Spaghetti Squash Boats

Ah, the season of squash. Spaghetti squash is one of my favorites since it's a vegetable disguised as a carb. One cup of it only has 40 calories and 10 carbs, and it's loaded with vitamins. What better way to dress it up than with sauce and cheese?

 

I love these "boats" since they're basically a one-dish meal with next to no cleanup. Just toss the shell when you're finished! They're also incredibly easy to make. Just bake off the squash, remove the seeds, "fork it" to get the strands to look like spaghetti, then mix in sauce, top of with cheese, and broil. You can even cook the squash ahead of time, then finish them with sauce and cheese the night you want to eat them. 

A simple green salad goes nicely on the side for some extra veggies, but I was actually quite full after eating my half of the squash last night so skipped the side dish.

Which I meant I had room for a few squares of dark chocolate later while watching Law & Order and working late on the laptop. :) Thumbs up for easy, no cleanup weeknight dinners!

Spaghetti Squash Boats

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 medium spaghetti squash
1 cup marinara sauce
4 oz. part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. pizza seasoning or dried oregano

Preheat oven to 375. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place cut side down on baking sheet, and bake for about one hour, until tender. Remove from oven, scoop out the seeds, and use a fork to pull all the strands from the sides of the squash until it resembles spaghetti.

For each half of the squash, add half the marinara suace, half the salt and half the pepper. Stir to combine. Then top each squash with half the shredded cheese and 1 tsp. of the dried herbs.

Return to the oven for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted. Broil for the final 2-3 minutes if you like the cheese bubbly and brown.

Repeats

The rest of my Vermont weekend was nice and relaxing and filled with family time. Saturday night my grandma and my mom's cousin Beth came over for dinner, whom I haven't seen in 15 years. She was visiting from Minneapolis, and it was so nice to see her and get to know her as an adult - the last time I saw her I was just going into high school!

While we chatted and cooked dinner, we sipped on red wine and nibbled on some local cheeses, crackers and fruit. My favorite snack ever.

We made a simple dinner of home cooked bean soup and a big salad with veggies, goat cheese, roasted beets, and walnuts, which was perfect for a chilly fall night after being out all day.

***

Yesterday morning my sister and I headed out to meet my dad and his girlfriend for breakfast. We loved our lunch at Positive Pie so much the day before, that we suggested going there for breakfast as well. We weren't disappointed!

Amanda and I split two items since we couldn't decide what we wanted. The "green eggs & ham" was amazing (ham on the side so Amanda could eat it :) - it was filled with an arugula garlic pesto that was herby and salty. We also split a breakfast sandwich with pesto goat cheese and roasted tomatoes on homemade multigrain bread. So good! Amanda loved the bacon they put on the side since it was local, thick cut and cured in-house.

Love this place!

After breakfast we did a little shopping (organic pumpkin beer, curried cashews and coconut oil being the favorite purchases of the day), we spent the rest of the day hanging out at with mom and grandma playing card games and watching football. I told you I'm an old lady when I go home. :)

Lunch was actually a repeat of Saturday night's dinner, but our evening meal was a typical Vermont fall  dinner: locally grown corn, homemade applesauce (warm!), glazed carrots and baked chicken. Shrimp for me, of course.

Then it was an early bed time since today we made the long trip back to the Jerz. It was a wonderful weekend and I was sad to leave my family, but it always feels good to be back in my own bed. And thankfully, this time around I only have to wait one week before we're reunited again at my cousin's wedding next weekend. A short goodbye for once!

Headed to bed to rest up for a super busy work week. Hope you had a great Columbus Day!

Leaf Peeper

Yesterday my sister and I made the 8-hour trek from New Jersey to Vermont to spend Columbus Day weekend with our family. I love coming home on this weekend every year; the leaves are usually peaking with reds and yellows, the air has a brisk edge to it and home feels cozy and warm. Unfortunately Matt couldn't come up with us since he's in the midst of his soccer coaching season, but Amanda and I had a great time chatting it up during the drive.

Along the way, I spotted a farmer's market in the parking lot of a rest area, so figured we might be able to snag a decent lunch there rather than settling for typical rest area fare. I adore farmer's markets, and was excited to find a loaf of rosemary bread, local bright red cherry tomatoes, locally made dill cheese curds, and figs. Great car lunch in my opinion!

When we finally arrived home in the late afternoon, we met up with my dad, brother and sister-in-law for an early dinner downtown before playing card games and eating homemade chocolate chip cookies in our sweats before bed. It's great to be home. :)

***

This morning I had one thing on my mind - leaf peeping! Whole wheat cinnamon toast and blueberry Greek yogurt served as breakfast before hitting the road.

After a little shopping (always a must with mom :), and a coffee pit stop (a maple skinny latte with real Vermont maple syrup for me) we took a long drive through the countryside to check out the fall foliage.

It was a little drizzly today, but that didn't dim the beauty of this place a bit. So serene.

Call me an old lady, but a good cup of coffee and a long afternoon drive looking at scenery is one of my favorite pastimes.

For lunch, we stopped at an awesome little nook of a place called Positive Pie, in the tiny town where my stepdad grew up, Plainfield. This is exactly the kind of place Matt and I always say we'd love to own, if we ever own a restaurant.

It's all wood and chalkboard with a funky atmosphere, 20 craft beers on tap (and a bunch more in the bottle), and simple yet delicious food made with local ingredients.

We ordered a few wood fired pizzas and roasted tomato salads to share.

The vegetarian pizza had artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, baby spinach, walnuts and feta. The walnuts were a really surprising addition - toasty and crunchy, so good!

Riker is becoming quite the little pizza fan himself.

I can't go to a place like this and not try a beer, so I ordered one I hadn't tried yet: Bobcat Brickwall from Bristol, Vermont. It's a double IPA brewed with 100% Vermont grown hops. It had a great bitterness and went really well with the pizza.

Now we're home and starting on some dinner. Hope you're having a great weekend!