Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash 

1 pound ground sausage - I use mild

2 small bags of frozen mixed vegetables - I use the one with zucchini, lima beans, green beans, carrots, and stuff in it

1 jar or can of spaghetti sauce

few cloves of fresh garlic minced or pressed

pepper - to taste

kosher salt - to taste

1 tsp. rosemary

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 medium onion

1 medium green pepper

I would like to say this is all an estimate as I don't actually measure but the family loves this. 

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and remove the seeds.  Place in a pan with about 1/2 inch of water in bottom.  I put the squash in sliced side down.  Cook until it can be easily poked with a fork.  Let cool till you can handle it. Use fork to scrap out squash.

In a 2 quart pot. Brown the sausage with the onion and green pepper.  Drain any grease.  Reduce heat and add frozen veggies.  When veggies have heated through add spaghetti sauce and seasonings.  Let simmer on low for a bit.  Add cheese and squash.  Let simmer some more.  Serve hot.

Food and Family

A few months ago I decided our family was not eating very well and decided to change it.  See what happens when you start reading things on the web.  At first I tried to make all the changes at once.  As you probably know it was a huge failure with much moaning and gnashing of teeth.  Then I decided that I would do it in steps.  First thing I did was get everyone use to eating whole grain breads.  When they started eating that without complaint, I switched our vegetables from canned to fresh or frozen.  I try to get all fresh but sometimes your selection is dictated by season so then I use frozen.  This has done pretty well.  I knew we were ready to move to our next change when I bought a can of peas out of laziness for Sunday lunch.  The kids took a bite and the complaints ensued.  Mom what did you do to the peas they taste gross,  eeewwww do I have to eat them and so on.

I had already switched our meat.  I try to buy the all natural stuff, the hormone free, and so on.  That stuff is expensive, so I always scour the meat section every time I go into the store looking for reduced meat.  I know its not fresh but at least it is affordable.  I don't think the kids even noticed this change at all.  I've also been more selective on other things I buy trying to avoid MSG.  Believe it or not I have noticed a difference in some of my children's behavior by eliminating this and I can tell when they have gotten some of it.  It takes more effort on my part in the grocery store but oh how much easier it makes my everyday life with the kids.

Now I've been eliminating pastas and potatoes and upping the veggie intake.  I still serve sweet potatoes on occasion.  We've been doing this for a few weeks now and it really is going well.  I was afraid they wouldn't be full and whining about it.  That hasn't really happened though.  I do make an effort to not cook two vegetables of the same color for dinner.  I don't know why but it seems to make a difference in the whine factor.  I've cooked two vegetables of the same color a couple of nights and they whined like I was torturing them.  Weird how things work sometimes.