Day 19 & 20 "Try New Things and Keep it Fun: Spaghetti Squash"

Hey hey hey yall!

It's Saturday!  I think this may be my favorite day of the week!  I love to sleep in and having care free days!!!!  I like to wake up and cook and just enjoy what the day has to offer.  It is a nice day out so plan on taking a walk with Pooch later. Hey here is a picture of my chihuahua, Pooch, since I usually talk about walking him every so often. Might as well put a face to the name, right??

That was him chilling out in the gazebo on a nice day.  We love nice days, lol.  Ok, so yesterday I was pretty tired so decided to just post today since I had a good amount of time to do that today.  I decided to tackle spaghetti squash. But first let me speak on my workout, yesterday's workout was good...it was my recovery day.  I am doing Plyometrics today or the resistance INSANITY dvd today.  I am still getting better with endurance and I have noticed some of those awful looking dimples (I don't have too many but I do have some haha) in my upper thighs starting to disappear!  It's about time too because all those squats, jumps and lunges better be doing something by now lol.  I like results and yes the "real" way takes time, PATIENCE, and effort.  I am happy for the gains I have seen along the way and look forward to seeing a great deal of results by May.  If you have just started a program of working out and eating right just stick with it.  I am on my 4th week starting Sunday and I have got stronger, lost some pounds (next weigh in this Friday), dimples disappearing and eating healthier is really becoming a part of my life.  I don't check my weight daily or even weekly because it can get discouraging if you aren't losing anything or a little at a time.  I will tell you this, it has to be something you really want or you may stray away like I did for the past couple of years.  I have never just ate horribly all the time but I often had my fair share of fried foods, buttered up food, high calorie cocktails and beer,etc.  I am happy I am not a sucker to sweets, pop (soda), and chips.  I like all types of food as well so that has been beneficial to this journey too.  

This morning I made a yummy breakfast.  I got the idea of my omelet from my older sister.  She made an omelet with two egg whites and a whole egg.  I liked this idea because I don't usually care for egg whites by themselves so adding atleast one regular egg was a good idea.  I did that with some sauteed veggies.  I will put that recipe up tomorrow.

My palpitations have been more frequent so I looked it up and low carb diets can affect palpitations so I am working on increasing my fiber and carbs in a healthy way.  So instead of just half a whole wheat English muffin, I ate the whole thing and will incorporate more brown rice and sweet potatoes.

CHANGE IT UP

Now remember, it is important to change things up in your workout so you don't get bored and shock your muscles to continue to make progress.  I plan to find a kickboxing gym when I am done with insanity to incorporate into my regular workouts.  Also, change your food up too.  That is why I tried spaghetti squash.  If you eat same regular things you may stray away and go back to your old ways of greasy burgers and pizza!  So don't forget change it up!

Yesterday's Menu

Breakfast - Turkey Bacon, Double Fiber English muffin, old-fashioned oatmeal with almonds and honey and I had a cup of berry bolthouse farms 50/50 veggie and fruit juice.

Snack -carrots and hummus

Lunch -Tilapia, broccoli and wild and brown rice with a sparkling cranberry juice

Snack - 6 multi seed crackers and half of a 30 calorie wedge of cheese from weight watchers

Dinner - Spaghetti squash with sauteed veggies and roasted Shrimp and pan seared scallops with a green salad

I drink lots of water throughout the day and with meals so I don't usually write that with my menu since water is necessary and needed.

Ok, now on to the recipe I would like to share with you all.  Please don't knock it until you try it too.  If you love pasta this would be a great substitution from the regular noodles with all the carbs.  If you are a beginner with this and not sure if you would like it, I would use a turkey meat sauce to try on top of the spaghetti squash first but the way I made it last night was surprisingly very VERY good!

Spaghetti Squash with sauteed Vegetables and Roasted Shrimp and Scallops

Ingredients:

• 1 lb    Large shrimp, raw
• 2T    Extra Virgin Olive Oil      (1/2 for veggies 1/2 for shrimp and 1 T for spaghetti squash)
• 1 Medium spaghetti squash           (mine was 2.5 lbs for 99 cents a pound so cost about $2.50)
• 1 T fresh lemon juice from a lemon
• 1 T fresh parsley, chopped          (you can add more if you would like)
• Fresh grated Parmesan cheese      (I just sprinkled a little on top after I plated it)
• 1/2 lb Fresh Scallops                   (I only bought two but it is up to you since it is just served on the side or you can omit them from your  meal)
• 2/3 cup Zucchini, chopped
• 2/3 cup onion, chopped
• 2/3 cup white mushroom, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Sea salt
• Cracked black pepper
• 1 small lemon

Get your ingredients out.  Start by chopping all the things that need to be prepped!

Chopped my zucchini already and have my cutting board out along with other ingredients

I only had 1/2 lb of shrimp but it does need a full pound to make for more than one person

You must have a great knife.  The spaghetti squash was tough to cut through.  Thanks to my handy Calphalon knife.  It didn't take to long to cut it length wise.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH

My handy side kicks, Sea Salt and Pepper 

Cut through your spaghetti squash, lengthwise.  Add some salt and pepper to the top. Get a baking dish and fill it with about 1/4 cup of water.

Place the spaghetti squash in the baking dish, face down and roast in oven on 380 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender 

While you are roasted the squash to get it tender, place 1/2 t of olive oil in a pan and saute your veggies.  Set to the side when veggies are tender.  Not soggy just tender enough to eat.

Prepare the shrimp.  Take off the shells and rinse.  Place on foiled covered baking sheet and sprinkle with some lemon wedges, salt, pepper and 1/2 tsp olive oil

Sprinkle scallops with pinch of salt and fresh cracked black pepper.  Pour 1/2 tsp of olive oil in a pan and heat on med high heat until oil is very hot.  Softly place scallops on the pan.  Beware it could pop on you and burn if you toss it in there so place carefully!  Sear on both sides until nice crust and cook through for about 4 minutes each.

When your squash is done, take it out and let it cool. When it is cool enough to hold, scoop out seeds 

When seeds are out, take a fork and scrape into a bowl.  Half of the squash was enough for me so I scraped the other half into a plastic container to use with another dish later.

Scrape into the bowl.

Meanwhile, saute your scallops and you should check on shrimp if they are in oven.  Takes about 8 -10 minutes to cook through. Start preparing your salad and have it ready on plate.

Yummy shrimp ready to go in bowl with spaghetti squash.  Also, add veggies that you set aside and a one tablespoon of olive oil (or you can put less), salt, pepper and lemon juice.  Stir together.  If it is too cool, reheat in over or microwave until warm or hot how you like it.  I usually can time food to be warm at the same time so It wasn't an issue.

Take off the scallops and plate them, place a decent portion of spaghetti squash mixture on plate and serve with a green salad.  Don't forget to add a little pinch of Parmesan cheese to your spaghetti.  Serve hot and enjoy!

If you have any questions about this recipe please email me at wymichelleblogs@gmail.com.  

Until next time folks!  Go to a museum or some place you have not yet been in your city and enjoy your day.  Or if you want do nothing at all and relax in your pajamas. Hope you enjoyed today's post!  If you did please share with others through email, fb share button or twitter share button and feel free to leave a comments!  Thanks for viewing!  Talk to you all tomorrow!