Spaghetti Squash Alfredo with Spinach and Tomato

This whole thing was an accident. It started when I put my bag of fresh baby spinach in the freezer rather than the refrigerator. Whoops. Guess I can't make a salad with that anymore. In case you didn't know, fresh spinach, when frozen shrinks up and gets very watery. Not very pretty.

And then my daughter put a spaghetti squash in the grocery basket thinking it was a cantaloupe or melon of some sort. I've made spaghetti squash once or twice before and I knew it was a great thing for my low-carb diet. I was just trying to figure out what to do with it.

Then I was moving things around in my pantry to make room for this week's groceries and found a jar of alfredo sauce. One thing led to another and yada, yada, yada . . . dinner. Because I used the jarred alfredo sauce and the spinach was already wilted, this did not take long to throw together. Just a little advanced time needed for the spaghetti squash. (Be sure to slide past the recipe for two cool things!)

SPAGHETTI SQUASH ALFREDO
WITH SPINACH, TOMATOES, AND CHICKEN

1 Spaghetti Squash
1 jar alfredo sauce (I used Classico)
1 bag (6 oz) baby spinach (fresh or accidentally frozen)
4 plum tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1-2 cups chicken, chopped (I had leftover rotisserie chicken)

Cut squash in half and scrape out all seeds. Brush pulp with olive oil and cover in foil. Bake in 350 oven for about one hour. After cooking, use a fork to scrape out the pulp. Keep warm. In a saucepan over medium heat, pour in alfredo sauce. Add spinach and chicken and stir well. Heat 5-10 minutes. Add tomatoes, stir and immediately pour over spaghetti squash.

Lessons learned: If you're on a low-carb diet and want spaghetti squash to satisfy your craving for pasta, forget it. This meal was delicious, but next time I think I'll just pour the sauce over a piece of chicken.

OTHER NOTES:

My friend Mara over at What's For Dinner is having a yummy Alouette cheese prize giveaway. Be sure to check it out.

And I want to shout out a special thanks to Katie at Salt and Chocolate. I won a bottle of her homemade Bourbon Vanilla Extract. It smells SOOOO good. I can't wait to use it. Thanks!!

Tomato Herb Chicken

Tomato season has finally arrived in Chicago. Since we got so very little warm weather this summer, my tomatoes were taking forever to ripen. Slowly over the past few weeks, I've gotten quite the harvest of big yellow tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes and red roma tomatoes. Too bad I missed a bunch while we were on vacation.

Mostly I've been eating right off of the vine, raw with just a little salt and pepper, sometimes a little balsamic vinegar. But I just had so many cherry tomatoes, I just had to find some way to use them.

TOMATO HERB CHICKEN
3 cups Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
2-3 Tbls. chopped herbs (I used basil, oregano and chives)
3 Tbls. olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Toss all ingredients in a bowl. Spread tomatoes on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350. Pour tomatoes over cooked chicken breasts. Top with cheese. Return to oven until cheese is melted (about 3-5 minutes).

This was so simple and so delicious. The tomatoes were so sweet. This would be great over pasta, too, but since I'm on this low-carb diet, that means no pasta for me. It would also be fabulous on fish.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Last summer I made this little piece of yard art, using an old window from my Chicago-bungalow style house and stencils of my daughters' handprints. The butterflies and smaller flowers are actually my daughters' fingerprints.
If you can't read the top it says "Bloom Where You Are Planted." I can't seem to find the origin of the saying, but it is often used in a religious context and I take it to mean, sort of, do the best with what you have. This little window has been moved around our home a lot - it was in the front yard, it was near our back gate, and somehow earlier this summer it ended up on our patio. So it was only fitting that some little random plant decided to start growing right in front of it.

But it's not just a random plant - it is a tomato plant. We noticed a sprout growing in the cracks between the bricks of our patio. Now, I'm pretty sure I didn't plant a seed a there. We're not quite sure how it got there, but it really took to heart the saying on my little window . Here is the full photo of our tomato plant:
And not only has it gotten absolutely huge with almost no tender loving care, extra water, special support stakes or fertilizer, it has many, many tomatoes ready to turn color. I normally plant a variety of red and yellow tomatoes and I am hoping these are yellow grape tomatoes, but I really have no idea until they turn. And check out the actual base of this plant, just squeezed between the two bricks. I'm guessing there must be some strong roots heading straight down.

Makes me wonder how much more I can do with all I've been blessed with. If this plant can thrive in bricks for goodness sake, I can certainly prosper with the support of a loving family, a beautiful home and so many, many blessings. Here are a few lessons from my tomato plant.

1. Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are - even the rockiest road can be the beginning of an amazing transformation and growth.
2. Even without support, if you search deep enough, the nutrients are there for you to thrive and blossom.
3. A little bit of sunshine paired with a little rain can go a long way. You've got to face what comes along and go with what you've got.
4. Make the most of what you have and in the end your efforts will be rewarded.
5. Sometimes you just gotta do what the sign says - like it or not.

Enough philosophy from me. Back to recipes tomorrow. :)

Leftovers and Old Favorites

Short post about yesterday:

Breakfast: Atkins Daybreak Bar
Lunch: Leftover Sesame Chicken
Snack: Chipotle Olives and Pecans
Dinner: Turkey Sausage and Peppers

Turkey Sausage and Peppers
1 Red Bell Pepper chopped in big chunks
1 Green Bell Pepper chopped in big chunks
1 Can Roasted Garlic and Onion Chopped Tomatoes (Red Gold)
1 lb. Hot Turkey Italian Sausage (Jenny O) (which was not spicy at all.
1 Tbls. Penzey's Tuscan Sunset seasoning

Cook Turkey Sausage in 400 oven for about 20 minutes. Slice. Combine with all other ingredients in large pan and cook over medium heat until heated through (about 10 minutes).

Foodbuzz Sunday - Italian Sausage and Tomatoes

Sunday is the one day a week that I usually have any time to try out real recipes. Every other night I feel like I'm just throwing something together. So I'm trying to make a new Foodbuzz recipe every Sunday. This Sunday I made Roasted Tomatoes and Italian Sausage from The Duo Dishes. If you have a suggestion for my next Foodbuzz Sunday recipe, let me know!!




Let me start by saying that it would help if I would read the recipe closely before getting started. I'm going to give you their recipe and then tell you how a changed it up a little.



Roasted Tomatoes and Italian Sausage
3 cups cherry and grape tomatoes, mixed
1/2 lb. Italian sausage, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 - 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped
1/4 cup parsley
Salt, to taste



1. Toss tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 5 whole garlic cloves. Roast at 400 degrees for approx. 25 minutes or until tomatoes darken and begin to burst. Remove from oven.

2. Mince last clove of garlic and cook with remaining olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add sausage as garlic sizzles and cook until done.

3. Add cooked tomatoes and balsamic vinegar to sausage and stir to combine. Remove from heat.

4. Top with basil and parsley.

Well, I wasn't going to serve this over pasta (more than enough carbs in the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar already), so I upped the sausage to one pound. Plus, I wasn't paying attention and instead of buying Italian sausage links, I bought bulk Italian sausage. And I bought turkey sausage - so that's all a big change from their original recipe.


Then, I also cut all of the tomatoes in half before roasting them. I probably also used 4 cups or more of tomatoes to compensate for more sausage.


In the end, even if was a little different than the original recipe, it was really tasty. While cooking and smelling the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, I was worried the dish would be too sweet, but it wasn't. The balsamic vinegar added a nice richness to the dish. This was so simple to make!!


So a decent amount of carbs came from the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. I learned that different balsamic have different amount of carbs. Mine, that I thought was pretty good and aged 8-12 years, had one gram of carb per tablespoon. One that I had the other day had 4 grams of carbs. It was very thick. So all I can say is read the label. ---But like I've mentioned, my diet right now is all about no bread, flour, sugar, potatoes and pasta. I'm not freaking out about the carbs from tomatoes.

Also today:
Breakfast: Scrambled egg with cheddar cheese , two slices bacon
Snack: Almonds

More Canned Tomatoes

My life is about simple dinners. Now, simple low-carb dinners. Everyday on Foodbuzz I read a ton of fabulous recipes, but I don't happen to have lamb or truffles or pancetta around my house. Now don't get me wrong every special occassion deserves a special recipe. But Thursday 'round my house is just another night. Tonight we have a friend coming over who is doing weight watchers, so I needed to make something low-fat and low-carb. And easy.



So I had two cans of diced tomatoes. The DelMonte brand is made with high fructose corn syrup. Completely unnecessary. I am only using them because I already bought them, but I will not buy this brand again. The Jewel (our store) brand is made with sugar - again, not sure if it is necessary, but real sugar is better than the HFCS. But both defeat my low-carb intentions. Can't wait until summer again when I can grow my own. Maybe I'll learn how to can.

Turkey Sausage, Tomato and Peppers

2 lbs. Lean Smoked Turkey Sausage - sliced
2 medium green peppers - sliced in chunks
2 cans diced tomatoes (mine had garlic and onions, too)
2 T Penzey's Greek Seasoning





In large pan, heat turkey sausage (it is already cooked) until browned on edges. Add green peppers and tomatoes. Serves at least 4 with leftovers.





Other food today:
Breakfast: Turkey
Lunch: Morocan salad from Cosi
Snacks: 2% cheese, olives, almonds