Low carb "pasta" with chicken

Ok, ok, I know the title says low carb pasta....but that is a little bit of a stretch :-)

It is actually spaghetti squash, not real pasta that we are talking about here, but for those of "Us" who decided (stupidly?) to start the year off right, it's the closest thing we are going to get to real pasta for a long time!

Looks pretty good, though, huh!  It is my take on a very popular pinterest recipe floating out there from the skinnytaste.com blog....check her stuff out if you havent before, lots of great recipes!
Her recipe called for tomato sauce, and lots of it, which according to my new diet is a no-no...at least in the first few weeks.  So I tweaked it a little to make it more low carb friendly, and it is still delish!  And easy! 

*  First you cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast it at 350 for about an hour.  
* While the squash is roasting cube about 1lb chicken beast and season with salt, pepper, oregano, and a small dash of red pepper flakes.  
* Add 1-2 tbs EVOO and 1 clove diced garlic to a sauté pan and cook over medium heat for about a minute.  Add chicken and sauté until almost cooked through.  Then add 1 can petite diced tomatoes (or about 1 large tomato, diced) and continue cooking until chicken is done.  Set aside.
* When the spaghetti squash is tender and the skin has softened remove it from the oven ad "fluff" the strands with a fork to loosen them up.  Then fill each one with half of the chicken and tomato mixture and top each with 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.

* Return to oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted, then chow down!

Note to self:  I really have to start remembering to take a picture on my plate before I start eating, but I seriously couldn't help myself with this one!

Miss independent

Oooohhhh, the give and take, back and forth of my wee little ones growing up!  In so many ways (at 2 and 4) they are truly big girls now!  Little G has been picking out her own clothes and getting dressed on her own for a while now, and my Livy-Lou is now putting her socks and shoes on all by herself!  They are little miss independents for sure.  I, on the other hand, could still be considered a control freak!  :-)  
Trying to find a balance between giving them space to grow and feel like big kids, with keeping them safe and my house clean-ish led me to create the snack bucket.  Every afternoon after rest time the girls can pick put their own snacks, all by their big girl selves!  

The best part is....well there's lots of best parts to this... but I get to pre-select and portion out the snacks, thereby keeping it healthy!  It only takes a few extra minutes after unpacking the grocery bags, and pretty soon I think I will have a helper or two :-)

All you need is a medium sized Tupperware bin (ours has a lid, not that it ever gets put back on!), some yummy snacks, and sme snack sized ziplock baggies.

When you are finished unpacking the groceries just keep that box of crackers or bag of pirates booty that you would have put in the cabinet out on your counter.  Open up several ziplock baggies, and scoop/pour out snack sized portions into each bag.  We have even made custom "trail mix" baggies by mixing up snacks!  Then zip 'em shut and place into the Tupperware container.....voila....that's how easy it is!
Now if only I could come up with a dinner bucket............