Lauren meets.... the 'fun' squash

Fun squash, that is exactly what the sticker on the outside of the spaghetti squash claimed. And look how happy the cartoon looks... she's having all kinds of fun. Did I have fun? you betcha. Partly because I was elated to have narrowly escaped yet another car tragedy by getting home from work in once piece before the ice storm really hit. AND listen to how wonderful my bestie is, she SAVED a highly coveted garage parking place for me for when i got home. Isn't she wonderful? Emily, you complete me. I split the squash in 2 and cut out the seeds.

1. 1) WAY easier than cutting into butternut squash or acorn squash which completely put up a fight. It could be because this squash was kind of old? eh? what do i know.
2. 2) I felt like i was seeding a pumpkin.. which i haven't done since i was little (or so it seems) but the seeds looked exactly the same and the stringy gooey innards looked similar just more yellowish. ew. innards.

Then I put the two sides down in a baking dish with a bit of water for 45 minutes at 350. Getting the strings out really is as easy and delightfully messy as it looks/seems/sounds. Because I had semi already eaten (baked sweet potato and carrots with laughing cow to watch during the news), this was a perfect 2nd course hour later follow up. I put some fresh grated parm, a little earth balance margarine and a few snips of rosemary. holy rosemary. a little goes a long way.

the verdict? delicious! It was all i could do to resist eating the entire thing... so I would have some to eat for lunch today at the office with my leftover chili (to up my veggie intake for the day). While I was eating I shopped around for new pre-primetime shows to watch with the additional to channels i receive since i upgraded my bunny ears to basic cable. I get the style network and Topanga (yes from boy meets world) was trying to host a show just like the Soup. Joel Mchale she is not, it was not hilarious. Seriously, mildly funny at best (i was ready to gear myself up for some hilarious 30rock and office later in the evening) Maybe I'm just not used to seeing her without hair down to the floor and wearing all kinds of crazy 90s outfits that made me want to wear 10 headbands and stir up pants every day.

..... anyway, this morning I woke up extra early to make a big breakfast. Oats are everything to everyone in the food blog world it seems, so I decided to throw something together a la kath and try a warm and seasonal concoction that would surely blow my mind.. right?

I used a cup of oats made with water and silk, 1 mashed banana, 2 heaping spoonfuls of canned pumpkin, 2 spoonfuls of yogurt and some almond butter. the verdict? not my everything. It was good, and filling and different (and obviously easy.. a requirement for this girl). But I thought it needed more pizzaz.

In other news it seems I did NOT lose the contents of my refrigerator to the power outage! However I did use the opportunity to go through the fridge and throw out any questionable looking items. It is now clean and ready for new and fabulous homemade dishes to be filling its empty shelves.... juuuuust in time for the weekend :)

This weekend is going to be a bit more tame than last, which is good for my liver, wallet and sanity. I have some functions that will serve as a bit of a re-entry into the now boyfriend formerly ex boyfriends life. Also I might get to see my parents saturday for lunch (two weekends in a row! AND..... in just days I will get to pick my brother up from the airport and officially kick this holiday off (whoop whoop)!

Have a fabulous weekend peeps :)