Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

I have never tried Spaghetti squash.  It's so cool!! Cooking it this way it wasn't mushy at all, it had a perfect texture. It does have a different texture than actual spaghetti noodles, but it came pretty close!

I was happy with the turnout.

My kids ate this!! They could tell it was a little different, but they still ate it.  My husband new something was up... :) and he wasn't too sure about it, but he ate it.  He's not good at trying new things especially if it has to do with vegetables.  If it's any sort of veggie he doesn't like he will automatically think it's gross without trying it.  So, he took a couple bites and then asked what it was and I told him.  He then was kind of mad :) and didn't want to eat it, but he did! :) Oh goodness!! What am I going to do with him? 

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs
1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half and seeds removed

Sauce:
2 tbs coconut oil
1 1/2 cups diced white onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups strained tomatoes or tomato sauce (I used tomato sauce...read labels and make sure no sugar or crazy ingredients added, I ended up getting a kroger brand)
3 heaping TBS tomato paste (look at labels)
1 TBS dried basil
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt

Meatballs:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground pork (I used ground turkey)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 TBS dried basil
1/2 TBS dried oregano
2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1. Preheat the oven to 4502. In a large baking dish, place the squash cut side down and add 2 inches of water. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the insides of the squash can easily be removed with a fork.
3. Meanwhile, while your squash is baking start your sauce.  In a large stockpot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat and saute the onions until translucent.
4.  Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two or just until the garlic is fragrant.
5.  Add the strained tomatoes (or tomato sauce) and tomato paste and mix well.
6. Add the remaining spices, bring the sauce to a simmer, and turn heat down to low.
7. Use your hands to mix the spices in the ground beef and pork.
8.  Form the meat mixture into small golf ball-size meatballs and drop these gently into the simmering tomato sauce.
9. Once all the meatballs are in the sauce, cook for 10 minutes or until the meatballs are no longer pink in the middle. (next time I might try cooking the meatballs in a seperate pan for a little bit and then add them to the sauce)
10.  Scrape the insides of the cooked spaghetti squash out with a fork (it's so cool that it comes out like spaghetti) and serve topped with the meatballs and sauce.

Whole 30- Week 2 {take 2}

 Since starting my 2nd Whole30 I never had to go through any of the symptoms really like I did the first time around like the brain fog and hypoglycemic symptoms. I think my body had pretty much gotten rid of the junk and since I started right back up the next day it wasn't bad at all besides the one day after my slip up. I still don't have the energy like I want.  I'm just marking the whole month of May as my 30. So, today would be considered Day 14 (just ending week 2 and heading into week 3...wow it's gone fast).  I'm hoping the energy and good sleep will come. I don't feel refreshed like they say should happen yet.  But, I do feel healthier and good otherwise. I can see changes in my body and my clothes are loose. The most important thing to me is being healthy on the inside and being able to fuel my workouts. But seeing the good changes in my body is Awesome because it is also leading me toward my goals of being more toned, etc. I am able to do my workouts in the morning but the rest of the day I do still feel tired. 

I did get sick last Saturday from a bug that my kids have had and I really haven't felt good since then. :( Hopefully it all passes and I can get back to normal. Boo for the sickies!! But, oh well..it happens.

I'm proud of myself for making it through "Mothers Day" and some other activities and family get togethers and still staying comliant. 

These are a few things I had this week. Pretty basic...maybe this next week I'll revamp my meals a little bit more....or not. I don't mind keeping it simple and repeating some things.  I also made a few more treats this week :) Sometimes making treats can lead to wanting more treats....maybe that's what happened this week, I did make more "treats" than usual. But, still all approved and healthy ingredients. 

I'm having a lot more sweet potatoes in the morning and instead of just dicing them up and frying them I've also started to like them baked (or microwaved- usually what happens since I want to be fast in the morning).
I like them with clarified butter and cinnamon.  When I ran out of my homemade clarified butter I tried coconut manna on them and cinnamon.  I could eat anything with coconut manna on it...haha.  So good!! A little dry, but good!

I saw a Plantain...banana thing at the store and bought one.  I sliced it up and fried it in coconut oil then put coconut manna, cinnamon and coconut flakes on top.  It was pretty good.  I probably won't make it again, but it was good to try.

One of my favorite things lately is the "Naked burger." This time I grilled up some sweet red and orange peppers in olive oil & salt/pepper and added it to my Hamburger along with a little avacado, pickles and lettuce.  So Good!! I love this!!

Then, You might have seen my Homemade Cookie Dough Icecream.  It was good and a fun thing to have on a Friday Night with my Girls.
Maybe I'll try not to have too many treats this week though. :)
***
I have a busy week wrapping up my last music classes for the School year and getting ready for my Recital this week, then it's off to a music training along with a little getaway with the hubby for our anniversary.  Hopefully the sickies completely go away. After that it's study, study, study for my PT certification!! Yay!! I have a lot more studying to do and a little amount of time.

"Conscious Box" Winner!!

We have a Winner!!! Thank you to those who entered, you all had a great chance of winning!

I have another giveaway coming real soon, so stay on the look out. {it's one of my favorite things these days} 

I Love great companies who allow me to do giveaways for my fans and readers.  Thank you again "Conscious Box."

If you have not checked them out please do.  I will be doing a review of the "Conscious Box" soon as well.

Okay....now on with it!!

The Winner of her very own box of goodies, chosen by Random.org is

......................................................................................................................................................................................................

JAMIE WAKEFIELD

What a fun belated Mothers day gift! :)

{please email me at sparklesandbugs@hotmail.com so I know you received this and to confirm your mailing address with me so your winnings can be mailed out to you!}

A big thanks to those that entered! Stay on the look out for my next giveaway!

Banana Ice cream + Homemade Larabars = Healthy cookie dough Ice cream!

So, boys were out on a Fathers and Sons adventure and it was just the girls and I left to hang out! We had a fun time just hanging out together.  We played outside and also had some girl talk. :) We had some dinner and then went to a nearby field and played a little soccer and then we played kickball.  Uhhhh.....next time remind me to just put my tennis shoes on.  I was wearing flip flops....duh Mom! :) Anyway, not easy to kick and run on the dirt with flip flops! But, we had a fun time! Love my girls!

We came home and since I had made my own Larabars and Almond butter.  I whipped up some Healthy Banana Ice Cream w/ Almond butter and added some broken up Larabars in.  Yummy "Cookie Dough" Ice cream.  I thought it sounded like a yummy mixture and Yes! It hit the spot! Give it a try!

Homemade Larabars

I LOVE Larabars.  They have only real ingredients.  Love it! If you haven't tried a Larabar you need to try one.  They have been my go to snack when I'm in a bind.  They are grain free, sugar free...and so good! They are Whole30 approved....most of them anyway.  {If you are doing Whole30 you have to read the ingredients to make sure.  And you shouldn't have them all the time on Whole30 because it can lead to too much snacking. They recommend keeping one in your purse just for emergencies when you need something to eat now.}  

Anyway, back to Larabars....Yum! {I have an amazing giveaway coming very soon too....hint, hint}

They are a great company!

Since I ran out of my Larabars and I like to experiment :) I decided I wanted to try to make my own.

Mine don't look that pretty...but they turned out great!! And they are super easy and fast to make.

Check out these links for easy instructions and recipes to try:

(theres look much prettier than mine...haha)

Cashew Cookie Larabar

Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar

Apple Pie Larabar

Pecan Pie Larabar

Coconut Cream Larabar

These all sound like yummy combinations.  I may be making some more tomorrow :)

For the ones I made above I used

12 dates 

(I used "Deglect Noor" Dates, "Medjool" is supposed to be best to use, but they were more expensive :) I found them in the fridge section of a health food store.)

about 1/2 cup pecans 

about 1/2 cup almonds

small handful of unsweetened coconut flakes

I first added the almonds and pecans in my food processor and grinded until fine, then poured them out into a bowl and added the dates and grinded them for a minute or so until in smaller pieces. I then re-added the nut mixture back in and processed them together along with a handful of coconut flakes.  Since I used the "deglect noor" dates and they must not be as sticky, I added a couple TBS of warm water to the mixture.  Mixed them together until it looked good and took the mixture out and shaped into squares.  I didn't make that much because I was experimenting and didn't know how it would turn out.  I probably could have added a bit more than a full cup of nuts. But, they taste yummy!! Turned out great! You can roll them into balls, make them into squares or round them out like a cookie. Put them in the fridge for a while to set up a little more and store any leftovers in the fridge. So good! I will definitely be making some more soon!

Homemade Almond Butter

Lately I LOVE almond butter.  I remember when we started buying almond butter for my oldest daughter because she's allergic to peanuts.  I seriously thought "this doesn't even sound good!" I'm such a Peanut Butter girl.  But, I've really started to Love it over the last few months.  I buy the "kettle brand" creamy almond butter at my local Smiths store.  It is so creamy and easy to spread.  I love it.  The only ingredients in the Kettle brand is almond and salt. We don't have a health food store near by so I'm sure in other places there are more options too. But Yay! Kettle brand is Perfect and clean! But, why does the healthy stuff have to be so much more expensive? Grrr...Anyway, I eat it with apples about every day! So, I figured I would try to make my own.  

At first I tried it and used my Vitamix blender.  It didn't really come out creamy like I had hoped.  Then, I found THIS recipe and said that actually using a food processor for this is way better than using a Vitamix.  You have to let it grind for quite a while 15-20 minutes or so and then it finally becomes creamy. So, that is quite long for the Vitamix.  Food processor Here I come!

In some of the comments on the link it says that roasting the almonds for a bit first will help make the process quicker.  I just threw in raw almonds.  I stopped it to scrape the sides every once in a while and about 15 minutes later I had yummy almond butter!! 

The Kettle brand is easy to spread even after it sits in the fridge, so I'm anxious to see how this homemade kind works out.  It tastes yummy though and it's nice and smooth.  Success!! This is great in recipes too.

Healthy Banana Icecream

I've made my own Healthy Banana Icecream for over a year now.  Everytime my bananas start to get brown spots I un peel them, slice them up and put them in a ziploc baggie and throw them in the freezer.  When you are ready for a treat all you do is.....

 Put the frozen bananas in a blender or food processer.  Blend, blend, blend...stop the blender and scrape the sides a couple times.  Keep blending...pretty soon the bananas will start to get a creamy, ice cream texture!! (You can also add a tiny bit of almond milk if you like) Yay!! Banana Icecream.  It's that easy. You can then add a bit of Peanut Butter or Almond Butter.  There are many add in options or just eat it plain.

Some yummy things to add may be:

Cocoa

Peanut Butter

Almond Butter

Frozen berries

Honey

Pure Maple Syrup

Coconut

Slivered almonds or Pecans pieces

Maybe not all these things at the same time :) 

What are some things you might add?

Since I'm currenty doing the Whole30 and eating pretty much Paleo lately I just add a little almond butter and maybe some coconut flakes on top. Yummy!! You aren't really suppose to "Paleofy" things on Whole30, but when I'm in need of a treat this does the trick and its much Healthier than regular icecream.   So, I say it's ok! It gets the kid approved taste test too! That's always a plus!

Lately I've been seeing this recipe go around Pinterest called "Gwyneth Paltrow's Banana Icecream"

Sounds like a yummy combination, when I'm done with Whole30 I may have to give it a try.