Spaghetti Squash + Kale + Bacon - a quick, healthy and tasty recipe

I'm really hoping to blog more recipes and include photos of my food. I really do love food, and photography, and eating. So food/recipe blogging is an awesome combination of some of my favorite things! Since I'm not really a recipe person (I don't do well following OR writing them), my "recipes" are more like flexible and forgiving guidelines than anything.

One of the main ways I make meals is to combine what I have into one bowl. I've made this combination of spaghetti squash, kale and bacon several times. It's even husband-approved (though I suspect that owes more to the bacon than anything). When I make it for two and don't need leftovers, I use half of what's called for here...so I guess this would be about 4 adult servings. Adjust the amounts, of course, based on how many you're feeding, etc.

you'll need just a few things:

• 2/3 bunch dinosaur kale (the curly kind works too but I prefer the flat kind here)*
• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1/2 pound bacon, chopped small (we get pastured bacon from Robinette Farms!)
• chopped garlic if you're feeling fancy
• salt and pepper

First, cook the squash. It's easiest to use the microwave. Heat the whole thing for one minute to soften it, then cut lengthwise and put each half (cut side down) in a glass pan with a little water in the bottom. Microwave for about 12 minutes. Easy-peasy! (My microwave is only big enough for one half at a time, so I have to do it twice.)

While the squash is cooking, chop your bacon and get it frying it in a large skillet. Chop the kale into smallish pieces and set aside.

Once your squash is cooked, scrape out the "noodles" and put them right in individual serving bowls. 

Your bacon should be about ready, and most of the fat should be rendered into liquid. (Don't drain it - that's some tasty and healthy saturated fat there!) When it's done cooking, take the pan off the heat and add the kale into the pan. (If you chopped garlic, toss it in there at this point too.) Stir the kale quickly, just till it gets bright and soft. Don't overcook the poor kale.

Spoon the kale/bacon combination over the waiting squash. Then be really generous with the salt and pepper over the top. (I'm sure a few shavings of parmesan would be a pretty spectacular addition!) That's it!

*Here's a tip for storing cut kale, chard, romaine lettuce, or any other stemmed green: When you get it home, cut the ends off and put it into a pitcher/glass of water, just like you would cut flowers. Keep your "arrangement" in the fridge. The greens will soak up the water and be SUPER crispy and last a very long time. I also rescue "tired" (and often heavily discounted) lettuces and greens from the store and easily revive them in this manner. 

My True Feelings About Lawn Care (late night imagination)

This might be a scary thing, but I'd like to give you a little glimpse into my late-night imagination. This is a little scene that has played itself out many a time as I fall asleep, and the story has many variants. But here is the basic idea.  The setting: we live in a pleasant neighborhood, own our first home, and consistently fail to mow the lawn.

---
Someone knocks on the door.  It is the Head of the Neighborhood Association (HNA).

HNA: "Hello Mrs. Moore. I am here to remind you that your neighborhood contract requires you to care for your outside property so that its aesthetic properties will be satisfactory."

Me: "What do you mean?"

HNA:  "Mrs. Jones across the street, along with several other neighbors, have registered concerns that the grass in your yard is way too long, and smattered with weeds."

Me, still uncertain:  "We do take care of our yard. But, now that you mention it, I don't really care for Mrs. Jones' marigolds."  I start to walk across the street to register MY concerns with Mrs. Jones.

The H.N.A. follows me. "Mrs. Moore, you can't let weeds grow in your yard. You signed the covenant."

Me: "Yes, we said we'd take care of our property, and we do. What do you mean by weeds, anyways?"

HNA: "Ma'am, your lawn is smattered with dandelions and flanked by large bushy things."

Me: "Well, Mrs. Jones's porch is smattered with marigolds, and I don't like those. Can I sic you on her plants?"

why we don't eat much meat

Last fall I stopped buying meat. Well, at least for a while. I've returned to buying some here and there, but overall, meat is rarely the main attraction in our meals. We aren't going vegetarian, not by a long shot. But we've both agreed that eating meat only occasionally and in small quantities, instead of in large portions at every meal, would be a very good thing...in our own home.

I do not believe it is ethically wrong to eat animals, and I think it is wrong to impose my own decisions on others' cooking when we're out and about.  Just thought I'd get those out of the way.

But I do want to talk about why I...Justin and I...made this decision. (It was my idea originally, but we discussed it a lot, and we are in full agreement.) There are plenty of reasons people may choose to eat less, or no, meat.  For me, three main reasons surfaced as I began thinking and researching.  (Those two things, put together, never fail to result in some new life-changing decision!)

1) Plants and veggies are just plain healthier.  You don't have to look very far to discover some very compelling information: people who don't eat meat (especially red meat), or who eat small amounts of it, are happier, more fit, less likely to be obese, less likely to have cancer or heart disease or high blood pressure or diabetes.  Vegetarians live, on average, ten years longer than their omnivore counterparts. (This can also be chalked up to the fact that vegetarians are also very health-conscious in other areas of their lives.)  It's an established fact that a healthy plant-based diet is one of the best things you can do for your physical well-being.

Plus, the Bible attests to it!  Think about it: a perfect garden, the best conditions imaginable for man and beast, and...Adam and Eve ate the bounty of the earth, not other living creatures. It was God's original ideal. Animals weren't even harmed, much less eaten, until the world was perverted by sin. While we live in a fallen world, it is very obvious that the gifts from the earth--God's best plan!--is the original ideal diet.

"Indian Stew"

You're probably thinking, "There's no such thing as Indian Stew. You just made that up."  You are correct. But, this is easy and delicious, and deserving of its own title.

Stews weren't meant to be made with precise recipes. (That's how I feel about most food.) For the sake of my readers' sanity, though, I've listed the ingredients so you can reproduce this fragrant and delicious meal. My Indian Stew is a variation of Potato Pea Masala, but I made it into a soup you eat with a spoon and pita bread, rather than the original chunkier dish you eat with a fork. As in much Indian food, the spices are key, because the main ingredients are so simple.  So don't think you'll make it on a meek little dash of chili powder. Embrace the spices! That's what this food is about.

eating healthy + saving money

I'm new to being a wife, and almost as new to cooking. I think myself rather lucky that I get to start these two things together, at once, because they're both a large part of my life.  I get to learn cooking, as a part of homemaking, as a part of stewardship, as a part of a new marriage, as a part of worship. It's pretty dramatic to think about it that way!  It's basically up to me to make food that will benefit our bodies and our souls, and to make sure our food money is spent in a way that will please God, and get along well with our newlywed budget.  To this end, I really believe that cooking healthy, filling food is just as important, if not more important, than cooking on the cheap.  There is a balance I try to achieve, and it's not always easy, but in the process of being terrified of turkeys and finding things to cook other than stir-fry, I've come up with a bunch of ways to keep us and our budget healthy.

the best potato soup you might ever eat

I've made potato soups before that have ended up more like soggy mashed potatoes.  But this time I got it right!  Justin said this soup was one of the best meals I've made...so hooray!  The secret is knowing when to stop boiling the potatoes.  It's also best to add the liquid ingredients shortly before serving it -- don't simmer for long -- because the potatoes are like sponges and sop up anything they're offered.

As for the taste - oh the taste - parsnips are the secret ingredient.  If you haven't used them before, you can get them at Hy-Vee or Open Harvest, and they look like fat white waxy carrots. :)  Peel them lengthwise as you would a carrot or potato.

a very tasty dinner

My goal for the past few months has been to convince myself, as well as my husband, that food can be truly healthy and also truly tasty.  So here's a 'recipe' that I've made a couple of times now, altering it here and there.  The original is here: Squash, Sage & Parmesan Pasties. (Pasty=pocket of food.) The first time I made this, although the pockets were delicious, the dough didn't turn out all that great.  So this time I bought a premade puff pastry and used that instead.  Usually I wouldn't go out and buy something I can very easily make myself, but...mine wasn't very good. (And it wasn't easy.) The premade pastry was really easy, and tasted way better.

First, here's a photo of tonight's finished product.

This recipe is enough for four pockets/servings, although tonight, I made two pockets, and kept the extra filling to help make a meal another night.  What I like best about this is that you could pretty much throw anything in the pockets and with the right seasoning, it'd be amazing. Carrots, potatoes, corn, spinach, leeks/onions, mozzarella or gouda cheese, sweet potatoes, broccoli, feta cheese, walnuts, etc.  You could also add meat, like ground beef or shredded chicken, but it's definitely not necessary; it's a good idea to cut meat from your diet wherever you can.