Win.  For lunch, an iceberg salad with onions, chicken, and of course BACON.  I didn't have time to bring paleo dressing, so I had some Great Value ranch at work.  I maybe had a tbsp.  I don't think that will hurt me, right?  Anyway, the salad was so refreshing.  I've gotten kind of annoyed with most salads, because there aren't a ton of vegetables I like raw, and salads love to put as many raw vegetables/fruits in themselves as possible.  And I eat it all even though I don't really like half of what's in it.  So I stuck with the basics this time and it was on point.  I also had some pineapple and strawberries.  Delightful.

For supper, I whipped up a few things to have to take with me for my weekend trip to Madison, in case there wasn't any paleo options.  

I made:

Mini Peppers Stuffed with Chicken

and 

Chicken Meatballs with Zucchini Pasta

Each of them are their own entity.  Both, so so good.  I was surprised.  Had to get new socks for my tastebuds, as they were knocked off.  

The mini peppers were sweet and just straight up satisfying.  The peppers carmelized a little I think and enriched the flavor so much.  Roasting.  Who knew. 

The chicken meatballs were FREAKING DELICIOUS.  LIKE SO FREAKING GOOD.  My favorite meatball ever.  

The zucchini I had with it was cut by my new Veggetti.  I may have lost a few fingers, but I guess it did the job.  

I didn't eat all of that for supper, just a meatball and 2 small stuffed peppers.  Quite satisfying.

Friday morning I had some strawberries for breakfast, leftover Fettuccine Alfredo with 2 small stuffed peppers for lunch and pineapple for dessert.  Friday night I was in Madison, MS for my bestie's birthday celebration and had P.F. Chang's Gluten-Free Ginger Chicken and Broccoli without any rice.  

And THEN I didn't even salivate at Waffle House later that night, even though I was surrounded by biscuits and chocolate chips.  

Today I had a Grilled Caesar Salad from Sweet Peppers with no croutons.  It was really good.  I like simple salads.  And thennn for supper we grilled out and I had a chicken thigh, roasted vegetables (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts) and some collard greens.

I had been eager to try brussel sprouts for a while now so I was happy Mama Craig was making them.  My first bite was good... kind of a broccoli taste.  So I happily popped a second brussel sprout into my mouth.  Not sure what happened, but the second one tasted like straight up feces.  Poop.  It was HORRIBLE.  I literally almost threw up for the first time in years from eating something gross.  I had to stop breathing so I could finish chewing and swallowing without having to taste it.  I was close to having spewed vomit all over the Craig's dinner table.  So at this point, my view on brussel sprouts is pretty much 50/50.  They're either 50% good or 50% totally horrible bowel movement flavored.  I'm sort of afraid of the tie-breaker.  I just don't know if I'll have the courage.  The collard greens were actually alright!  For some reason, they tasted like KFC mashed potatoes and gravy to me.  Left field, I know.  

It wasn't hard eating paleo elsewhere this time.  This is good.  I didn't even have to eat the meals I had prepared for the weekend, which means I don't have to cook as much this week, since I'll have meals for lunches already ready.  

Trouble in Paleodise

Shame.  So much shame.

I'll start from the top.

I haven't posted a blog in probably a whole week.  Partially because I've been lazy, partially because my grandmother passed away and I haven't had time, and partially because... well... I sorta went off Paleo for...about 4 days.

I'll post my meals shortly, but first, confessional.

It all started Thursday night.  After cooking food Wednesday night that I had brought from home to my parents' house in Olive Branch, and eating it Thursday for lunch too, I was feeling pretty proud of myself.  We had tons and tons of southern cookin' brought from friends and family in reverence to my Grandma.  Ham.  Potato salad.  Baked beans. Apple pie. BBQ. Coleslaw. Caramel cake. Chocolate cake. Strawberry cake. Lots of cake.  Basically your typical Mississippi diet.  The diet I always used to eat.  The diet that still seems like an old quilt, faded and worn from use.  The one you like to pull out and use on bad days because it's comfy and makes you feel warm and safe.  Yes, I'm still talking about food. Anyway, I was surrounded by all this food and I had resisted.  I hadn't even been that hard, outside of not having a lot of my paleo ingredients.  But Thursday night, after sticking to some roasted chicken, salad, and pineapple, I decided to have a small spoonful of potato salad.  I figured, yknow, many people consider potatoes to be Paleo- myself included.  The only thing un-Paleo about it would be the mayo.  I had 2 bites and it just wasn't what I was hoping for, so I stopped.  Gold star #2.  Until my aunt Sammie's Gooey Butter Cake.  OH EM GEE.  I never used to be a sucker for it, because there was a giant pecan half on each piece and I wasn't a pecan fan.  But seeing them in front of me made me want to devour every bite, even savor the pecan.  It wasn't that I couldn't resist; it was that I didn't want to.  So I had a tiny piece.  Just to clarify, Gooey Butter Cake is this divine topcrust-y buttery gooey ... cake.  But it's cut up into these 2x2x2'' squares; it's not like a whole big cake that you cut into.  Anyway- I just had one small one.  And then I had another one.  It felt so wrong but so, so right.
Friday I went shopping with mom.  We ate at Zaxby's and I had a grilled chicken caesar sans croutons with some honey mustard dressing.  I knew honey mustard wasn't Paleo, but it didn't seem like a big deal.  It was only lunch and I hadn't stepped outside of Paleo in 3 weeks, except for Thursday night of course.  Dinner was salmon patties, more potato salad, and stir-fry vegetables.  Not terrible, but not entirely Paleo.  Saturday for lunch I went out with Shelby to Olive GardenYUM.  My food app said there was some kind of shrimp thing I could get that was paleo, but after seeing the $14 price tag, I decided to go for the endless soup, salad, and breadstick deal.  Only $6.99.  I didn't eat any bread, but I did have the Gnocchi soup which is my absolute fav there.  I JUST COULDN'T HELP IT OKAY!  I don't even feel bad.
It started going downhill after the OG though.  We went to Starbucks to sit and chat outside and I had this brilliant idea to get a Salted Caramel Mocha.  Why?  I blame societal pressures of capitalist coffee shops.  See, not even my fault.  Anyway, it was amazing and delicious and I was bouncing off the walls after my third sip.  That's when I sorta lost control.  Can't quite remember what I had for supper, but I don't think it was anything too devastating... until dessert, that is.  For dessert, I had cake.  CAAAAKE.  Then I had a piece of Gooey Butter Cake.  In secret of course, cuz no one needs to know about that.  Sunday morning, I had cake for breakfast.  Not even in the guise of a muffin, just straight up chocolate cake.  For lunch, my parents ordered Casa Mexicana, which is my #1 favorite restaurant of all time.  I employed some restraint, as I got the Taco Salad (complete with the greasy tortilla shell which I may or may not have eaten too).  Sunday night, the inhibitions I had left just vanished and I had chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A, potato salad, Chick-Fil-A sauce, cornbread, and 2 gooey butter cakes.  Monday, I ate a waffle with syrup, gooey butter cake, and then for lunch I had more Chick-Fil-A nuggets and the rest of the potato salad.  For snack, BBQ chips.
It gets worse.  On the way to Vicksburg, I got a chicken quesadilla from Taco Bell.  And then when I actually arrived, around 8PM, the first thing I did was get the shrimp dinner from Captain D's.  Shrimp.  Fries. Coleslaw. Hushpuppies.  Who am I?!!!?
Today, lunch was leftover spaghetti squash and meatballs, but dinner was a combo of my leftover Captain D's and A FREAKING CHOCOLATE CONCRETE FROM BOP'S WITH BROWNIE, COOKIE DOUGH, REESE'S, AND OREOS.  I can't even look in the mirror.
But tonight, I cooked food for tomorrow, so I wouldn't make any excuses.  Paleo Fettuccine Alfredo.  I tasted it and my mouth somersaulted and hugged me.
So that's all for my confessions- permanently.  There will be nothing more to confess EVER.  What's interesting is that all the crappy food I ate over the past few days... half of it didn't even taste that good.  And NONE of it made me feel good.  I felt tired, sluggish, grumpy, and sick.  It's unbelievable that I could have even gone back, even for a moment.
Paleo, I love you and I will never leave you again.

Day 15

So I guess I was counting the first day of April as my paleo start-date, but it appears that I actually started on March 30th.  Making today my 15th day.  I'm sad that I missed my 2 week anniversary celebration, but now I'm headed for a solid 30 day goal.  Which will technically be on April 28th.  I have 15 more days to go.  I'm hoping to have lost another 5 pounds by then... THAT'S RIGHT.. ANOTHER 5 lbs.  Since I've lost 5 lbs so far.  Yay paleo!

But, today is Sunday.  Which means tomorrow is Monday.  Which means another week of bratty, argumentative children tattle-tale-ing on other bratty, argumentative children.  

Today's meals were good.  For breakfast I had this beauty right hur.  

That, my friends, is a mega omelet. Trademark on the name.  It contains:  2 eggs, 4 mushy leftover asparagus, onion, red pepper, bacon, sausage, spinach, grape tomatoes, and some parmesan cheese.  It was tasty.  Very happy with breakfast.  I still have half leftover, so tomorrow should start off right.  

I had 2 slices of leftover spinach pizza for lunch.  So good.  The crust texture is much better the second day after it's been refrigerated.  However, I am making a mental note to hold some of the seasonings I've been using- namely, salt.  For some reason I'm making everything so salty!  ARGH.  Cauliflower, pizza, what's next.  

Dinner was a tossup between the salad Dr. Thompson brought me the other day from Subway or more leftover pizza.  I went with the salad because it was getting a little wilty and I wanted to preserve the pizza for as long as possible.  This means I don't have to cook again as soon lol.  It can be a drag, without a dishwasher.  Luckily, I cleaned my apartment spotless today.  No dishes are out, the sink is clean, there's not water all over my counter... feels good.  The salad had shredded lettuce, spinach, banana peppers, pickles, jalepenos, cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and black olives EW (I picked those out).  The reason I hadn't gobbled the salad down earlier was mostly because I was hesitant of the spinach.  Dirty, dirty spinach.  I doubt Subway spends on organic.  Whatevs.  I won't be making a habit of it.  The best part of the salad was the dressing of course.  I tossed the chemical-y Italian she brought to me and replaced it with a creamy honey mustard sauce that made my salivary glands seize out.  I (roughly) followed this recipe with my homemade mayo, dijon mustard, honey, light olive oil, and a few spices.  It honestly makes you wonder why you ever ate the other crap.  The taste is better, it's probably cheaper, and it's all natural (the actual real kind) ingredients.  

Anyway, that was my day.  My throat's been feeling a bit sore.  I noticed I wasn't drinking as much water yesterday, so I've been chugging it today, but I'm starting to think it's less dehydration and more seasonal allergies.  Yay pollen!    

Ode to Spinach Pizza

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to my food processor for always being there for me.  When the times got tough and I just couldn't cut it, you were there.  When the clock was running out and I needed you most, you were there.  You filled a void in my life that I didn't even know was empty.  The past two years have bonded us, soul to...rotating blades.  I love you, food processor.

Ok.  I needed that.  Now for my rant.

I absolutely abhor and detest the fact that I do not have a dishwasher.  Never thought much about dishwashers, before I moved to Vicksburg.  I would wash things by hand half the time just because it was faster.  Before I moved to Vicksburg.  I had no idea.  Almost 4 months have gone by and I am washing dishes EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Not just a plate or a few silverware.  NO.  Tons and tons of dishes.  Mixing bowls, blenders, food processor, knives, baking sheets, skillets, tupperware containers, spatulas, muffin tins...the list goes on.  Every. day. Obviously, being on paleo quadruples the amount of dirty dishes I pile up, since before, the only appliance that got any action was my trashcan, as I tossed Wendy's and Taco Bell bags in there.  I'm grateful for the lifestyle change, but BY GOLLY if I don't get a job elsewhere and move into an apartment with a dishwasher, I'm afraid my fingernails might dissolve off and get sucked down the drain.  At 23, I have the hands of Mic Jagger.  It's getting ridiculous.  I don't think at any one point, I don't have dishes sitting dirty or sitting clean (drying) on my counter.  Whatever.

Alright annnddd nowwww.... the moment you've all been waiting for....

I had to sit down after I bit into a slice of this Spinach Crust Pizza.  It was actually really fast to make.  Probably faster than normal pizza!  I didn't have to wait for the dough to rise or anything! :)  The spinach crust only had to bake at 425 for about 15 mins.  I made the pizza sauce with half a can of Organic tomato sauce, 2 cloves of garlic, few slices of onion, sea salt, cracked black pepper, and some basil and oregano.  I think it may be the best part.  Next, I added some sliced Roma tomatoes and onions.  Then I cooked up some bacon and sausage... okay so THIS was the best part.  I sliced up some fresh mozzarella to top it off and dusted with the basil and oregano again.  I put it back in the oven to broil for about 8 mins and voila!  Can't believe this is so tasty and so low carb.  Delicioso.  

Saturday

Why is it that I get really excited about the weekend and then depressed once it gets here, knowing it will be Monday in 2 days?

So sad.  Speaking of sad Dawson, who else was tormented by the fact that Joey doesn't pick him, but even more so, that we didn't want Joey to pick him?  Er wanted her to pick Pacey more.  Such an injustice and also a victory.  So many feelings!!!!  Anyway, this isn't helping my depression.  Back to food.  It's hard to be depressed about food.

I woke up at like 12 this morning afternoon and made these Sweet Paleo Zucchini Pancakes.  

I like to call them Tasteless Paleo Zucchini Cakes That Were Cooked In A Pan.  It's not like they were bad or anything, it's just they didn't taste good at all and I didn't like them one bit.  

To be fair, I didn't have all the ingredients.  No baking powder, baking soda, coconut flour, or pumpkin spice.  I figured the first three only accounted for the texture, not the taste, though.  As far as pumpkin spice is concerned, while I didn't have All Spice, I did have the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.  I don't know what that blog lady eats usually, but she may have gotten "sweet" mixed up with "the taste of air."  It really only served as a vehicle for honey.  The honey was good.  Oh, and then I made some bacon, because bacon.

But the news ain't all bad, because I made 2 delicious things today (so far) and I'm in heaven.  

The first was Paleo Zucchini Fritters.  The second was Paleo Mayo.  Here, I took a picture of my tastebuds:

I'm a fan.   

The mayo recipe isn't kidding when they say you have to have patience.  Luckily the light olive oil I bought was exactly 1 1/4 cups.  After I used the 1/4, I was able to just pour the rest of the bottle verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyy verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryy verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly.  It probably took 5 mins just to pour 1 cup of olive oil into my food processor.  I was determined not to mess it up by pouring too fast.  The flavor is better than any mayonaise I've ever tried.  For those that dislike mayonaise, it's probably because you haven't ever tried real mayonaise.  So good.  Mine expires on May 4th... pretty sure it won't survive the week.  For my zucchini fritters, I added some lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, chives, and black pepper to the mayo to drizzle overtop.   Sauceyyyy.  

For dinner, I'm feeling pizza.  I think I may go for this Spinach-Crusted one.    I'll post the verdict.

Bad Blogger, Bad

So here we are.  Friday...the 11th.  Oops.  I honestly just didn't feel like blogging.  I'd come home from work, cook, watch House, and then sleep.  Real exciting.

I'm going to attempt to recall all of my meals.  Here goes.

Thursday supper was:

Zucchini Chips, 5-Minute Paleo Salsa, and Paleo Taco Pie.

(Yes, it's organic.  #94688.  I'm advertising.  ^)

Pretty divine.  Except the zucchini chips that I ruined with way too much seasoning.  :/  Also, they were really small

I'll try to go bigger and thicker next time.  The salsa was amazing.  I was shocked how fast and easy it was.  It really did take only 5 minutes.  Who knew.  The taco pie was good.  Something in it was a little too spicy- not sure what.  The crust was almond flour mixed with taco seasoning... not as crispy as I would have liked but still scrumptious.  I added a little salsa to it when I ate it for leftovers since the fridge dries it out a bit.  I'd still make it again though, fo sho.

Friday-

Breakfast: Prob a banana or something.

Lunch:  Leftover taco pie : )

Supper:  Leftover Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Saturday-

Breakfast:  Eggs, Bacon, Strawberries

Lunch:  Bacon, red bell pepper, Taco pie

Supper:  Taco pie

Sunday-

Breakfast:  Sleep

Lunch:  Paleo cookie dough, taco pie

Supper:  Cheesy Spaghetti Squash (interesting)

Monday- SICK DAY

Breakfast: Sleep

Lunch: taco pie?

Supper:  Grilled chicken breast, ROASTED BROCCOLI (not burned, yay!), and cheesy spaghetti squash

Tuesday-

Breakfast: Not sure.

Lunch: Third Grade children

Supper: Almond-battered chicken breast, Mashed Cauliflower, Roasted Cauliflower, cheesy spaghetti squash.  Mashed cauliflower would've been delicious if I hadn't assaulted it with sodium chloride.  The roasted cauliflower though.... if there were a chain, it'd be way, way off it.  I was flabbergasted.  I had never liked (or really eaten) cauliflower and I was like..

but then I tried it and I was like...

Wednesday-

Breakfast: Organic red delicious apple with Cashew Butter

Lunch: Leftover almond-battered chicken breast, mashed cauliflower, steamed broccoli.  (My steamed broccoli was bitter this time! :(  Not sure if it was because I didn't peel the stems off of it this time or if it was just a bitter head.)

Supper:  Banana Cashew "Ice Cream" (bananas, cashew butter, vanilla, Enjoy Life choc chips, almonds) Is that all I had...?  Don't remember.

Thursday-

Breakfast: Organic banana with cashew butter.

Lunch: Last of the taco pie.  That lasted forever.

Supper:  Grass-fed Sirloin Steak with Cilantro Garlic Sauce, Bacon Wrapped Asparagus, Paleo Onion Rings, Paleo Ketchup.

I never make steak.  I hardly ever EAT steak.  Even when Mikey takes me out- I'm more of a chicken kind of gal.  But I figured I'd give it a go.  Since I'll be eating a lot more meat on Paleo, I might as well diversify it.  The steak was good.  Not great, but good.  More fatty than I'm used to with lean chicken.  Not to mention I have a lot to learn when it comes to actually cooking steak.  I must say I owe that steak a thing or two though.  Without it, I would never have known there isn't a smoke detector in my apartment.  Comforting, right?

Anyway, I followed the recipe directions as best I could, but I don't think there was enough fat to oil the pan before I started cooking.  Maybe that and my pan quality sucks.  Who knows.  I wanted it to be at least medium well... it came out medium, which I'm never normally comfortable with.  The only reason I didn't slap it back on the pan was because Mikey said it was fine.  He does know his meats.  The cilantro garlic sauce was on point.  Little soupier than I typically go for, but the taste was bangin.

Now for the asparagus.  I had high hopes for this one.  I've only had asparagus 2 or 3 times ever.  Only one of those times did I actually like it.  And it was grilled outdoors (which could make a dirty sock taste like a summer picnic). Well, I don't have a grill (except the teensy tiny George Foreman that I didn't feel like pulling out and having to clean up) so I just made it in the pan like the recipe suggested.  I'm not sure where I went wrong, but it was really really mushy.  And this is fresh, organic asparagus.

The flavor was good enough, but I'll definitely be going the Pioneer Woman path next time.  Sucks that that was all my asparagus too.  The bacon was great though.  Who's ever gone wrong with bacon, uh, NO ONE.  

And now my favorite part.  ONIONNNN RINNNNNNGGGGS.  I get really cap-happy when I'm tired.  SORRYYYYY.  LOL.  So these onion rings and ketchup were the best I've ever had like ever.  Who knew that ketchup without the chemicals is actually still ketchup, but like ballin ketchup.  People really don't know what they're missing.  Surrrsley.  Next time I do the onion rings (so like, tomorrow), I'll experiment with cooking them for a lesser amount of time.  They were a little wilty, but the edges were still crispy.  There just wasn't a distinct "crunch."  We'll work on that.  Anyway, I was proud of my gourmet meal.  Even though the asparagus was more like baby food wrapped in sausage casings.  It's fine.  

Friday-

Breakfast: Fresh pineapple.  The Hawaiians have it good.

Lunch:  Arugula salad, red bell pepper, leftover steak, small organic red potato with butter.  Strawberries.

Supper: Banana "ice cream."  I would scrutinize myself about how "healthy" my dinner was, but ....well, it sort of was healthy.   I'm shocked that I'm not more hungry.  Especially since I hardly ate my salad today (the honey mustard dressing I whipped up was REALLY strong- I couldn't really get down more than 2-3 bites).  I think I'm gonna make some zucchini pancakes in the morning.  I miss pancakes.

Today is Thursday. Not Friday.

Bummer, huh.

Today I have just consumed my breakfast of:

1 broccoli bite
1 banana

Today I am exhausted.  Thank you, upstairs-neighbor Sven.  It's so awesome that you have a different sleep schedule because you used to work swing shifts at the casino so now you get up to start your day at 1AM and scuffle around upstairs in he middle of my REM cycle. No really, it's cool.

Anyway, I'm no sure if my eye is twitching from lack of sleep or the fact that my lunch is sitting to my left... begging to have its tupperware lid ripped off and the contents dumped into my salivating gullet.  Either way, it's annoying.

Speaking of lunch, as I was trying to find morsels of food to sustain myself last night, I was also cooking another round of Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs.  I was hoping it would be done in time for supper but 10 PM is a tad late for gourmet.  So, I tucked half of it to bed in my lunch container to take with me for today.  Cannot wait to inhale it later.

Supper tonight may consist of something SALSA.  Cuz salsa and I have been in a great long-term relationship for years and we're in need of some alone time.  We're on for 6 PM in the kitchen.

Yesterday

Tuesday's meals were pretty good.  Not the best meals I've ever eaten, but satisfying enough.

For breakfast: Broccoli bite and a strawberry.

For lunch:  Mason jar salad (same as my last lunch) and 2 strawberries.

For snack:  Organic banana and salted pistachios.

For dinner:  Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Boats


******************************BREAKING NEWS!******************************
AGH!  First time I've wanted bread/sweets.  My co-worker just busted out cinnamon streusel muf.............................oh sorry, I'm drooling.  Muffins.

I'm not hungry, but I can definitely tell what a craving feels like.  Usually, I could never identify when I was craving something vs. when I was actually hungry.  This was because I would eat whatever I was craving and feel better- so I was never sure if I was just satisfying a craving or my stomach.  Either way, I think I may need to bake something tonight (almond flour-y) to keep me from losing it lol.  Maybe it'll just go away.  We'll see.

Squash

 Well I didn't blog yesterday because I got a little too busy cooking, cleaning, and watching murder mystery documentaries lol.
I have a bit to catch up on.  For instance, my divine dinner from Monday night.  Best thing I've eaten in a long time.  Ok, besides the cheeseburger from Goldie's last week (pre-paleo) but let's not think about that right now.

THIS recipe will make you wonder where spaghetti squash has been all your life.  In all seriousness, I liked LOVED it more than regular pasta-spaghetti.  And I love pasta.  I am not a health-person by any means... like I'll usually always go for what tastes better over what's healthier.  And I would choose spaghetti squash over bready pasta any day of the week.  It's lighter, it's got a fresh crispness to it, it absorbs the flavors around it so it's very neutral in taste, it's easier to eat with a fork, it doesn't expand in your stomach and make you feel miserable (although I probably ate enough to feed a small village and was quite, quite full... oops), it's juicier, it's just as easy to make as regular pasta, the prep-time was probably faster than regular pasta and the crock pot did all the hard work for 3 hours while I sat around on Pinterest, and finally- it's healthy!  As in, this "pasta" enhances your health.  Can't get more guilt-free than that.  So beautiful.

The pasta sauce I used was the organic Simple Truth kind I posted about earlier.  SO good.  No degree of taste was sacrificed.

The meatballs were WONDERFUL.  I'll probably make less next time because the sausage was very filling (I had 3!) and probably contributed most to my almost-miserable feeling.

Here's a few pics of the process:

I only used one half of the squash because my crock pot isn't very big, but that's okay because now I can use the other half to make it again!!!!  I may or may not have eaten the rest of the meatballs as snacks...