Monday Happenings + Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash & Cheese

Tonight was productive!  Since it was 70 degrees, I figured I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take Puddin' for a nice walk when I got home.  I slapped on my reflective construction vest from work and checked out a new route by our house while breaking in some shoes I got for Disney.  (Did I tell you my team qualified for Nationals in December?!)  I'm officially a grandma... I bought Dr. Scholl's sneakers.  Comfort is everything!  Plus they were $29.99 and I don't think they look too dorky.

We also did some painting tonight!  We've been avoiding our living room for a few weeks now, but my dad is coming to help us paint on Black Friday.  We knew we had to finish the accent wall before then, so that the paint could dry and we could tape it off.  We're having a New Years/Housewarming party and I'm so glad we have some type of deadline to get the house in order.  It will always be a work in progress and everything won't be done by then, but I think it would be easy to keep avoiding a bunch of projects without the added motivation!

And last but not least I cooked dinner!  It doesn't sound like a huge accomplishment but with cheerleading 3 days a week, it doesn't happen all that often.

When I first started reading healthy living blogs, it seemed like quinoa was all the rage!  I tried it a few times and never really loved it until I found this recipe!  Anything that combines cheese and buffalo chicken is a huge win in my book.  Despite the delicious sauce, Dave still wasn't a huge fan of quinoa and I had all but forgotten about this recipe... until now!  I was browsing through my pinterest boards, when it caught my eye and I realized I could easily make a few substitutions to make this dish more Paleo friendly.  The milk is replaced with coconut milk, the flour with almond flour, and goodbye quinoa, let's replace you with a veggie.  The recipe does still contain a hearty amount of dairy (since I believe cheese is non negotiable in any "mac" & cheese), but overall it is a fairly healthy low carb option!

Buffalo Chicken Mac Spaghetti Squash & Cheese

Ingredients:

- 1 spaghetti squash, cooked and scraped out

- 2 lbs of chicken, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces, I used chicken thighs that I seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder
- 1 can of coconut milk

- 2 tbsp almond flour
- 1 cup Frank's Red Hot
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- salt & pepper to taste
- blue cheese crumbles

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk the coconut milk and almond flour together until well combined.
2.  Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often, and let it cook for 1 minute.
3.  Turn the heat to low.  Stir in the Red Hot, butter, and cheese until the cheese melts.
4.  Stir in the cooked chicken and spaghetti squash.
5.  Poor the mixture into a glass casserole dish, top with blue cheese, and broil for 5-7 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the top is starting to brown.

It's simple, delicious, and you can customize it how you like... you want more cheese?  Do it.  A little less Red Hot?  Sure.  A different hot sauce?  Go for it.  I usually add scallions like she does in the original recipe, but to be honest I suck at using the rest of the bunch so I didn't feel like buying them.

You need this in your life.  Get cooking :)

Do you actually like quinoa?  Have you tried spaghetti squash as a pasta alternative?

Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

To be honest, a good hoagie roll is one of the few things I'm not sure I'll ever fully give up.  I could totally live without ever having a crappy grocery store hamburger bun for the rest of my life.  But a fresh Philly roll... chewy on the outside, soft on the inside... well, they still get me!  But as my wedding approaches (23 days!!!) I've been trying to bump up my veggie intake and avoid those evil processed carbs.  Enter stuffed peppers!

I was kind of bored in the kitchen so I hopped on Pinterest and rounded up some old faves that I forgot about and also some newbies!  I had pinned this recipe a while ago and never got around to making it.  I wish I could say I came up with the idea, but I did some tweaking and made it my own.  The other day I was clicking around on my blog and I realized pretty much all of my recipes are from my pre-Paleo days, so I guess it's time to fix that!

Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Inspired by Peace Love and Low Carb

Ingredients:
- 4 bell peppers
- 1 vidalia onion
- 1 handful of white mushrooms
- 1 lb thinly sliced or shaved beef
- 4 slices of bacon
- tomato sauce
- minced garlic
- salt & pepper
- garlic powder
- cheese

Directions:
1.  Cook the bacon in a large pan over medium heat until done to your liking.  Remove and chop when you have a chance.

2.  Dice the onion and plop it into the pan so it can fry in the bacon grease.

3.  While the onions are cooking, cut the bell peppers in half, deseed and devein them.

4.  When the onions are almost cooked, add diced mushrooms and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

5.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
6.  Add the beef and cook until meat is browned, pulling meat apart as it cooks.

7.  Add garlic (I used ~1 tsp), salt, pepper, garlic powder, tomato sauce (I used a chunky mushroom tomato sauce I already had in my fridge from Wegmans), and cheese to taste.  And don't forget that bacon!

8.  Arrange the bell peppers in a large pan.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer your awesome meat/veggie mixture into the bell peppers.  Top with more cheese!

9.  Stick the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown on the top.

They are delicious!

Some notes:  I made this with 5 peppers and I wished I'd only used 4 so I could've filled each one to the brim.  We had company over, so I actually wish I had just doubled the entire recipe, so everyone could chow down (which they did) and we would've had an abundance of leftovers (which we did not).  I love cooking in large quantities to enjoy the leftovers for lunch or on a lazy evening.  Also, with the cheese they are not strict paleo, but you could easily omit it.

How often do you try new recipes?