Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Since learning that I could quickly and easily cook spaghetti squash in my instant pot, we have been having my spaghetti squash pie almost weekly. This week I wanted to mix it up and found inspiration for a buffalo chicken spin thanks to The Real Food Dietitians blog. I adapted the recipe to make it quicker and easier for the busy working mom, who is also trying to balance marathon training (ie: me). To make this recipe easier and quicker, I cooked both my chicken breasts and spaghetti squash in my instant pot, so the only work I had to do to create a healthy meal that lasted us 2 nights was basically mix a few ingredients together and pop it into the oven. To top off the finished dish, I mashed an avocado and drizzled my favorite healthy blue cheese dressing (Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Dressing) and it was fantastic!

Lately I have been trying to prep 3-4 meals on Sunday night to have healthy options ready to go during the week since the evenings are becoming busier and more chaotic. This is definitely a recipe that will be added to the rotation! I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Breasts (cooked & chopped/shredded)
• 1 Large Spaghetti Squash
• 1 Bunch Green Onions (thinly sliced)
• 6 tbs Buffalo Sauce
• 1/4c Blue Cheese Crumbles
• Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing (optional)
• Avocado (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook spaghetti squash. Remove threads of squash and place into large mixing bowl. I used the instant pot (pierce squash, add squash and 1 cup water to pot, manual setting, 20 minutes, natural pressure release), but you can roast it, boil it, or do the microwave trick. Once cooked, cut squash in half length-wise, and remove seeds.
2. In mixing bowl, combine spaghetti squash, cooked chicken, sliced green onions, buffalo sauce and blue cheese crumbles.
3. Pour mixture into a 9*13 pan and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Photo & Recipe Adapted from: The Real Food RDs

Spaghetti Squash Pie

With the cooler air filtering in, I decided it’s time to start breaking out the instant pot and transitioning from our typical salad for dinner 5 nights of the week to dinners that fall more in the realm of comfort food, you know, the warm, hearty type meals, at least 1 or 2 nights a week. The big thing for me is that these ‘comfort foods’ still need to be healthy, nutritious, and gluten-free. Using a recipe from PaleoOMG for inspiration, I decided to order a spaghetti squash in this week’s grocery order and took a few extra minutes on Sunday evening to create a new recipe that was hearty, nutritious, and delicious!

I love spaghetti squash but the hassle of cutting it and then roasting it, means I have not made it since before Breck was born…seriously ya’ll, we are talking almost 2 years with no spaghetti squash in my life! After a little Google & Facebook Group searching, I found that I can actually make spaghetti squash whole in my instant pot. That in my book is an INSTANT WIN! However, for the first time cooking it in the instant pot, I opted to cut & seed it prior to dropping it in the pot. Next time though, that sucker is going in whole! If you do not have an instant pot, you can of course roast the spaghetti squash, do the microwave trick, or even boil it, whatever you prefer.

Spaghetti Squash Pie

Ingredients

• 1 Large Spaghetti Squash
• 3 Italian Chicken Sausages (sliced & halved)
• ½ Vidalia Onion (diced)
• 2 1/2  cup Marinara Sauce (all natural, no sugar added)
• ½ cup Shredded Cheese
• 3 eggs (whisked)
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Cut spaghetti squash in half (length-wise). Cook in instantpot with 1 cup of water on manual setting for 10 minutes, natural pressure release. Once squash is done, remove threads and set aside in large mixing bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Sautee onion and Italian sausage until onion is soft. Add mixture to mixing bowl.
4. Add marinara sauce, cheese, dried basil and salt & pepper to the bowl and mix well.
5. Add whisked eggs to the mixture and stir until combined.
6. Pour mixture into a 9×13 baking dish (sprayed with cooking spray).Place in oven and bake for 40 minutes.

*Photo & Recipe Inspiration from PaleoOMG (great resource for healthy recipes)!

Chicken Sausage & Roasted Tomatoes with Zoodles

After all these years, I FINALLY tried zoodles (aka spiralized zucchini noodles). As someone who is passionate about health & nutrition, and eats primarily gluten-free, you would think I would have for sure had zoodles before now. However, I am not big on jumping on health trends, so I pushed the zoodle concept to the back burner for the last 3+ years. Well, this week, I randomly decided to order a pack of fresh spiralized zucchini and created a recipe idea in my head while driving home from work. I had pretty low expectations for this dish, as I am very picky, and did not really know what to expect, but to my pleasant surprise, this meal was FANTASTIC! I was so happy with my first zoodles result that I have now added a spiralizer to my Amazon cart and am pretty sure spiralized veggies may become a staple in our weekly meals!

Since I had such low expectations, I did not take any photos, but will update this post the next time I make this meal. If you happen to make this healthy dinner before I do, feel free to snap a pic and post it in the comments!

Chicken Sausage & Roasted Tomatoes with Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles)

Ingredients:

• 3 Zucchini (spiralized to make Zoodles)
• 3 Italian Chicken Sausages (sliced & halved)
• 1 pint Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
• ½ Vidalia Onion (diced)
• ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
• ¼ cup Mozzarella Cheese
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 and line baking sheet with aluminum foil, sprayed with cooking spray.
2. Place tomatoes on baking sheet and sprinkle tomatoes with salt, pepper & garlic pepper.
3. Roast tomatoes for 30 mins.
4. Sautee onion over medium-high heat in a dash of olive oil until tender.
5. Add sausages to pan and sauté for 5 minutes, then add roasted tomatoes and stir until well combined. Remove mixture from pan and set aside.
6. Add zoodles to pan and cook for 5-8 minutes, depending on desired tenderness.
7. Combine tomato & sausage mixture with zoodles and stir in parmesan cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top.
8. Reduce heat to low, cover skillet, and cook for 5 minutes.

Tasty Thursday – Paleo Banana Bread

I used to spend hours trying new recipes and then tweaking them to fit my standards. However, now that I have a highly active toddler on my hands, cooking & baking has become more about utilizing a pretty standard rotation of healthy recipes. As much as I want to break out of this stagnant phase, I realize it’s really not that bad, and I have so many other priorities, only so much time, and know these meals/ recipes are healthy, nutritious options for our family. One recipe that, even if I do make time to get creative in the kitchen again, will never change is my Paleo Banana Bread recipe. This recipe is actually one of the few recipes that I never adapted, because it truly is PERFECT Paleo Banana Bread! Full credit for recipe and picture goes to Peanut Butter Runner!

Ingredients:

• 2 large very ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tbs maple syrup
• 2 tbs melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¾ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3. In a small bowl, mix together mashed bananas, eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla until very well combined.
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry and gently mix together until combined. Do not overmix.
5. Pour batter in prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until set in the center and a toothpick comes out clean.

Baked Eggplant Parm

Looking for a dish that is healthy and will impress a group….this baked eggplant parm will definitely fit the bill. Pair this veggie-friendly main course with a crisp garden salad, fresh loaf of whole grain bread and you have the perfect meal for a large family gathering!