Spaghetti Squash au Gratin

I would like to preface this with: I am not one of those "oooh substitute spaghetti squash in all your pasta dishes and it is so wonderful and carb-free and life is great!" people. I like spaghetti squash, I really do, but it is NOT a substitute for pasta. Or potatoes. Sorry boutcha.

However, it is good and I do like it. This recipe pairs well with some chicken...thus, we had it with baked barbecue-sauce chicken. You can find the original here!

Ingredients
1 small/medium spaghetti squash
1/2 small onion
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400.  Cut squash in half, being careful because it is difficult...particularly with a dull knife, ask me how I know...

Use a spoon to scoop out the loose seeds and pulp in the middle.

Place face-down on a greased cooking sheet, I line mine with foil to save cleanup time.

Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your oven. Let cool for a while before you handle it, or don't and just use potholders. Once it is cool, use a fork to pull out the "spaghetti" into a large bowl.

Melt butter in small saucepan and cook onions over low heat until soft. Add red pepper flakes, thyme, salt, and pepper.

Remove from heat, then add sour cream and cheddar cheese, stirring until combined and melted.

Fold the cheese mixture into squash and then pour into a greased 8 or 9 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with additional cheese if you'd like, definitely optional.

Bake for about 15 minutes.

What am I Reading this Year? 2015 Reading Challenge

For anyone who personally knows me, you know I read. A lot. I pretty much always have a book with me, either a paper book or one on the Kindle app on my phone/iPad. While I read a ton and I read quickly, I cannot read more than one book at a time. I don't know why but I have never been able to. If I try it usually just ends in my reading one really quickly so that I can get through it and finish the other one. On the same thought: I cannot not finish a book. There have been very, very few books that I've put down and not picked back up to continue, even if they are spectacularly bad. Just another weird thing, I guess.

My favorite genre of books is definitely historical fiction. I'm obsessed with Tudor-period England and Cleopatra/Caesar relations, but I generally like any historical setting well enough. Those aren't the only books I'll read though, I'm pretty much down for most things if they sound interesting or are written by an author I know I have read and liked before.

Goodreads is a good website for keeping an inventory of what you have and have not read, along with getting suggestions for what to read next. At the beginning of the year I joined the "Reading Challenge" and set a goal to read 35 books in 2015...I'm not really that close to meeting my goal, but I still have hope!

I am currently reading The Virgin's Daughters by Jeane Westin and I'm about half finished. It is pretty good so far! I have exactly 12 books left on my bookshelf that are unread and that is how many I need to reach the goal of 35...

Below are the 22 books I have read thus far in 2015:

1. The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court by Michelle Moran
• I hadn't read much about Napoleon, but this was a well-written and interesting account of Marie-Louise of Austria's marriage. There are several narrators, which I don't really like, but the story and content are good. 
2. The King's Grace by Anne Easter Smith
• This book inserts a 100% fictional character and inserts her into all of these well-recorded historical events and the result is wonderful. 
3. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
• I'm ashamed to say I'd never read this before. It was great; if you like the movies, read the books! 
4. The Lost World by Michael Crichton
• If you read one, you've gotta read the other. 
5. We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill
• Historical account (not a novelization) of Queen Victoria - a bit tedious and boring, but it was a lot of new information for me so I learned some stuff. 
6. Serena by Ron Rash
• I seriously loved this book. It is also a movie with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper - I think it is currently on Netflix. READ THE BOOK FIRST.  
7. To the Tower Born: A Novel of the Lost Princes by Robin Maxwell
• Not going to lie, I don't remember a lot about this so it must not have been that great...
8. The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory
• Philippa Gregory is one of my favorite authors and this was no exception. It can get boring reading about the same characters in book after book, but she is picking up the stories of the lesser-known people who surrounded the big players during the Tudor era. 
9. Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston
• Fan fiction. Meh. Quick read, not written well, kind of boring. 
10. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• I think I read this in about 4 hours, but that's because it is YA lit. Pretty good, definitely made me cry a bit though. 
11. The Iron King by Maurice Druon
• "The original Game of Thrones" -George RR Martin; "boring af" -me
12. Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir
• Well written, classic story, interesting first person narrative.
13. The Spanish Bride:A Novel of Catherine of Aragon by Lauren Gardner
• Meh. Tried to cover too broad of a story in too short of a book. 
14. The Earl's Inconvenient Wife by Ruth Ann Nordin
• Ha, you get what you pay for...AKA this was free on Kindle. Not good, just not good. 
15. Madam Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran
• One of my favorites thus far of 2015! It's the dramatized story of the famous wax-maker and how her life was intertwined with the royal family and the revolutionaries. 
16. Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy
• One of Jean Plaidy's early works - written around the 1950s and you can tell. The language is primitive and the narrative is watered down. 
17. Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James 
• More fan fiction - honestly, the BBC miniseries was better. 
18. Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox
• Julia Fox tells a story by using preserved documents, letters, and historical accounts. Similar in style to We Two, but definitely more interesting. 
19. The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher
• Another free book on Kindle about an Amish woman who is facing some choices about her life and religion. I generally like books set in the Amish community, but this one wasn't great. 
20. Queen of this Realm by Jean Plaidy
• One of Jean Plaidy's later books, so the writing is more refined and deeper. This was much better than Mary, Queen of France. 
21. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence 
• A classic. A weird, weird classic. I didn't really like it, but I can definitely see why it was so controversial at the time of publication. It was probably considered pretty graphic for the 1920s England. 
22. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
• I didn't even know the movie was based on a book until I came across this on the clearance rack at Half Price Books. It was witty and entertaining, definitely a quick-read. Not a literary masterpiece by any means, but it was good.

Next week I will give you my favorite books of all time! 

Amazing Peanut Butter Cookies

Last week I posted about the I Do BBQ and the cookies that were so delicious, so this week I thought I'd share that recipe!

These cookies are seriously amazing. They are soft and thick and oh-so-peanut-buttery. Some of my all-time favorite cookies are actually the packaged ones from Wal-Mart and these are similar to those. I think one of the keys is rolling them in granulated sugar, it is such a different and great take on the peanut butter cookie!

I'm telling you, Jessica from Sprinkle Some Sugar really outdid herself with these Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies. I made a double batch from her recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (pretty much a whole 1 lb jar)
3 cups all purpose flour (I ran out and added some whole wheat the end)
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1/2(ish) cup granulated sugar for rolling

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 and line some baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth.

Beat in egg, vanilla extract, and peanut butter.

Mix in flour and baking soda until just combined, don't overmix.

Refrigerate dough for about 15-20 minutes.

Roll tablespoon sized balls and roll in granulated sugar.

Place on baking sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 8 minutes, remove from oven and let cool on pan for 5 more minutes. Then remove to wire rack until they completely cool.

Devour all of them. Or take them to a party. Or whatever, you do you.

Hosting an I Do BBQ!

My friend Emeline and I recently hosted a couples shower for our Little Sister Casey and her fiance Brett! We had never thrown or been to one before, but Pinterest piqued our interest and then once we started researching it and looking at how adorable the theme was we knew we had to do it.

Ours was pretty simple and most of it was put together the week of the party, but there is obviously room to expand!

We served pulled pork, pulled chicken, macaroni & cheese, and green beans from City BBQ which was very convenient because buns and three different kinds of sauces came with the package. Super easy. I made these caprese skewers from Iowa Girl Eats and they were a huge hit! Before dinner we also had chips, salsa, and guacamole set out.

For dessert we ordered cupcakes from a wonderful local bakery and I made some of these perfect peanut butter cookies, which are aptly named and I think I speak for everyone who ate one that Jessica at Sprinkle Some Sugar knows how to make a peanut butter cookie.

We also served some beer, wine, lemonade, and tea; we told guests they were welcome to BYOB as well.

We had a gift table that included little jars to put advice and date ideas in, a basket for cards, a wooden L for the guests to sign and then the couple to take home. We also made little s'more kits as party favors and they were adorable! We put 4 graham crackers, 2 marshmallows, and 1/2 regular sized Hershey bar in each bag.

S'mores! 

For decor, Emeline made luminaries out of tin cans by poking holes in them with a hammer and nail. We also put out beer bottles mingled with Ale8-1 bottles (the pretty green ones!) with flowers in them. The flowers were purchased that morning from a local farmer's market and were probably my favorite part of the whole party.

We had a fire going and cornhole boards set up, but mainly it was nice to just catch up and celebrate Brett & Casey in a relaxed setting...30 days and counting until their I Dos!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

It's getting colder out and it is time to start soups & stews for dinner!

I made a big pot of this broccoli cheddar soup on a Monday evening a few weeks ago and Jess & I both ate it for lunch throughout the rest of the week. It was rich, flavorful, pretty easy. Check it out!

Ingredients
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon light butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups half & half
4 cups chicken broth
16 oz broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large soup pot and saute onion until soft.

Add remaining butter and when it is melted add flour. Whisk 3-5 minutes.

Add half & half and chicken broth, simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in broccoli, carrots, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Simmer 30-35 minutes or until broccoli and carrots are very tender.

Blend soup with an immersion blender (I wish...) or remove to a blender/food processor and work in batches until it is blended pretty smooth. Be careful about putting hot food in a blender/processor, let it cool a bit first.

Return to low heat and stir in cheese. Simmer 10 minutes.

Stir and serve! It's pretty hearty, so a serving is right around one cup, but by all means, don't let me tell you how much to eat!

Meal Planning & Grocery Tips

A few months ago my friend came to visit and she asked how I stay so organized and on top of my meal planning, so I just wrote down an email for her that went through my process. I thought I would share that here in case anyone else needs a little encouragement or help! Meal planning for me isn't really as helpful for me as it probably is for a large family, but my Type-A-ness really appreciates order and organization, so I do it anyway. 

My meal plan for October

I use a calendar I made on Microsoft Publisher where I enter the names of meals for that dinner or if I know we will be gone on a day. It helps to have a visual for the week/month/however far in advance. Then on the side of each month I have a text box for grocery lists that I can update as needed. I use this list to make a list on my phone to take to the store. I also have a notepad on the refrigerator where Jess and I can add things as we use the last of it, not just groceries but household items as well. 

We use the entire page until it runs out, marking what
we've purchased with black permanent marker. 

The way I started meal planning so far in advance was compiling recipes that I liked or wanted to try and keeping them handy and in a list. Where I used to just pull straight from that list on a whim, I could now use that list to enter meals into the calendar and plan ahead. My list of recipes started at about 15-20 and now it has about 30-40ish, of course adding in the random Pinterest-find. I have a ton of cookbooks, recipe boxes, and note cards with recipes on them. 

One thing I've learned that helps with meal-planning AND healthy portion control is only making enough for the specific meal. How this helps with meal planning is it can give a direction for several days worth of dinners. For example: I bought one pound of ground beef, but that is too much for any recipe that I'd make for just Jess and I. So the first night we have meatloaf and the second night we will have tacos, each using 1/2 lb of beef. When you have to buy ingredients in larger portion sizes that will go bad (if you can't freeze it or store it in the pantry for very long) just try to make multiple meals in a row that use those ingredients. 

The essentials...rice, tortilla chips, and sriracha.

I know I have talked about grocery lists before, but I'm going to reiterate. I shop at least once, sometimes 2-3/week, depending on my schedule. I only buy things that are on my list. It takes a while at first, but once you get the hang of it it gets better. You learn to take a mental inventory of what you have in stock every day (rice, cheese, milk, that kind of thing) and on top of that get what you'll need for your 5-7 planned meals. But seriously, write down everything and ONLY buy what you have written down. Make a list BEFORE you go to the grocery store and BEFORE you are hungry. I make mine a few days in advance so I have time to edit/add if I forgot something. 

My stuffed-full cabinet..as all of them are when you
only have two cabinets...

Just with Jess and I's schedules, I always keep one to two nights free and unplanned in case something comes up or he wants to go out to eat. That way you can easily just bump Tuesday night's dinner to Wednesday or whatever needs done. But on the other side of that, if for some reason I don't have a specific meal planned and end up having to make dinner, I have a standby list of about 5 meals that can be made with things I keep on hand. These can be as simple as some packaged soup with grilled cheese or just baked chicken with rice. 

I typically always have frozen chicken, frozen tilapia, and an assortment
of vegetables in the freezer. 

If you use a lot of veggies (like me, I throw broccoli and carrots in basically everything), I suggest frozen. It's cheaper both in price and longevity (if you only need a cup you haven't wasted the rest if you don't eat it in a few days) and it is just as healthy as fresh. In fact, science has shown that frozen vegetables actually retain MORE vitamins than fresh because it is frozen immediately upon harvest instead of being transported right after, so: cool. 

So what have we learned here? 

1. Make an archive of recipes. 

2. Make a calendar.

3. Fill in said calendar with meals. 

4. Make grocery lists 1/2-1 week in advance. 

5. Only buy from grocery lists. 

6. Utilize ingredients for multiple meals. 

7. Splurge. 

My list for next week.

Feel free to ask any specific questions about how I can help with your schedule or needs; I love organization, food, and problem-solving! 

Margherita Pizza (with a twist)

My pizza-topping-tastes have changed dramatically over the years. While I was never a "cheese-only" kind of person, I did find comfort in a plain pepperoni pizza when I was a kid. Then It became pepperoni & sausage, then I added olives. Now, as an adult I will pretty much eat anything and everything on my pizza EXCEPT MUSHROOMS. Gross.

*actually gagging because mushrooms gross me out so much*

One of my favorite pizzas lately has been the Athenian from Mackenzie River Pizza Company, which is basically just a margherita pizza with kalamatta olives. That is what I was trying to replicate here and I came very close to succeeding. I made a balsamic glaze to drizzle over this one, so it was sort of a caprese pizza? Wait, what is the difference between caprese and margherita? Is there a difference? Does margherita specifically refer to tomato, mozzarella, and basil on a pizza? Whatever.

I frequently make my own pizza crust, but this day I did not because it makes 4 crusts and I was home alone and had some Mama Marie's pre-made crusts in the cabinet and that was 100% easier. However, feel free to substitute whatever pizza crust you typically use.

Also, a note about roasted garlic: this should have it, but alas I had to use powdered/minced-dried. I love roasted garlic. LIKE, LOVE LOVE WANT TO MARRY. But I have never been able to make it at home because my oven hates me. On this particular day, it burnt it to a crisp, even though it was only in the oven at 375F for 25 minutes. WOOF. So, if your oven is cooperative and you can make roasted garlic, do that. If not, be like me and take the easy/quick-fix way out.

Most of the amounts here are up to your own discretion, I like more cheese and less tomato, but you make like more tomato, etc. You do you.

Ingredients
your favorite pizza crust (personal size, think 7-10")
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
Garlic, either 1/2 tsp powdered, 2 cloves minced, or 2 cloves roasted
Fresh Mozzarella, 4-5 thin slices
Roma tomato, I used about 1/2 sliced thin
Kalamatta olives, I used about 7 sliced in half
Fresh basil leaves, 3-5, chiffonade
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste

the twist: olives! 

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425.

In small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, and salt & pepper to taste. Brush pizza crust with half of mixture and bake for 5 minutes to firm it up a bit.

Add mozzarella, sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add tomatoes, sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add olives, sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake 10 minutes.

Add basil leaves and bake another 3-5 minutes.

A. I need a new camera B. I need a macro-lens for said camera...I love up-close shots of food!

Add balsamic to remaining olive oil mixture and drizzle over pizza.

Dig in!

Can we get closer? 

Yes. Yes we can. 

*All baking times are completely subjective, it depends on your crust and how crisp/soft you like your pizza. Start with a short time and add a few minutes at a time until the pizza reaches your desired doneness.