#and i only half half an onion chopped in the freezer so its not gonna be as onion sad well. happens

[housefreak]

my beautiful dinner on the stove even tho every head of garlic I bought on Saturday had started sprouting. whatever.

[goblincooking]

big bolognese (i usually freeze 10-12 portions from this)

firstly, don't expect this to be aesthetic. i live in a house with 3 other people and we're all some genre of disabled so the kitchen is often messy.

secondly, i'm gonna put the prices i paid for the whole bags/jars etc of things because that makes more sense to me. pricing per portion makes no sense to me because that doesn't account for the fact that you would have to pay for the whole one of something at some point

thirdly, everything is bought and cooked according to my personal preference. the only person who has to eat my cooking is me, and substituting ingredients for personal taste is always chill!

ingredients, pricing, recipe below the cut :)

equipment:

big saucepan wooden spoon freezer bags (for freezing)

ingredients:

4 cloves garlic 7 small onions 3 teaspoons of sun-dried tomato big squeeze of tomato puree 3 tins of tomatoes (400g each) bag of quorn mince salt, pepper, basil, oregano, sugar vegetable oil prices:

garlic - £0.95 for 4 heads onions - £0.55 for 1kg sun-dried tomato - £1.90 for the jar tomato puree - £0.45 for a tube tins of tomatoes (400g each) - £0.32 x 3 bag of quorn mince - £2.30 salt - £2.50 (in a little grinder) black pepper - £2.50 (in a little grinder) basil - £1.10 (jar of dried) oregano - £1.10 (jar of dried) sugar - £2.15 for 1kg of demerara vegetable oil - £1.99 for 1L

total price: £18.35, but this assumes you have none of the ingredients when you start, and that you only shop at tesco and nothing was on sale.

method:

crush the garlic and chop it small (i use 4 cloves because that's my preference). I crush the garlic between the flat of my knife and the chopping board, pressing with the heel of my palm.

peel and roughly chop the onions. I cut the onion in half top to bottom, and then slice so it's all semi-circles.

cook the garlic and onions in about 1tsp of oil on a low heat, until the onions are soft and transparent. I normally add my salt, pepper, and 2tsp of sugar at this point, because I like the way it sweetens specifically the onions. Optional: add the sun-dried tomatoes here. They're nice and salty :)

add the tins of tomatoes, and the puree. Turn the heat up to high and stir to combine. When the ingredients are combined and the sauce is bubbling, add the whole bag of quorn mince. (Honestly, I could have doubled the mince, but one bag is what I could afford).

stir the mince in and bring the sauce back up to a boil, while stirring, then turn the heat off and put the lid on and let the sauce sit and cool.

portion it out for freezing. I put my stuff in freezer bags because its easier to store and defrost. you may prefer something else.

to defrost, just empty it into a pan over a low heat and let defrost while your pasta cooks when you're ready to eat it!

[curutquit]

Seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip. I hope you enjoy the video, give us a THUMBS UP if you like our video, please don't forget to click SUBSCRIBE button and tap the bell icon to get notified! If you want to know how to restaurant style fish finger recipe at home, then this is a very simple and easy recipe of Finger Fish yet very tasty that you. #fishfry #gondhorajfishfry #fishcutlet #godhorajfishcutlet #kaffirlimefishcutlet I love fish & I love Gondhoraj lebu or Kaffir lime. Crispy Fish Fingers with Homemade Tartare Sauce.

Steps to Make Perfect Seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip. Steps to Make Perfect Tender Chicken Breast and Chrysanthemum Greens with Garlic and Soy Sauce. How to Prepare Super Quick Homemade Cacio e Pepe Con Bacon, Cheese and Pepper with Bacon.

Hello everybody, hope you're having an amazing day today. Today, we're going to make a distinctive dish, seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip. It is one of my favorites food recipes. This time, I'm gonna make it a little bit unique. This is gonna smell and look delicious.

I hope you enjoy the video, give us a THUMBS UP if you like our video, please don't forget to click SUBSCRIBE button and tap the bell icon to get notified! If you want to know how to restaurant style fish finger recipe at home, then this is a very simple and easy recipe of Finger Fish yet very tasty that you. #fishfry #gondhorajfishfry #fishcutlet #godhorajfishcutlet #kaffirlimefishcutlet I love fish & I love Gondhoraj lebu or Kaffir lime. Crispy Fish Fingers with Homemade Tartare Sauce.

Seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip is one of the most popular of recent trending foods on earth. It's enjoyed by millions daily. It's easy, it's quick, it tastes delicious. Seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip is something that I've loved my entire life. They are nice and they look wonderful.

To begin with this particular recipe, we must first prepare a few ingredients. You can cook seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip using 25 ingredients and 10 steps. Here is how you can achieve it.

The ingredients needed to make Seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip:

{Prepare of Ingredients for the cutlets.

{Get 300 grams of Seer fish.

{Get 250 grams of chopped onions.

{Prepare 250 grams of boiled potatoes.

{Get to taste of Chopped chilli's.

{Make ready 1 tsp of chopped ginger.

{Make ready 1 tbsp of chopped garlic.

{Get Some of Chopped coriander.

{Make ready Some of Oil for cooking.

{Make ready 2 of Eggs.

{Take As required of Bread crumbs.

{Take to taste of Salt.

{Make ready 1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder.

{Get of Ingredients for garlicky yoghurt dip.

{Prepare 50 ml of yoghurt or set curd.

{Make ready 1 of shallot of Finely chopped garlic.

{Make ready 1 spoon of finely chopped mint.

{Take As needed of Orange marmalade for taste.

{Prepare As required of Salt and pepper.

{Take of Ingredients for mint mayonnaise.

{Take 2 tsp of mint leaves.

{Prepare 2 tsp of coriander leaves.

{Make ready 2 of green chillies.

{Make ready 5 tsp of any store brought mayonnaise.

{Get As per taste of Salt and pepper.

Dip each cutlet in this mixture and roll in the rawa. Serve as a snack or with any main meal. Making the cutlets well in advance, before they are intended to be served, enhances its taste. Have three large plates or shallow bowls ready for Decorate serving platter with rocket.

Instructions to make Seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip:

Initially add oil to a tawa, add onions into this once oil is heated up. Once onions are cooked to brown, add in the chopped chillies, garlic and ginger..

Cook fish with turmeric powder and salt by adding a little water. After it is cooked add pepper powder to taste..

Boil and prepare mashed potatoes by adding a little salt and turmeric..

Mix the sauted onion, add mashed potatoes and cooked fish. Mix properly and check for slot and spice..

After it is cooled, make it into small balls of suitable size. Shape it by patting it between both hands..

Dip the shaped cutlets into a bowl filled with beatten eggs. Coat all sides properly and then coat with a layer of bread crumbs..

Heat oil in a pan, once heated drop the cutlets into the oil. Fry until golden brown. Collect onto tissue paper so that excess oil will be absorbed..

You can store the extra unmade cutlets in freezer for up-to a week..

For the garlicky yoghurt dip, allow yoghurt to drip from a sieve for an hour so that all the whey is removed and only the thick part remains. Add chopped garlic, mint leaves, salt to taste and pepper. Mix these ingredients properly. Add a few drops of lemon juice..

For the mint mayo dip, take Coriander and mint leaves in a mixer jar, add chillies and grind to a smooth paste. Take mayonnaise and mix properly. Add salt and juice of half a lemon..

Drizzle molasses and sprinkle remaining mint over the yoghurt dip and place on platter, with fish pieces. A wonderfully tangy and refreshing complement to spicy Turkish dishes and delicious on its own, this thick yogurt dip is served throughout the country. Line a strainer with a coffee filter or a double layer of moistened cheesecloth and spoon in the yogurt. And serve them with sweet chili mayo and mint yogurt dip. Hubbs likes these with sweet chilli mayo ( actually me too) but it goes Here is another delicious Gluten-Free Zucchini, Corn and Cabbage Fritters which I served with Sweet chilli mayo and Minty Yogurt Dip.

So that's going to wrap it up for this special food seer fish cutlet with mint mayo and garlicky yoghurt dip recipe. Thank you very much for your time. I'm confident you will make this at home. There is gonna be more interesting food at home recipes coming up. Remember to bookmark this page on your browser, and share it to your family, colleague and friends. Thank you for reading. Go on get cooking!

[nhlhoser]

On The Rocks- 22

Part 21 Masterlist

Word count: 2670

probably swearing 

It was about 5 pm when our stomachs decided it was time for food seeing as we've only had espresso and a hissy fit, we were quite hungry. About 3 unsuccessful suggestions of where to go and some feelings hurt on the way, I wordlessly rose of my bed got changed in my closet into actual underwear, my softest gray leggings and old baggy quarter zipper burgundy sweater. My leggings barely touch my ankle because of the length of my legs.

"We are going out," I announced re-enter my room to the lazy looking teen fiddling with my TV remote. He eyes my outfit for a clue of where we are going, me clearly looking just as lazy before just this time my own clothing doesn't give him much of a clue where.

"and where are we going?" Auston humored with an amused smirk on his face.

"Well, first I am gonna see what I have in the freezer and I think I should have gnocchi or lasagna prepped. Then you and I are going shopping," I smiled brightly gaining Auston's attention at shopping but his posture is doubtful in my intentions.

"Two things, where are we going shopping? and Nonna Gnocchi?" Auston's tone changes from scared to excited to hopeful all in one sentence as he slowly gets up from my bed, turning off the TV. I remember Auston being chirped for his love of shopping that has spanned way before he was making the big bucks that he is now, but this shopping won't be to his standards.

"Grocery shopping 'cause I saw your fridge," Smirking as Auston groans falling back onto my bed with a pout on his lips and a blush on his cheeks. "Come on Auston. Didn't you tell us that your Mum and dad are coming in this week or are already here?" I prodded already knowing that his parents are indeed in town because every time they are, Auston goes socially MIA and he hasn't been hanging around with Mitch or Morgan as often.

"Yeah, they're already in town but staying in a hotel. Claiming that 'I need my space for this important time of the season'," Auston drops his voice an octave mimicking what his dad is supposed to sound like probably. "So, I have been taking them to restaurants around the city," He sat up with a shrug.

"Okay but Auston was still going to grocery shopping because this is an important time of the season," I whined grabbing his arm half ass pulling him but he doesn't budge. "Okay, I'm not gonna talk about hockey anymore but you still need food," I pulled more, he smirks at the failed attempts to move him, thinking that I can't lift him.

"How much do you weight?" I asked pulling away from my plans being determined by his next answer as I assess him.

I think I can lift him.

"220, why?" He frowns as I smirked well looks like this gonna be a PR.

I lift 200 pounds in the gym what's another 20? Bracing my legs comfortably, bending my knees I wrap my arms under his and tugging him swiftly off the bed with minor difficulty lifting dead weight. He stumbled before gaining his balance now standing in front of me with a shocked face.

"Great, come on," I stepped abound him about to walk out the door.

"Well, it's rude to ask a lady's weight," I was lifted into the air and flung back on my bed, landing on my back staring wide-eyed at Auston who's smirking.

"Come on," He dragged out as if it was my fault we are still in my room instead of downstairs. Rolling my eyes I huff dramatically taking my time getting off the bed, hurrying past Auston bumping his shoulder as I pass.

"Where's Steph and Mitch?" I wondered aloud confused by the lack of noise in the apartment coming down the stairs into the living room seeing no one either.

"Mitch's parents are treating him to dinner for getting into the playoff," Auston following behind me tossing his body onto the couch with a groan. "Mmm, You also gotta fix ma back," He stretched like a cat before looking for the remote.

"Yeah later," I waved him off going into my freezer looking for food. Pulling out the Gnocchi as the lasagna is way too big for only two people eating it. Switching the stove on, I fill a pot with water setting it on the lit stove to boil. Ignoring the sound of the TV get into my cooking zone, chopping some onion and basil for the red sauce.

I was so in the zone that I didn't notice Auston move from his spot on the couch to on a stool to watch me work around the kitchen. I had just put the pasta into the water and was about to ask Auston to grab the sauce for me when I noticed the vacant couch, his laugh startling me from being right beside me. My hand instantly covered my chest where my heart pounds, I stare wide-eyed as he laughs.

"Jesus, Wear a bell or something," I breathe still shaken up. Auston just shakes his head at me as he laughs some more at my expense but slowly settles for a cheeky grin when I just stare at him.

"anyways, Can you grab a jar of sauce from the laundry room? thanks," It was more of a statement than a question but he gets up and gets it for me anyways. He reminds me of me when I was really young cooking with my Nonna, easily fascinated by anything in the kitchen. His posture is lax as he lazily bends down at the waist to grab the jar, prompting me to look away when I realize I was watching his butt the entire way.

Opting to find my skillet to hide my reddening cheeks, I turn on the spot before he even is vertical. Bending myself because genuinely I don't remember where I put it last, sorting through the various metal pots and pans until I find the cast iron skillet at the very back shouting in victory.

Ignoring the man watching me, I get back into cooking. Placing the skillet on the burner as I wait for it to heat I strain the cooked pasta and blanching it in cold water. Once the skillet was radiating heat I drizzled some olive oil let it bubble a bit before scraping in the onion and basil. Turning away from the stove for the jar this time not spooked by Auston's presence. Grabbing the mason jar sitting in front of him, its already opened. He smiles a contagious smile that makes him look a lot younger despite the growing facial hair.

"Grazie," I laid the accent on thick with a wink, earning a brighter smile and chuckle.

Finishing up the food, Auston works around me to set the table and getting water bottles. I set the steaming bowl of food between us in the center of the table. The scent is mouth water and my stomach ached for it. Wasting no time in dishing out the portions and digging, the only sounds utensils hitting the plates, chewing and moaning.

"My Nona's recipe for the sauce but the pasta is a small Italian place in Markham, definitely not as good as my Nona's," My tone is sentimental as Auston hums his pleasure still stuffing his face. Occasionally taking a breath or a sip of water.

"It's hard to believe it get's, better than this because I have to about 225 now," His words muffled by the food still in his yap.

"Probably helps that its like 6 pm and it's our first meal," I noted finishing off my plate, glancing at the dish debating if I want more or my taste buds want more. Instead of committing to another portion, I steal forkfuls straight from the bowl between us.

"Mmm, I found a solution for my lack of fresh food," Auston gleamed with a devilish smirk pausing for another mouthful of pasta. "You can just come cook for me and then I don't have to order the meal preps anymore," His suggestion is a joke but there is some hope in his eyes as he waits for me to react.

"Sure," I forked another mound of food into my mouth, Auston sat across from me shocked by my ease.

"Wait, actually?" He smiled but was on guard.

"Yeah but I have a price," I added ominously purposely to spook him, which it did because he paused mid-bite to watch me waiting for me to say what the price is.

"Don't hide injuries or I swear to a high power I'll let you starve," I pointed my fork at him for dramatic effect as he slowly nods eyes wide.

"That simple?"

"Can be if you want it to be," I riddle off picking up my plate and the now empty bowl between us and working on cleaning up the kitchen. Auston comes in silently rinsing his plate and putting it into the dishwasher as I handle the pots and skillet, the cast-iron needing different treatment than the other metal pots.

"Deal?" I quirked once everything was cleaned up, turning to Auston my hand outstretched for a shake.

"Deal," shaking on it.

Shopping with Auston is a pleasant experience, he follows my lead majority of the time but will veer off if something catches his eye and returns putting it in the cart. He would pout lightly if it was something unhealthily as if he thought I would scold him for it but I'd shrug and continue pushing the cart down the isles occupationally sneaking things I like into the cart.

"Steak or chicken?" Auston held up the different meats, recipes for both came into the forefront of my mind instantly.

"Both," Auston shrugged carefully placing the meats into the last empty place at the bottom. Continued down more isles filling the cart more, coming to the baking products Auston just by-passes it but I venture down, grabbing the stable; flour, baking soda/powder and bulk of salt. I also grab ingredients for desserts; vanilla, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips.

"Amelia?" I can hear Auston's voice call from a couple aisles over clearly just realizing I wasn't behind him anymore. I see him before he sees me, he's peering into isles. I can't see his eyes from the black hat covering his eyes but I can see the frown on his usually emotionless face.

"Aus," clumsily spinning to my voice Auston relaxes he glares as I approach with the cart.

"where did you go?" He lets up as he looks for the added items in the cart stops and lifts the chocolate chips with a grin. "Okay, I approve as long as these eventually turn into cookies," He tosses the large bag of chips into the cart once again.

"I think we covered everything to last you for the next couple of weeks," I noted as the cart is full to the brim of fresh produce and meats with of course some junk food. Mentally cataloging what's in the cart to make sure we got everything, a quiet voice interrupted my thoughts as a small boy approached with a smile wearing a Leafs shirt and hat covering his blonde locks.

"Are you Auston Matthews?" He whispered scared that he might not be Auston. My heart melted instantly, having a soft spot cutie little kids.

"Yes, I am! What's your name, buddy?" Auston knelt down being way too tall for the beaming boy, he smiles soft as the boy gasps and says his name is 'Spencer'. They became to talk about hockey and the little man looked like he his face was gonna split from smiling so much.

"Spencer?!" An older lady with matching blonde hair but brown eyes, unlike Spencer's bright blues. I wave her over pointing to the boy who's over the moon and safe.

"Spencer, You can't run off like that," his mother scolded out of breathing, bending down to pull her son into an embrace.

"I know ma, but the look is Auston Matthews," he beamed like that was suppose to make up for the fact for giving her a heart attack.

"Who?" The lady not knowing who Auston was but the boy was quick to roll his eyes at his mother confused face.

"He's only the best hockey player, ma" he drew out dully. His mom shook her head at him with a laugh.

"Do you want a photo?" Auston offered standing up to his full height again. Spencer instantly shift his hate and shirt making sure they look good, Auston pulls the boy up into arms resting him on his hip.

 The mom takes mutinous shots as per Spencer's request. Auston continues a quiet conversation with the boy until the boy whispered something into Auston's ear prompting him to look over to me with a warm smile before putting him down, signing his shirt and hat.

"That was the cutest thing ever," I gushed as we got to the car as There wasn't really a time a gush in the store as Spencer was near until we got out of the building and to the car where we stand now loading in the trunk carefully.

"One of my favorite parts of my job are kids like Spencer, maybe some more than others given the situation but it warms the heart and it motivating," He was more relaxed now than before as he shuts the trunk.

 "What did he whisper to you?" I recall the boy's red cheeks and Austons smile.

"Secret can't tell you," he teased getting into the car smirking as rolls my eyes at him, following suit.

This car ride is a lot more pleasant than the ride to my place before, the memory of Austons anger leaves unpleasant feeling sitting on my chest the whole way up to Auston apartment arms loaded with bags. He goes back down to get the rest that we couldn't manage.

Slipping out onto the balcony as I wait for Auston to return, the fresh air is crisp on my overheated face from too much thinking.  Setting myself onto the same couch from the morning tucking my feet under me, I took in the view of Toronto's night lights but this mornings view puts this to shame.

Checking my phone its 8 pm.

Sighing the feeling doesn't let up and only gets worse when Auston returns, putting things away before coming out and sitting beside me saying nothing but he has to be able to sense the tension.

"I'm so sorry for making you feel like I don't trust you, Auston." I blurted out relieving the knot in my chest. "I have a bad habit of sabotaging myself,"

"I'm sorry for being an ass about it, I went the wrong way about it trumping my feelings over yours, you clearly have your reason and I should accept that," he pulled me into his side.

"I've shared more with you in the past 24 hours than I ever did with my old therapist," Auston chuckles but doesn't comment thankfully, just sitting with me.

"I should probably get home soon," I started a bit later when the temperature was too low for me.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Auston said sporadically, ignoring my comment on leaving.

"Nothing that I can think of," I racked my brain for anything.

"Then stay,"

"Sure, but can we go in? I'm cold,"

Letting someone in is seeming easier as the day goes by and Auston is only making it easier.

It scares me.

But it doesn't scare me how easy it is to eat junk food well watching dumb comedy's laughing our asses off on his couch, or how easy it was to fall asleep again in his arms for the third or fourth time since I met him.

But who’s counting anyways?

NEXT

[edgewaterfarmcsa]

FALL CSA WEEK 2

- p i c k l i s t -

LETTUCE - MIZUNA - LACINATO KALE - CAYENNE PEPPERS - CARMEN (SWEET) PEPPERS -

LEMONGRASS - CAULIFLOWER - ORANGE KABOCHA WINTER SQUASH - LEEKS -

CUCUMBERS - CARROTS - GARLIC - GOLD POTATOES

Let’s talk Ginger. Ginger is my forever favorite crop.  I love the magic of propagation that takes place in the early spring stages, the green shoots that emerge from the root, the smell of the ginger greenhouse as you go to weed mid season, and the unbelievable beauty of fresh ginger pulled from the earth after a whole summer of growth.  It is a heaven sent root and I am here for it.  Typically our Fall CSAers get the most out of this Fall crop as we harvest from September-October.  This year however, I got too excited back in the Spring during early propagation.  With real recklessness, I broke the ginger up into pieces that were too small for growth during its initial stages.  Proper budding never occurred and many ginger root babies rotted out.  A total crop failure.  My purpose was to force more ginger earlier and instead I broke up the rhizome too much and weakened the potential for growth.  This goes on the long list I made of farm fuck-ups for 2020.  My purpose in telling you this sob story is to give you an honest heads up around any high expectations of getting ginger this year (not gonna happen).  Also it highlights the benefits of diversified farming.  In any given season no one intends on crop failures- but it happens.  Sometimes weather demolishes a field, bugs eat an entire crop, or this farmer gets too excited.  Bottomline here, thank goodness we grow a bajillion other crops- everything from tomatoes to berries to greens to bedding plants.  Diversified farming allows a margin of error to take place in the field and not collapse the farm.  My in-laws, Anne and Pooh took on diversified farming for this reason and I am so pleased to be grandmothered in.  That’s all I have to say about ginger for now and hopefully that is all I have to say about crop failure for 2020.  Hoping for a better crop in 2021.  

In other news, This might be the best box of food yet- it will be hard to top week 2 of Fall CSA.

 HOT TIPS:

Lemongrass: I add it to every broth I cook with- especially chicken broth- especially chicken broth thickened with coconut milk.  You do not eat the lemon grass directly- chop the bottom whiter/pinker bottom portion and simmer for deep healing aromatics.  If you are not committed to making a broth or using lemon grass this week, chop and freeze on a cookie sheet for 24 hours, and then bag all together and put back into the freezer for future use (this helps so pieces separate easily when frozen).  

TEA!  A few weeks back, Ramone (field crew worker, non stop joker) commented on the fever grass- I corrected him (lemongrass), he corrected me (fever grass). Bottomline, lemongrass is known as fever grass in Jamaica.  Steep in hot water, sip it if you are feeling a cold coming on or currently sick- it’s good for what ails ya.  

A new pumpkin laksa for a cold night by nigel slater (cold weather staple in my house)

The laksa appears complicated at first but in practice it is far from it.  Once you  understand the basics, the recipe falls into place and becomes something you can fiddle with to suit your own taste.  The basic spice needs heat (ginger, garlic, hot pepper); the liquid needs body and sweetness (coconut milk, rich stock); the finish needs sourness and freshness (lime juice, mint, cilantro).  The necessary saltiness comes from nam pla and tamari rather than salt itself.  The notes in place, you can feel free to include noodles, tomaoes, greens, sweet vegetables, or meat as you wish.  What matters is balance.

Enough for 4

Pumpkin (winter squash) - 1.5 cups

Cilantro and mint leaves to finish

FOR THE SPICE PASTE:

Hot peppers- 3-4

lemongrass- 2 plump stalks

Garlic- 2 cloves

cilantro stems- 5-6

Ginger- thumb sized lump

cilantro leaves- a handful

Sesame oil- 2 tablespoons

FOR THE SOUP: 

Chicken or veg stock- 2.5 cups

Coconut milk- 1 ¾ cup

Tamari- 1-2 tablespoons

Nam pla (Thai fish sauce) - 2 tablespoons

Juice of a lime

dried noodles- ½ cup cooked as it says on packet, then drained

Peel and seed the pumpkin and cut into large chunks.  Cook in a steamer or in a metal colander balanced over a pan of boiling water until tender.  Remove from heat.

For the spice paste, remove stems from the chiles, peel the garlic, and peel and roughly chop the ginger and lemongrass.  Put them all into a food processor with the cilantro stems and leaves and sesame oil and blitz until you have a rough paste.  Get a large deep pan hot and add the spice paste.  Fry for a minute, then stir in stock and coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Let simmer for seven to ten minutes, then stir in nam pla, tamari, lime juice, pumpkin, and the cooked drained noodles.  Simmer briefly, add the cilantro and mint leaves over the top and serve in deep bowls.  

ANOTHER SPRAGUE FAMILY STAPLE!

from The First Mess // thefirstmess.com

SERVES: 4

NOTES: If you don’t want to use cassava flour, you can substitute brown rice, chickpea or regular wheat flour. Lower the amount of water to 1 cup if you’re making this substitution (& add more if necessary).-It’s important to really keep an eye on these towards the end of the cooking process. They can go from perfect to burnt in what feels like seconds. -I use a Microplane to get the garlic and ginger nice and fine for the sauce CAULIFLOWER1 head of cauliflower (about 2 ½ lbs)1 cup cassava flour1 ½ cups water, plus extra½ teaspoon garlic powder1 tablespoon sesame seedssea salt and ground black pepper, to taste STICKY SESAME SAUCE: ½ cup tamari soy sauce¼  cup maple syrup2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil2 tablespoons rice vinegar1 tablespoon tomato paste2 tablespoon chili paste (or to taste)3 cloves garlic, peeled & finely minced3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled & finely minced2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.Cut the cauliflower into small florets. In a large bowl, combine the cassava flour, water, garlic powder, sesame seeds, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine. The resulting batter should be fluid but thick--thick enough to coat a piece of cauliflower and pool only slightly once set on the baking sheet. If the batter is too thick/pasty, add water by the tablespoon until you reach the proper consistency.Drop the cauliflower florets into the batter and stir until all pieces are coated. Using a fork, carefully transfer battered cauliflower to the baking sheets, leaving 1 inch of space around each floret.Bake the battered cauliflower for 20 minutes. While the cauliflower is baking, make the sauce. In a small saucepan combine the tamari, maple syrup, sesame oil, rice vinegar, tomato paste, chili paste, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds. Bring the sauce to a boil on the stove over medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly reduced. Set aside.After cauliflower has baked for 20 minutes, remove and let cool slightly. Once it’s cool enough to handle, transfer the par-baked cauliflower to a large bowl. Cover the cauliflower with all but 3 tablespoons of the sesame sauce. Toss to thoroughly coat the cauliflower.Bake the cauliflower for another 20 minutes, or until the edges are starting to darken. Remove the cauliflower and let it sit for a full 5 minutes before serving in lettuce wraps, on rice etc. with remaining sauce, extra sesame seeds, and chopped green onions.

Preheating the pan helps the leeks take on some color; cooking at a lower temperature ensures they're fully tender.

6 leeks, white and pale-green parts only

½ cup olive oil

Kosher salt

Place a rimmed baking sheet in oven and preheat to 400°. Cut leeks in half lengthwise. Rinse well and pat completely dry. Toss with oil in a large bowl; season with salt.

Arrange leeks, cut side down, on hot baking sheet and cover loosely with foil. Reduce oven temperature to 300°. Bake until leeks are lightly browned on cut side and very tender, about 1½ hours.

Uncover leeks and turn cut side up. Increase oven temperature to 400°; roast leeks until golden brown, 15–20 minutes. (Reserve the oil for making vinaigrettes or roasting vegetables. Let cool; cover and chill.)

DO AHEAD: Leeks can be baked 4 hours ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.

[dorothyd89]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

http://ift.tt/2zqdWdG http://ift.tt/2zDvMN7 http://ift.tt/2ARSb7d

http://ift.tt/2mED523 http://ift.tt/2zdyWIh http://ift.tt/2mG4m3Y http://ift.tt/2hEdYXH

[heironymous-smash]

Because, come on.  CHICKEN SOUP.  A good chicken soup can slay even the nastiest physical or mental cold-weather malaise.  It also freezes great, and is the perfect thing to grab and run over to a sick friend's house.  (Also, I've noticed that pretty much every winter I post some recipe…I think it's because winter is my natural enemy, and I've been fighting it with food for quite a while now — and winning, if I do say so myself!  \o/)

I don't hold with watery or bland soup; mine is NUTRITIOUS and will stick around, keeping you full and your energy up.  (It is, in the tradition of soup, easy to digest, though.  For tender stomachs or weak digestive systems, you can dial the spicy back / make mild batches and limit or eliminate the chunks of meat.) 

I *am* a fan of broth, as a nice hot not-sweet not-caffeinated drink for the cold night hours especially.  Since I make my own broth/stock and use it to make this soup, I'm going to tell you how to do both!

(Making your own stock/broth is in no way mandatory — you can use storebought or, if you give it a little extra time and seasonings to compensate, just skip the broth altogether.  But making it is not only cheap, it actually saves you money by using ingredients you'd otherwise throw out; and it's fun and awesome to have around, so why wouldn't you?  If you have the freezer space, make stock!)

I.  THE STOCK

–  put a gallon freezer bag in your freezer.  Label it "STOCK" or something equally clever.

–  whenever you have scraps from cutting up veggies, or bones from meat, or awesome sauce left over from making a thing — seriously, basically ANYTHING — instead of throwing it away, put it in the stock bag.  (Obviously you can use only veggie ingredients to have vegetarian stock, if you prefer.)  Just fill that sucker with anything that looks like it could be a good flavoring for liquid.  Carrot tops, potato shavings, rib bones, chicken skin, the scrapings from the pan when you made that awesome thing — whaaatever.  Cooked or raw; doesn't matter as long as it's not rotten.  Just freeze evvvvvverything, until the bag is full.

–  when the bag is full, put on a large pot (the big ones are called "stockpots" for a reason) and fill it with 3-4 gallons (yup, gallons) of water.  Or just use a big pot that holds a gallon or two and make several batches.

– at some point before it boils, empty that bag into it

– check your fridge for leftovers too, while you're at it, and throw in anything that will taste good.  You're going to strain out all the bits and just use the liquid here, so almost anything you liked the seasoning of, or which contains meat or veggies that still have some flavor to offer, is fair game.  Plus, stock that has seasonings in it from past meals is always tastier than just the plain-veggies kind; AND it lets you use things you might have otherwise thrown out, so go for it!

(Gods I love stock.  Even writing about it is fun.  :D)

– bring to a boil, then lower the temperature so that it's barely boiling / simmering

– ignore for as long as you can — stock that cooks all day is wicked good, but an hour is enough for the basics.  Just make sure you leave the lid closed and keep the heat low enough so you don't boil off all the water!  If it starts to get low, just add a little more water to compensate, but try not to do that too much.

– you can add extra seasoning if you want, but I don't!  You're going to use this magic fluid for cooking other things mostly, so you'll have a chance to salt/spicy/etc it later.  Some people who really like a certain seasoning (garlic, cumin, whatever) add it to their stock for that extra-layered oh-hell-yeah flavor — go for it.  Stock is really hard to screw up, if you haven't figured that out yet!

– once you declare it Done, strain it all into containers, cool and freeze the extra.  Now USE IT IN EVERYTHING, because it's amazing and nutritious and it was free!  Dump it in soup/stew/etc., use it in the crockpot with anything, pour it over food you're cooking that needs a little moisture, you name it.

– you can also just drink stock, as mentioned above; I ususally salt it a little and yup, that's it, just drink it.  If you like tea and sometimes want a savory hot thing that's low on calories (especially if it's veggie stock, but stock made by boiling meat-bones forever is not exactly high-cal either), go for it.  You can honestly do pretty much anything with this stuff!

FOR INSTANCE, YOU CAN DO THIS:

II.  THE SOUP

– there are three layers to a good soup:  The allium layer (garlic, onions, shallots, whatever kinds of those things you like), the meat layer (if using meat; I'm just assuming you are but obviously feel free to skip it if that's your bag — if you substitute tofu or mushrooms or something though, do the same things to it that I talk about here for meat), and the veggie layer.  

– almost EVERY ingredient here is substitutable, as long as you have something from each of those three categories.  I'll make suggestions, but wow are they *just* suggestions!  You can also have just one thing, or sixty things; it's all gonna be good.  BE BRAVE, because this is some of the hardest-to-ruin food there is, given these basic steps.  

– start by prepping / chopping the alliums, chicken/whatever, and big or hard veggies like potatoes and carrots.  Go any size/shape you want. 

BTW, I REALLY like using chicken gizzards (especially hearts, but all gizzards are good really) — they're high-nutrition, wicked cheap (because they're not great for a lot besides soup) and taste wonderful when chopped smallish and cooked forever like this.

A NOTE ON MUSHROOMS:  You can add these in either with the meat, so they get super soft and seasony, or near the end, with the "soft veggies", so they stay bigger and chewier.  What you want may differ by soup, and by mushroom, so experiment or just shrug and guess; it's all good.  :)  Oh, and super crazy hint: There's an asian mushroom called the Drum Mushroom (at least that's how my local store translates it) that is ~excellent~ in soup; it's very firm and pleasingly chewy, takes seasoning well, and never disintegrates.  I use it like crazy (it's also cheap, whee) and add it in with (or instead of) the meat.

– STEP ONE:  put about 2tbsp of butter in the pot and turn it on med-high.  (Yes you can use oil, but there's no good reason to.  Butter tastes great, does the trick, and you're putting a spoonful of it into a WHOLE POT of soup.  It's not fattening in this context, lol.)  Wait for it to melt and then add the alliums and stir.  Cook them by themselves until they smell amazing and have gone clear/floppy.

– STEP TWO:  Add the meat (or tofu/whatever).  Season it about twice as much as you think you should (with any seasoning you happen to like / want your soup-meat to taste like), and cook it for a while with the alliums, until the meat looks mostly done.  You want to fry the meat to cook it, rather than boil it, because it'll be tastier and more tender.  The boiling is for the veggies.  :D

– STEP THREE:  Add the hard veggies (or just all of them; it doesn't terribly matter — I add soft veggies later to keep them from falling apart, but it's not like it's bad if they do).  Carrots, potatoes, radishes, bok choi, turnips, *any* veggies, seriously.  Whatever you've got or feel like buying, it's probably great.  (Hard things like turnips and yucca will mean you have to cook the soup a little longer to soften them, FYI.)  Then fill the pot with liquid to a sane level.  I use either half water and half stock, or if I have a lot of stock, all stock!  The more stock the tastier.  Even a little bit really adds depth to the flavor, though.

– bring it back up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it do its thing for at least 30m, preferably longer

– about half an hour before you want to stop cooking it, add these things:  A cup or two of rice (one cup will give it a nice heft and extra healthy-carbs; two cups will make it thick, almost a congee…I like both!); the soft veggies you want to survive intact, if any (usually celery and maybe mushrooms, for me); and a good amount of salt and pepper…and cayenne if you like your winter soups to have a kick (I do).  You want it to be not bland, and it takes more salt and pepper than you probably think to bring actual taste to a whole potful of soup — but also remember that a) soup is easy to season to taste per individual bowl, and b) it'll get more seasoned-tasting when it's reheated, so don't overdo it.  If you do though, don't panic; just add more water and cook a little longer.  You can also cut it with water to reduce the seasoning/spice when you re-heat it, if needed, too; it won't care.  Like I said, this stuff is HARD to mess up.  :D

That's it!

If you don't believe me, ask anybody:  I roll a pretty continuous batch of random-ingredient stock AND soup, and my friends and roommates vacuum it up happily, as do I.  I love that I can switch ingredients all the time; it keeps it from being boring.  And I can cook this stuff while watching TV and cleaning and napping and generally barely giving a crap about it, which is *precisely* how I like my cooking to go, heh.

Happy weather-related challenge time, everyone!  Enjoy!

[joshuabradleyn]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

http://ift.tt/2zqdWdG

[johnclapperne]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

http://ift.tt/2zqdWdG

[almajonesnjna]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

http://ift.tt/2zqdWdG

[neilmillerne]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

http://ift.tt/2zqdWdG

[ruthellisneda]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

http://ift.tt/2zqdWdG

[albertcaldwellne]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

http://ift.tt/2zqdWdG

[fitnetpro]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes���though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash published first on http://ift.tt/2kRppy7

[kiaradnoblesus]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

from Fitness News By James https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-cook-paleo-spaghetti/

[denisalvney]

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti. 

Growing up, I would get made fun of by my family for how much of it I would eat (seriously, two or three massive platefuls in one sitting).

Not enough of a visual?

How about this: as a toddler, I’d run into the dining room struggling to rip my shirt over my oversized head so that I could eat my spaghetti as fast as possible without getting sauce on my clothes.  After dinner my parents would have to practically hose me down in the backyard I was so messy – totally worth it.

Now, in my quest for a healthier lifestyle over the past few years, I’ve learned that…gasp…gallons of pasta at each meal isn’t the healthiest thing in the world!  So, I’ve cut back drastically on my pasta intake – I probably eat pasta once every few months now, when I’m out at an Italian restaurant with friends and feel like letting go for a meal.

If you are a paleo person but love pasta, I feel ya.  This could help.

Maybe you’re not paleo, but you’re looking for an alternative to carb-heavy pasta.  This will help you too.

Today, you’re gonna learn how to cook Paleo Pasta.  Now, this recipe takes a little longer and is a little bit more complex than the easy Chicken Stirfry I taught you how to cook before.

If that was level 1, this is level 2.

Yeah, eating a small portion of regular spaghetti every now and then ain’t gonna kill ya, but I found preparing paleo spaghetti and meat sauce to be a fun challenge, it took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen by making me do new things, and actually turned out to be freaking delicious and nutritious.

Let’s level up your cooking.

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!

Ingredients

1lb. of Grass-fed Ground Beef (my grocery store didn’t have grass-fed, so I went with regular)

1 Onion

2 Tomatoes

2 Small Cans of Organic Tomato Paste (check the ingredients – it should only contain organic tomatoes…though look for JARRED tomato paste or make your own.)

1 Garlic Clove (it’s the small part that you’re breaking off a garlic bulb. i’ll explain more later).

Pepper…and salt if you want some.

Italian Seasoning (it’ll be in the spices aisle – pick the one that’s labeled “ITALIAN SEASONING.”  To be sure, open and smell – if it smells like ITALIAN SEASONING, you’re on the right track.  If you can’t find it at this point, you should probably just sit down and give up).

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash – will make enough for two people.

Olive Oil – I like extra virgin olive oil.

Supplies

1 Iron Skillet/Pan

1 Medium Sized Pot

1 Cookie sheet

1 Sharp Knife

1 Spatula

1 Cutting Board

Tin Foil

Oven and Stove

If you’re like me (a nerd who generally stays away from the kitchen), half the stuff on the grocery list will be new to you.  I can certainly say I’ve never purchased a spaghetti squash before.  Honestly though, I found it fun to go exploring in new parts of the grocery store and track down these items.  Just keep the ingredient list with you, ask people for help if you need it, and pretend like you’re a contestant on Super Market Sweep (not that I do that…every time I’m in a store….).

Preparing YOUR SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Start by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees.  This will take a while to get warm so it gives you time to chop up your veggies and so on.

Chop your onion in half, and then peel off the outside layer – we only need half of it.  Put the other half in a plastic bag and stick it in your fridge.

After that, start slicing and dicing like a mofo until the onion is all chopped up.  Yeah, you might cry – suck it up.  If you have a food processor or a Slap Chop (you lucky bastard), this will be way easier.  I don’t have either of those, so I did it the old school way.

Next, rip off a clove of garlic – we only need a little bit of it.  Hang the rest of the garlic bulb around your neck to ward off vampires.

Take that little section, break it apart, and then carefully chop off the tiny ends of each section.  Then, use the side of your knife to smush it by pressing down hard on the side of your knife.  Peel off the outer layer, and then chop up the inside of it as small as you can without chopping off any fingers. That would result in a lot of blood, and the vampires won’t care about your garlic necklace, and you’re gonna have a bad time.  If you don’t feel like buying/chopping garlic, you can use garlic powder to add to the meat later, though it’s not nearly as fun.

Grab your two tomatoes (not a euphemism).  No seriously though, grab those two tomatoes.  Use your knife to carefully carve out the top part of it…

Then cut them in half, then chop them up into smaller pieces.  Depending on how you like your spaghetti sauce, cut them to your desired size – bigger chunks in your sauce or no?  The choice is yours, sucka.

Next, take your spaghetti squash, and use your knife to cut it in half.  Because the middle is kind of hollow and full of gooey stuff (like a pumpkin), I found it easiest to cut into the side of the squash, and then work the knife around it the long way.  Watch this video for a good demonstration.  JUST BE CAREFUL.

Use a spoon and scrape out all of the middle junk in the squash.  Yup, it’s kind of gross. Get over it.

Take your hollowed out squash, and drizzle the insides with olive oil, pepper, and tiny bit of salt. 

Give them a minute or two to sit and soak in the oil, and then put them face down on the cookie sheet, and stick them in the oven (which is now at 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Making the Sauce

While the spaghetti squash is cooking in the oven, put your skillet on the stove, add a little bit of olive oil, and drop in your diced onions.  After a few minutes, they’ll start to take on a clear/yellowish color as they sizzle and cook.

Now it’s time to add the garlic, and mix that around for a minute or two…

And then add the beef!

Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix it up with the onions and garlic.

Now, make it rain with your Italian seasoning and pepper.  And by that I mean “sprinkle it liberally.”

Continue stirring and chopping and mixing like a boss until the meat is a nice brown color.

When the meat is done cooking, take the pan off the stove, and place it on one of the other not-hot burners…

OR, you can strain the beef and get rid of the grease.  I chose to strain our meal for the evening.  Use a strainer, collect the grease in a bowl, and then when the grease cools down, dump it into a coffee canister or other container that you can keep in the freezer and then eventually dispose of properly.  Google “how to get rid of grease” if you need help here.

Combining the sauce AND THE SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Now, while your meat is cooking, take your empty pot, open up your two cans of tomato paste, and use a knife to scoop them out and pour in.  Then add your tomatoes.

Put the pot on low heat.  Around now, your meat should be cooked. 

Then dump in the meat, onions, and garlic into the pot and mix it all up.  If your sauce isn’t saucy enough, take your empty tomato paste can and dump in a can-sized amount of water (do one and see how the sauce looks, and then add a second if necessary).  At this point, feel free to add some more Italian seasoning and pepper.

You can leave the pot on really low heat and cover it up, while you’re finishing up everything else. Just stir it every so often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

Putting it all together

Pull your squash out of the oven after the 40 minutes is up, and using a pot holder and a knife/fork, flip the two halves over over.

Having two plates ready, use a fork to pull apart the inside of the squash…it’ll come apart very easily and look like spaghetti. 

Hollow out one, put it on a plate.  Hollow out the other, put it on the other plate.

This is the point where you say “OHHHH SO THAT’S WHY ITS CALLED SPAGHETTI SQUASH!”

Add your sauce on top, and BAM you have your home cooked, paleo spaghetti meal.  Finish off with a glass of water, red wine (not technically paleo I guess but hey, live a little), or some Drain-O and you’re good to go.

I’m kidding. please don’t drink Drain-O.

Any questions?

The dinner table is set.  Flower in empty wine bottle and Shadow of the Colossus on PS3 are optional.

I honestly had WAY more fun cooking this than was expected.  (thanks Jessie for helping me out and making sure I didn’t chop off any appendages).

If you’re struggling to come up with a fun date idea…nothing goes over better than cooking a meal together – and I think the total cost of the ingredients was around $15.  This meal made full servings for two people with enough sauce left over for two or three more servings.

If you don’t have anybody else to cook for, no worries!  This meal will make plenty of food for you to have for dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and beyond.  Plus, you can eat your spaghetti WHILE playing Shadow of the Colossus and nobody will yell at you.

I’m thinking of doing some more “how to cook easy meals” post here on NF real soon, coming from the perspective of a newbie in the kitchen.  They probably won’t all be paleo/primal, but they’ll be healthy and super easy to cook.

Is that something you’d be interested in every few weeks?  If I do, anything else you’d like to see in the posts?

Any thoughts, comments, or questions?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

PS: We’ve been adding these recipes and a few dozen more to our Nerd Fitness Academy, which has recipes, meal plans, workout plans, and the ability to complete quests and missions and level up as you get healthier. Check it out!

###

thanks to Fast Paleo for the recipe inspiration.

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash published first on https://www.nerdfitness.com