{take that, McDonald's!}

Tonight's treat? Sweet potato fries. :) 

I had absolutely no recipe whatsoever...I just knew I had a sweet potato and needed/wanted something to do with it. So basically, I cut it up into french-fry sized pieces, covered the pieces with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and stuck them in the oven, pre-heated to 350. I baked them for 30 minutes, then flipped them over and baked them another 30 minutes. Baking time depends on your preference {do you like your fries soft and gooey or not?!} Personally, my favorite french fries are the soft, gooey ones...so these were *perfect* for me! The salt added a nice touch with the sweetness of the sweet potato...a perfect blend of sweet and salty! I thought these were perfect! :)

{sorry I didn't make the picture prettier...it's late and I'm tired....I just pulled them out of the oven, snapped a picture, am writing this up...then I'm going to bed!}

{spinach and artichoke pasta}

Oh BOY was this meal a hit! {at least with Jesse and I...Candace said it could have used a few adjustments. BLAH.} I got the recipe for this pasta from here. Rather than re-write it, I'll just link you to the site I found it from. I did make a few minor adjustments, though. 

Adjustment 1: I used more noodles than her recipe called for {and a different type of noodles}. I was/am very unfamiliar with these 'Orecchiette' pasta noodles and didn't even see them on the store shelf {is this a specialty item?!} so I bought dumpling noodles. They seemed like they'd make a good pasta noodle {and they did}. This bag had 16 oz. {her recipe calls for 14 oz.}.

Adjustment 2: It humored me that the blogger made a comment that this meal was FULL of veggies! It had spinach, artichoke, and onions. That didn't shout 'full of veggies' to me. So I was chuckling over this fact...but the wheels started turning and I began to wonder, "what can I add to make it 'full of veggies?" Well, I had just bought red peppers {on sale at Bi-Lo this week for $.99!}. It seemed like they'd taste good - so I sauteed some up on the stove. {I cut them up in pretty small pieces just in case they didn't taste well with the pasta.} We also had a can of black olives {which I LOVE} so I cut those up and added them in as well! I snacked on a bunch of the olives while I was cutting them {hehe} so I think the only adjustment I would make for next time is to not do that. I thought they really added a nice flavor to the pasta! {As did the red peppers...and I also liked the little bit of crunch they added}.  I think this is a 'flexible' pasta in that you can add whatever veggies you choose! yay! 

Adjustment 3: Because I used more pasta than the recipe called for, I also added in more of the other ingredients {such as the sour cream}. 

Adjustment 4: I didn't want to buy a lemon to get the lemon zest {because we wouldn't use the lemon and it would go to waste} so I opted not to include that. It might have helped give it more flavor - but I think the olives and red pepper worked well to fix that.

NOTE: Because I used more noodles - I was able to make two meals and have one waiting in the freezer to be baked in the future. Yay for making my future life easier! :)

As I said earlier, this meal was a smashing success! Jesse was literally hovering in the kitchen waiting for this meal to be finished 'because it looked and smelled so good.' and when he took his first bite, he was like, "MMMMMMMM this is SO good! Also, between the 3 of us - we finished that 9 x 13 pan in one meal. yeah, it was just that good. :)

{'fried' quinoa}

So...this meal was really simple. But since I told you I'd blog about it, here I go. :) We had some fried rice flavor packets that we bought on sale a couple weeks ago {we're talking, quite a few}. I don't know the 'health' factor of these packets {any preservatives? etc.}...but I decided to use it anyways. {please note: I actually  made this meal in February, before I 'officially' started this experiment...so when/if I make the fried quinoa again, I'll attempt to make my own sort of fried rice flavoring...with the help of google, of course. :)} Anywho, I prepared the quinoa as per the instructions {just like rice - 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water....bring to a boil and then let simmer for 15 minutes. piece of cake.} A little tip that I learned by researching quinoa recipes and reading through the comments on recipes {yeah. i'm one of those people...I love reading the comment section}...is to also add chicken {or beef if you prefer, I suppose} stock to the quinoa to take away some of that 'bitter' flavor. I say 'bitter'...because to me, it doesn't taste bitter. but some people think it does...and they say this helps mute that. So I usually add 1 cup chicken stock to it. {does using chicken stock count as eating meat?!?! Hmm. I should look into that... :)} Once the quinoa was ready, I added in some peas and carrots, as well as fried up an egg and added that in...and voila, I had my 'fried' quinoa! 

For someone that doesn't cook and has little experience in the kitchen arena {seriously, hate cooking}, this recipe was so simple and yet so delicious! I did take a picture...but it didn't look too pretty...so I decided not to post it. :) Since I made this in February before I started the no-meat thing, I actually cooked up some chicken and ate that with it as well. Don't worry, I won't be doing that during March...but haven't had this meal since then! It is definitely on my to-have-again list, though. If you have any ideas on how I could tweak this, I'm all ears! :)

{day 3}

{lunch}

I had someone recommend tuna with guacamole and to be honest...I thought they were smoking something! {my nice way of saying they're crazy :)} however, since I'm being all crazy this month and giving up meats {with the exception of tuna, of course}, I thought I'd give it a shot. I was genuinely surprised at how much I liked it! {Side note - I'm finding myself 'genuinely surprised' at the number of foods I've prepared that I originally thought would be weird/gross...but they turn out to be good!}

My sis makes her own guacamole just by buying the avocados and adding a bit of stuff to them. I tried to go that route {and need to ask if there's some trick to it?!} because I could NOT get my avocado to get all mushy! It was not cooperating. But it worked out well to just cut it up into chunks and add it to my tuna. I put no mayo in the tuna - just added the chunks of avocado, tomato and green onion. Yep, DELISH! Personally, I think the added ingredients were enough to give it flavor without needing the added fat of the mayo {but I've been known to open a can of tuna and just eat it with a fork...so I might be alone on this one!}  I ate it on white bread {would have preferred wheat...but white was all we had.}

Easy. and yet yummy.

{dinner}

Ok. Confession - I had EVERY intention of eating spaghetti squash for dinner; however, my brother in law ordered pizza for dinner and was so proud of himself for ordering one I could eat {meatless - cheese and black olives}...so I didn't want to hurt his feelings and decline. :) The things we do for those we love! {I mean, come on, it was so painful to eat pizza! :)}

{day 1 - dinner}

{dinner}

I am actually more excited about this dinner than I think you can even understand! Why?! Well, it was super yummy, super easy...and super healthy for me! Here's the thing - I'm not really a 'pasta' kind of girl...just ask my sisters. If you give me a choice of pasta {and/or soup and salad, really} or steak...I'm going with the steak. What can I say, I just love my red meat! But with that being said, I decided to give spaghetti squash a try and it is similar to pasta...so I wasn't sure I was going to love it. {Mind you, I don't hate pasta...it's just not my favorite. Really, the only way I like it is in the Americanized spaghetti form - ya know, with the meat added in and the red sauce...MMM! What can I say, I have very "American" tastebuds.}

My first struggle was figuring out how to cook the darn thing. I originally was going to cook it in the oven {I googled 'how to cook spaghetti squash"}. So I started trying to cut it in half and boy, was that complicated! Well, I also read that you could 'cook' it in the microwave {which would help soften it to cut more easily} so I decided to go that route. It worked out well anyways because it takes an hour in the stove and 15 minutes in the microwave and I was HUNGRY! Once you get it softened/cooked, all you have to do is take a fork and start scraping it out. If you don't have it cooked all the way {which originally happened to me}, it's nearly impossible to scrape out {and you'll find yourself wondering if it's worth the time...} but after getting it cooked all the way {microwaving for a few more minutes!}, it was a piece of cake! So definitely, learn from my mistake and if you're having troubles scraping it out, immediately cook it some more...don't keep struggling with it. 

The other 'mistake' I made on this meal was forgetting to stop at the store on the way home. I was chatting on the phone with a friend and had a one-track mind that took me home and by the time I realized what I'd done...I didn't want to drive back into the store...so I just decided to try using what we had around the house. 

I opened the fridge and found a green onion. I cut off a little piece and took a bite with some spaghetti squash - it tasted ok, so green onion went into the pan! {I had a saucepan on the stove with some olive oil and the spaghetti squash}. I found a tomato so I taste-tested again and it 'passed the test.' We had some blue cheese so I gave that one a test...it did NOT pass! :) Then I found some leftover feta cheese and oddly enough....LOVED that with it! I added some basil from our spice cupboard and some garlic powder as well. I wanted to use a garlic clove but we didn't have any...so the powder it was.

So basically, those were my ingredients: spaghetti squash, tomato, green onion, basil, garlic powder and feta cheese. It was SO delicious...I amazed myself! {Please note, I will admit to the world...I am NOT a culinary chef or even CLOSE....I don't like cooking.}

It tasted just like pasta {still surprised I loved it so!} but was SOOOO much more healthy than pasta! According to Livestrong.com, "Spaghetti squash is low in calories, yet high in vitamins and antioxidants. One cup of spaghetti squash has 42 calories and has no saturated fat or cholesterol, according to NutritionData. The vegetable is an excellent source of beta carotene, also is known as vitamin A. Vitamin A helps to boost the immune system and maintain healthy eye function. Spaghetti squash also contains significant amounts of niacin, vitamin B6, potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamin C, according to the World's Healthiest Foods." You can read more on it, here.

The spaghetti squash cost $1.99 a pound {from Whole Foods} and my eyes about bulged out of my head when I paid over $6 for it...but seeing as how none of the other members of my household will try it, I'm beginning to think eating healthy won't actually cost me that much. As a matter of fact, it will probably save me money! That $6 has already fed me for two meals {had it for breakfast today...will blog about that later} and there's still enough for 2-3 meals remaining...so $6 for approximately 5 meals? You can't really beat that. :) 

Sorry I've been pretty long-winded on this post...I am just so excited about this amazing vegetable! :)