Three Things Thursday~2/20/14

 

It is that time again!  I am so excited that our snow is melting, I have finally seen the grass for the first time, I think, this month!  I have to say that Winter is probably my least favorite thing because of the cold and being stuck inside.  I thought that maybe if I listed 3 things that I liked about winter it may leave   for good this year!

1.  I love the snow.  It is one of God’s most beautiful creations in my opinion.  I look at it as God’s winter blanket for the world as it sleeps.  I love the glistening that it does during the day when the sun is out.  I love the fact that snowflakes are like people in the fact that no two are alike.

2.  I love the extra time that the family has together because we slow down in the winter.  There are less things to do (work or play) outside when  the temperature dips and the snow comes.  We watch more movies as a family, or host family game night (electronic or board games it doesn’t matter).

3.  I actually like winter foods more than summer.  That may sound weird especially since I am a fruit and veggies kind of girl over  meat, which says light summer meals to me.  However love cooking those hearty soups and stews for the family.  My crock pot gets used year round but definitely more in the winter.  Maybe it is just knowing that I am providing a good hearty meal for my family I don’t know.  I just like to cook those Winter favorites dishes.

Here are three things that you may or may not have known about me.  Want to join the hop?  Would you like to read what my friends are saying?  Hop on over to   Heidi's Head!

Happy Thursday!

Three Things Thursday~2/13/14

 

It is time for another Three Things Thursday!  I thought with Valentine’s Day being tomorrow I would share three things that I LOVE about my husband.  It won’t be easy finding 3 but I will try really hard.  Okay, I am just kidding about that because if it was that hard I would pick a different topic .  It will be hard to narrow it down to just three and these are not in any particular order at all.  However, here goes…

    1.  I love his pride in his work and his work ethics.  When my husband does a job/project he doesn’t do anything small or half way.  He only wants to do things one time so he does it right the first time.  He takes great pride in his family and works hard for us in everything he does.

  2.  I love his sense of humor.  When he is not working he does have a lighter side. He makes the kiddos and I laugh pretty much daily.  He plays pranks, jokes and does little things that bring smiles to us all the time.  Being married to him for 16 years I have gotten him a few times back now.   

3.  I love the fact that he was my bestest (that may not be a real Webster’s approved word but I like it)   friend in the whole wide world long before we got married.  He has been a part of my live for over half of it(since I met him in grade school)!

 

There you have it!  This is just a very short list (hence Three Things Thursday) of things I love about my husband.

 

Check out what my friend Heidi has to say this week here!  You can also check out what my other friends are saying who have linked up to the hop! 

You can also join Three Things Thursdays!

Happy Thursday!

Spaghetti Squash~A New Favorite Food

  Are you looking for a healthy alternative to pasta?  Do you need to cut your carb intake?  Do you have Celiac disease?  Maybe you don’t need to change anything in your diet however, you  just like to try new foods.  Whatever category you feel you fit in I wanted to share with you my recent find.  Spaghetti Squash!  Over the years I had heard of it, however never tried it.  I love pumpkin, though and zucchini is grown in our garden every year!  I have started on a journey to go gluten free and more maybe rawish, if that is a word.  I haven’t eaten meat in almost 3 years and I feel better from that.  I haven’t been diagnosed with Celiac but have some the same issues as people with it  and figure it can’t hurt, right?  What is bad about eating more healthy?  A few weeks ago we went to my sister’s for dinner.  I suggested spaghetti and meatballs because it is an inexpensive dish for larger crowds (2 hubbies and 3 teenagers plus the rest of us is a lot of food).    My sister said that she was going to have spaghetti squash also.  I thought this would be a good time to try it.  If I don’t like it the rest wont be a waste of money as I throw it to the chickens.  It was delicious!  I had to add it to my favorite foods list!  It is also versatile as you will see. 

         So here goes my scoop on this squash.  First you want to pick a good squash.  Your squash should feel heavy for its size.  They should be about 4 lbs.   Here is mine with the holes pierced for cooking. 

Second, is storing it.  You can store your squash your squash in the fridge however due to the moisture in there it will deteriorate faster.  The best place to store it is on the counter, or in the pantry.  If you happen to purchase one that is green you can put it in the sun to let it ripen.  If you  store the squash between 50 and 60  degrees it will keep for several months!

Third, cook it!  You can cook this a couple of ways.  The easiest is to pierce it a few times and cook it whole in the oven for about an hour at 375 degrees. You can even put it in the microwave whole for about 15 minutes.  I haven’t tried this as I prefer the oven over the microwave.  If you cut it into chunks it will cook skin side up in about 20-30 minutes.  You do have to use some muscles to cut it and to get the seeds out, when it is raw.

Fourth, prepare to eat.  Once the squash is out of the oven and on a cutting board you are ready to scrape out the strands.  Check out how the strands have pulled from the skin.

  Check out the “spaghetti strands”!  I have to say I was surprised when it really did look like actual pasta!

You are going to completely scrape all  the strands out, which practically fall out of the skin!

 

It mostly all came out.

Now to eat.  You can dress this with a pasta sauce, a bit of butter or olive oil, or as I did,  sauté (in olive oil) green peppers and onions then tossed with the squash.  I have also scrambled eggs and made the squash, eggs and peppers.  Lastly, I sautéed it will broccoli and black eyed peas.  This wasn’t my favorite because of the peas. I love black eyed peas, just not with this.   I have to say that my favorite was the squash with farm fresh eggs and peppers!

  I think the squash has a slightly sweet smell and a light taste.  My kiddos wanted to give it a try and their response was that it didn’t taste like anything with out sauce on it.    It is very filling and with only 27 calories, compared to the 158 in pasta it is the lighter alternative.    This is definitely going to be a staple in my house from now on! 

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Three Things Thursday~2/6/14

  
  Here we are again for Three Things Thursday!  I can’t believe that the week has passed!  We have been so busy I guess that it has  just flown by.   Here at Clubb Academy we haven’t had any snow days nor do we have to do any blizzard bags as some of the brick and mortar school have to.  I have to say that we have been cooped up with the unusually cold weather here, so I thought that I would share three things that I dislike about winter that you may or may not know about me.  So here goes:

1)   I dislike being cold and the cold temperatures.  I am tired of wearing 2 shirts,  pair of sweatpants and really thick socks around my house ( and it is 68 degrees not artic in here).  I switched my hot chocolate drinking to hot lemon water.  With as much hot chocolate as we have been drinking around here we may have to roll out of the house in the spring!

2)  I dislike the ice and snow on the roads and in my trees.  I am hoping that we don’t loose any trees this year with the ice pulling our evergreen branches to the ground.  It looks as if they are very sad under the weight of the ice and snow.  I feel trapped in my house because I don’t drive when the roads are bad.  I have tried it a couple of times and it hasn’t resulted in anything good and it usually adds a tow bill somewhere.  I figured I could spare that if I just stayed home.

3)   I dislike having to go out several times a day to change out the water for the animals.  I am grateful for the electric heaters we have for the dogs and the chickens.  How did anyone get along with out them?  We do not have heated rabbit water bottles so we have to switch them out a couple of  times a day.
     So there you have 3 things I dislike about winter!  I hope you enjoyed.  If you would like to join Three Things Thursday or check out what others are saying hop on over to Heidi’s Head by clicking here!