I have spaghetti squash growing out of my ears.

I simply am unable to eat the amount of spaghetti squash that I have. It's kind of a problem.

On the bright side, I am coming up with lots of new ideas to use it, so if I ever do buy a spaghetti squash again (which will not be for quite a long time) I won't have to look up recipes!

This week has been a salad week. No, I'm not trying to diet or anything. I just really like spinach salads. So I integrated my lovely spaghetti squash into a salad for dinner today. I made a southwest style spaghetti squash salad. Talk about a versatile vegetable--spaghetti squash can become anything you want it to be!

Ingredients:

• fresh spinach
• spaghetti squash
• olives
• red beans (pinto or black also work)
• cucumber
• tomato
• green bell pepper

I still had to cook the leftover 1/4 of the squash, so I readied the other ingredients in the meantime. Then I dumped a LOT of spaghetti squash into the salad.

I still have a lot left over. Seriously, it's growing out of my ears.

Anyway, I made a dressing by mixing cumin and lemon juice.

I mixed this and some balsamic vinaigrette into the salad. Mmm....refreshing!!! Oh spaghetti squash, you never let me down.

Move Over, McDonalds!

I think this is the best Tulika-fied version of a junk food favorite so far.

Spaghetti Squash Hash Browns

It tastes so unhealthy, it's ridiculous. And you don't miss the potato.

I wasn't planning on cooking today. However, I couldn't help but do some more research on spaghetti squash, and I came across some really interesting ideas. One of which was spaghetti squash hash browns. I decided to try it right away. 

Ingredients:

• spaghetti squash
• flour (I used whole wheat, of course)
• grated parmesan 
• olive oil
• salt/pepper

I had two quarters of my massive spaghetti squash left. I used one quarter. I hadn't cooked it yet, and this time instead of baking it, I thought I'd cook it in the microwave. (Cover the squash in plastic wrap with some holes, put it on a plate with some water, and heat for 10 minutes). This was much faster and it was a lot easier to scrape out the "spaghetti" afterwards in comparison to baking! 

I mixed less than 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour, and 1/8 cup of parmesan with the spaghetti. (Again, these are my arbitrary amounts). 

I then put one tablespoon of olive oil on a skillet, turned the stove on medium heat, and immediately scooped some "batter" onto the skillet.

This one was too thick, so I ended up flattening it out. It also cooked faster after being flattened.

Sprinkle a little salt/pepper on top, and it's good to go!

So CRISPY!

A sneak peek at Tulika's kickboxing class!

But before that, I'd just like to mention a few things.

First, today I got to actually eat lunch at home. It was delightful. I made a salad consisting of fresh spinach, baby carrots, cucumbers, beets, tomatoes, olives, oranges, and green peppers. The dressing was a simple combination of olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, and parmesan.

I ate this with a bowl of TJ's Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup. Such a good combination! And healthy, too.

I decided to record 2 minutes of my kickboxing class today, and Liana graciously volunteered to help me out with this! However, my camera, being 8 years old, was not meant to do any such video recording. So the picture quality is not the best. Additionally, for some reason, having that camera out not only freaked me out (you'll notice when I say "JUST KIDDING" in the middle of it) but it freaked out all 20 girls in the class so much that they moved all the way to the back of the room so that they wouldn't be in the video. Woops.

Another side note, this is the fastest, most intense part of the class, and it's called Turbo. Don't worry, the class is given a quick run through of all the moves before we start the music. Otherwise they'd all be scared away/think I'm crazy.

Without further ado...

(if you're unable to see it here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ims-QVoLL1I)

A no-carb delight!

Today has been one of the most productive days I have had, complete with cooking/preparing the week's meals, doing a freaking intense kickboxing class (thanks, Liana, for almost killing me today!!!), and of course lots of studying!

It's a new week: spaghetti squash week! I didn't know this vegetable even existed until my dear friend Pooja (who has inspired me with all kinds of recipes already) suggested I make something with it. I found it at Sunflower Market today, and decided to get the biggest one. Little did I know how much "spaghetti" it actually contains.

Massive vegetable.

Today, I decided to make baked spaghetti squash, lasagna style. First, I had to cut this thing. There was no way I could cut it lengthwise, so I cut it in half. 

It may not look that big, but it took so much out of me to cut this squash that not only was my arm about to fall off, I was actually sweating.

Aftermath of squash cutting. Defeated.

However, the show must go on.

The show in this case = cooking.

I saved one half, and cut the other half in half again. I baked the two quarters in the oven at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

While this was in the oven, I started on the sauce. First, I lightly sprayed the skillet with some Pam and threw in some minced garlic. (This is also where you would put in the onions).

After the garlic became a golden brown, I added one can of stewed tomatoes and one cup of vegetable broth. To season, I added basil and black pepper.

I let that simmer for ~15 minutes.

When the squash came out of the oven, I started scraping the inside of it with a fork. I had NO idea that this squash contained so much "spaghetti." It was seriously a lot.

This picture doesn't even do justice to the actual amount of spaghetti that was piled on there.

I Pam sprayed a baking dish, and added a layer of sauce. Then I added a layer of the spaghetti, some olives, and mozzarella on top. Then I added another layer of sauce, another layer of spaghetti, more olives, more mozzarella, and topped it with a little bit of parmesan.

I put that in the oven for ~20 minutes.

Topped it with some crushed red pepper before eating it. This is more filling than you would imagine!!!

While all of this was going on, I decided to try a little experiment. I've heard a lot of good things about chia seeds. So while I was at Sunflower, I picked some up. I was wary about it, so I got very little.

I added one teaspoon of seeds to a cup of water and then put it in the fridge.

After awhile, I took it out of the fridge and stirred. The seeds had become a gelatinous substance.

And then I drank it. It was oddly refreshing. And the texture of this gelatinous substance was intriguing. I then made myself another glass of it. Apparently it's good for hydration and has all sorts of other health benefits! I think I'll need to make another trip to Sunflower soon.

More from the South.

There's nothing like coming home to an apartment that smells like your delicious dinner, just waiting for you to eat it!

But before I elaborate further on today's dinner, I need to catch up on yesterday's delicious creation.

My illness has gotten better. Well, besides the fact that I'm almost losing my voice (which is always a plus!). So yesterday, I decided to try and work out at the rec. Afterwards, I wanted a snack, so I thought I'd try Heather's flourless crepe recipe, which consists of eggs and baking powder. But then I realized I didn't have baking powder. So instead of making a flourless crepe, I made a whole wheat crepe.

As usual, I was experimenting with amounts, so I have no idea what the proportions are. All I know is that I used whole wheat flour, egg whites, and a teaspoon of oil, and that I added enough egg whites to make sure the batter wasn't too watery, but not too thick either.

I put a small amount of batter in a skillet over medium heat.

Covered the skillet for 3-5 minutes. And...it was done!

I put spinach and 2% mozzarella cheese on this one.

I had just enough batter to make another small one. So I put my homemade coconut butter and homemade fudge on that one!

After it melted, it was like Nutella, but better!

To finish off okra week, I decided to do another southern (US) classic: gumbo. There are several variations to this dish, but I chose to make Vegetarian Okra Gumbo, crock pot style. I also strayed a little bit from the real recipe by not using onions and by adding mushrooms instead.

There are two steps to this recipe.

Step 1 Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 clove garlic
• celery
• bell pepper (the recipe calls for green, but I used red)
• green chili (optional)

All of these ingredients go into the crock pot for 3-4 hours.

Step 2 Ingredients:

• okra (lots!)
• 2 tomatoes
• corn
• mushrooms
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• basil
• salt/pepper
• hot sauce

After these were added, I let the crockpot do its thing for another 3 hours.

This smelled deeelicious. I ate it right away. It's actually supposed to be eaten with rice, but since I still am kind of sick, and I hadn't eaten any soup all week, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to eat it like a soup!

The "illest" workout.

Literally.

I like to think I'm immune to getting sick. Clearly, that is not the case, as I have seen this week. Despite feeling sick, I've tried to stick to my regular workout routine. That was NOT happening today.

Let me back up just a bit. I HATE medicine. I try to avoid it, despite sickness, pain, or whatever. This morning, I woke up with a sore throat. So I looked up some remedies. I found one that sounded interesting: gargle with hot water, salt, and cayenne pepper.

I don't have cayenne pepper. But I DO have Indian chili powder. I accidentally put too much of that chili powder in my cup of water. Mind you, this was before I'd had a chance to eat breakfast, even before I drank my glass of green tea! So I gargled this stuff. After two times, my mouth was on fire, and whatever had been in my throat before had magically disappeared. The burning in my mouth was really uncomfortable. But that's the price I paid to get rid of my sore throat in ~5 minutes!

And it has not come back all day. MAGIC.

Despite the sore throat clearing, I still felt pretty disgusting all day. And I really just wanted to work out. Cardio was out of the question. Yoga to the rescue!!

I did some research, and there are certain yoga poses that are good when you're feeling sick/have a cold/etc.

Lion pose:

No, this is not a joke. It actually activates the immune glands in your tonsils/lymph nodes and can stop an early sore throat from progressing!

The next poses go together in a series (called Downward Dog Vinyasa). The series should be repeated 5-8 times. Trust me, you'll feel like you DID get a cardio workout by the end of it! 

Start with downward dog:

Then go into plank:

To cobra/upward dog:

And then back up to plank, downward dog, and repeat.

//Side note: I used to choose running/elliptical/other cardio workouts over yoga. But I found that yoga is actually a really good work out, makes you sweat, AND builds muscle.

Check this out: plank to chaturanga (basically a tricep pushup):

And that is how I can now do >15 push-ups in a row no problem! Go yoga!!! End side note.//

Pigeon pose:

I guess this is just a good stretch in general.

That was a challenge. I'm not very flexible.

The next two poses are commonly known for immunity.

Bow pose:

This specific pose puts pressure on the stomach, which increases blood flow to that area, which strengthens the digestive system. The digestive system is full of immune cells, so this boosts overall immunity!

Shoulder stand:

This pose puts pressure on the thyroid gland, which is at the base of the throat. This stimulates the endocrine system which works with the immune system to help the body fight invaders.

I would not recommend following my pictures if you have never tried these poses before. I am NOT a yoga expert whatsoever! (But if you are interested, I personally know some. Er, one. My mom!)

Well, I must say I feel immensely better after that much needed workout!!! 

Pilaf? Pilau? Pulao?

Okra week continues.

I didn't realize that okra is really popular in the south. I found some interesting uses for okra (mostly fried) but I came across something called pilaf. This is apparently different from pilau, which is completely different from pulao.

I am still in confusion over this. But despite the confusion, I somehow ended up making a dish that combined all three of these! It's a sort of southern/Cajun/Indian confused dish. But it tastes good. And it's easy. And healthy.

I started off heating some coconut oil (YES, I finally bought some!) and threw in some mustard seeds, cumin seeds, garlic, and green chilis.

Then I added the following: corn, okra, celery, red bell peppers, and seitan. Then I added some olive oil, salt, cumin-corriander powder, and turmeric. I let it sit, covered, for 5-10 minutes.

This could be eaten with a chapatti, tortilla, bread, or whatever. But I, of course, chose the quinoa route.

Nice and fluffy!!!

So I combined the two and ate it with a side of yogurt (nonfat Greek!).

That is one DENSE meal.