When squash attack

The holidays are over, and a lot of people with serious illness held on because of family , memories and anticipation. Now that we are in January there is less optimism and a general worsening of symptoms. As a result I have been getting a LOT of distance Reiki requests this week. And then Mother Nature adds a major earthquake to the mix, and it has been a very busy week here for this Reiki Master. Add to this homeschool, household duties and exercise goals, it is making me really love quick , easy meals. Muffins and hardboiled eggs for breakfast( both easy to make in bulk for future use), crockpot meals for some dinners and things that I do not have to "babysit" are popular. Such as spaghetti.

Old days meant white pasta, then it moved to whole wheat pasta, but the volume is not always satisfying. 2 oz of dried pasta per person is a small amount, so you wind up having to add sides to bulk things up. A good idea, but when you are pressed for time not so great. On the weekends I do a lot of prep with those veggies that can keep after being cut up( romaine lettuce, carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower) so sides for lunch and salads are easy. In the interest of speed this week ( something told me it would be a factor), I decided to pick up a spaghetti squash to use for one dinner. Spaghetti squash is not like other hard shelled winter squashes. When you cook spaghetti squash it can be shreded into something that looks like vermicelli noodles. Low in calories, high in fiber, low carb- it's a healthy and tasty alternative.

I made spaghetti sauce with sausage last night and decided to make the spaghetti squash- mainly because I would not have to babysit it. During the process , two things came to mind

1. Spaghetti squashes should never grow larger than footballs , or they will not cook evenly. This particular squash, which was almost the size of a newborn, proved to be a problem in cooking. Normally you microwave the squash for 12 minutes, let cool slightly and then process the numminess inside. This squash was now on 30 minutes of microwaving and was still rock hard on one side. I decided to just pull it out, let it sit and allow the steam to do what it would to finish the job. It was so huge, the three of us could not eat the whole thing anyway, so....

2. Healthy food should not injure a cook. I cut the squash open and attempted to scoop out the molten seeds and seed goop. To reward me for my efforts the squash decided to release it's bounty in such a fashion that it was projected directly onto my face. Had I not been wearing my glasses, it could have burned my eye. After the seeds were removed I started scooping out the flesh, and it determined that my kitchen needed decorating. A textured finish on the cabinets, floor and ceiling was the ticket, accomplished with the squash pulp . Yes, this is a healthy food, for after dinner I would get to burn extra calories washing down my kitchen !

It did taste good and I would make this again, but in the future I will never purchase a spaghetti squash larger than a football. And I will consider a pair of safety goggles as part of my kitchen equipment.