Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Do you ever see a beautiful photo of food and want to make that dish? That happened to me when I saw Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole with Pastured Bacon, Garlic and Sage (Dairy Free) on Foodgawker posted by Jody Engstrom from her blog, Living Nutrition. It made me think of the Japanese word "oishisou" (that looks delicious). Go ahead, click through to her post and see what I mean. Doesn't that look delicious?!

I've had a spaghetti squash sitting in a wire basket in my kitchen for about...ah...two months. They last a long time. When I saw the photo--that's when I finally decided what I was going to make with it. It's a simple recipe, doesn't have a lot of ingredients--and resist the temptation to add butter or parmesan cheese--it doesn't need it. Really!

Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

adapted from Jody Engstrom at mylivingnutrition.com

Serves 4-6

1 spaghetti squash, seeded and halved
4-6 slices bacon (Jody uses pastured bacon)
1/2 diced sweet onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds using a spoon, scraping out most of the fine strings.

Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and put into a 400ºF oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the squash is tender.

While the squash is baking, cook the bacon until crispy. I like to chop the bacon first, then fry it. Drain and set aside, reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease to cook the onions and garlic.

This is fresh sage. Remove the leaves and mince enough to measure 1 tablespoon.

I've got sage growing on a mound of dirt in my front yard under my pine tree. Looking at this photo reminds me I need to get out there and clean up my herb garden. I've got paperwhite narcissus growing there amongst the herbs and I've been trying to weed them out--but they keep coming back.

When the squash is tender and it has cooled a bit, scoop the meat of the squash into a large bowl. I first used a fork to separate the strings of the squash to turn them into 'spaghetti'.

This is why they call it spaghetti squash!

This is the coconut milk I bought. I like to have some in the pantry--it comes in handy. I think it's best to find one without a lot of extra added ingredients. This one just listed coconut and water.

Pour the coconut milk into the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well. I added a little more coconut milk to moisten the mixture because I thought it was a little dry, but I think it would be just fine to add a little water since the coconut milk is so rich. No sense in opening another can/box like I did--this time.

Mix well and pour into a baking dish (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) and bake at 400 for 50 min-1 hour, or until browned on top.

I saved a little bit of the bacon to sprinkle on top and so my bacon lovers can add a little bit more to their serving.

I have to say--this dish was delicious! I too, have just had spaghetti squash with marinara--not something I get excited about--but I really liked it in this casserole. Take a look at the other recipes on mylivingnutrition.com. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the breakfast frittata in a jar that I've been wanting to try is from the same website. I'm excited to try something else--there's so much that looks delicious as well as being healthy!

Itadakimasu!

***

When I was making this dish, I thought of my friend Jen, thinking--she's really going to like this! She likes to eat healthy and clean. She has a spaghetti squash recipe she cooks in the crock pot.

Jen's also an athlete. She recently ran a half-marathon!

Remember Jen & Bobby? You saw them in my Takikomi Brown Rice post--they're part of my friend Sue's family.

Last year, at about this time, they were visiting from North Carolina for Rick & Jessica's wedding. Bobby was coaching football at a college there, and now their family is back here living in Southern California. We're all happy to have them back! 

Look how much Payton & Avery have grown!

Now Bobby is coaching football and basketball at Victor Valley College. It doesn't seem so long ago that Bobby was playing basketball with my son Rick.

Take a lot of pictures--they grow up fast!

***

Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

adapted from Jody Engstrom at mylivingnutrition.com

Serves 4-6

1 spaghetti squash, seeded and halved

4-6 slices bacon (Jody uses pastured bacon)

1/2 diced sweet onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk

1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds using a spoon. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and put into a 400ºF oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the squash is tender.

2. While the squash is baking, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain and set aside, reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease to cook the onions and garlic. Cook the onions and garlic until translucent.

3. Chop bacon and set aside. (Omit if you chopped your bacon before cooking.)

4. When squash has cooled, using a fork, string the spaghetti squash and put into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

5. Bake at 400ºF for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until browned on top.

Stuffed Jalapeño and Sweet Peppers

Once again, I was inspired by one of Ravenous Couple's photos--this one was Jalapeño Poppers in a Blanket. Check out the photo with the proceeding link--it looks so good, doesn't it? The key to cooking, though, is to make the dish to your taste. I am not a crust/bread lover, so after a couple of attempts making the stuffed peppers with puff pastry and also phyllo dough, I ended up with a topping of panko bread crumbs as my favorite.

 I liked just a bit of crunch on top with the panko bread crumbs.

 This is the stuffed jalapeño with phyllo dough. It was nice and crispy, but I don't have a lot of experience with phyllo sheets and it seemed like a lot of trouble.

I used a smaller piece of puff pastry than Ravenous Couple did in their recipe. Mine may not have puffed thoroughly because I may have stretched it a little while wrapping the peppers. I also added vegetables to the filling--the bacon and cream cheese alone was too rich for me, so I added chopped spinach, water chestnuts, onion and mushrooms to the cream cheese.

Stuffed Jalapeños and Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. jalapeño peppers
1/2 lb. sweet mini peppers
4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1-10 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed
1-8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cups diced mushrooms
4 heads roasted garlic, skins removed

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons melted butter
or
phyllo dough sheets or puff pastry

optional: 1 cup crumbled/grated queso fresco or jalapeño jack cheese

Straight jalapeños with a nice stem work well, although the stem is a little too tough to eat--makes the finished product look pretty, though. The sweet mini peppers work great for those that don't like spicy food. Cut them in half, trying to also cut the stem in half.

For the jalapeños, the seeds and the membranes inside are hot. I wanted a little heat, so I left most of the membrane but removed the seeds. With the sweet mini peppers, I removed all the insides, which left a nice pocket to fill.

If you are feeding vegetarians or simply want to eat lighter, I used a package of Morningstar Farms frozen sausage patties instead of bacon for one batch of stuffed peppers. I thawed the patties, then roughly chopped them and pulsed them in the food processor until they resembled sausage crumbles. My husband, nor my parents, could tell it wasn't meat--the cream cheese makes it rich enough. If you're using bacon, cook, crumble  and set aside.

Whenever I roast garlic, I always make more than the recipe calls for, and keep it in the refrigerator to use in other recipes. Make roasted garlic by cutting the tops off whole heads of garlic, drizzling them with olive oil, wrapping them in foil and bake in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes or until a bit caramelized. Cool, remove skins and set aside.

Saute the diced onions and mushrooms in 2 teaspoons olive oil until wilted, let cool and set aside.

Squeeze the spinach to remove excess water and add to a bowl along with the cooked onions & mushrooms, water chestnuts, softened cream cheese and garlic from 2 cloves of roasted garlic. Add the cooked bacon or sausage. Mix well. Season with freshly ground pepper and a little bit of salt if desired. The filling should be a little on the stiff side, it makes the peppers easier to fill. I think the cream cheese should be more of a binder than the main filler, but make it to your tastes. You can make the recipe a day ahead to this point and refrigerate.

Fill the peppers and add a clove of roasted garlic to each one.

Then add your topping--buttered panko bread crumbs, phyllo dough (if you don't like the richness of using butter, use an olive oil spray) or puff pastry (being careful not to stretch the dough). Top phyllo or puff pastry with a little cheese if desired.

If you're using puff pastry, add the cheese in the last 10 minutes of baking--the cheese will brown first and you'll want enough time for the pastry to properly bake--mine looks a little underdone here, but the cheese is nicely browned.

Bake in 400ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until breadcrumbs are lightly browned. It takes about the same amount of baking time for the phyllo or puff pastry too.

Itadakimasu!

***


We haven't had any Rachel pics in awhile--look how she's grown!

This weekend she bonded with her grandpa--he got the biggest smiles!

Gary's fun--he takes Rachel out to the courtyard to play.

 Rachel likes to swing.

She liked the rocking horse.

 Karen's friend Wendy came to visit with her two children.

 This is Colin.

And this is Claire. Claire is a bit of a dare-devil--she took the little rocking horse to the top of the slide and slid down!

 Claire has a lot of energy. I wish I had her energy!

Look! No hands!

 Clair loves roller coasters. Not just little ones, but BIG ones, too! Claire just turned FOUR!

 These two are all smiles!

 Gary tossed the ball and Rachel giggled and giggled.

 No, Gary, those aren't your toys! They belong to a little boy that lives in the courtyard also named Gary! We had a fun morning with Wendy, Claire and Colin. Thank you, Wendy, for coming to visit!

For dinner, Karen and Mitchell made us a gourmet feast! Gordon and Amy joined us for dinner--it's always so nice to see them. Sorry you are out-of-focus, Amy! I am working on my depth-of-field to get better and was unsuccessful here--I should have had Amy go around to the other side and stand between Gordon & Karen so she could be on the same focal plane as the others. Or, I could have closed down the aperture to get a better depth-of-field. I need more practice. You might remember Gordon & Amy from my Cinnamon Rolls Post.

Thank you, Karen, Mitchell, Amy, Gordon--and of course Rachel--for a delicious dinner and a fun weekend!


***

Stuffed Jalapeños and Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. jalapeño peppers

1/2 lb. sweet mini peppers

4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1-10 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed 

1-8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, diced

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cups diced mushrooms

4 heads roasted garlic, skins removed

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons melted butter 

or

phyllo dough sheets or puff pastry

1. Roast garlic by slicing off a bit of the top of each head, drizzling olive oil over the heads, wrapping them in foil and baking in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes or until soft and a little caramelized. Cool and remove skins.

2. Cook bacon strips until crisp, crumble and set aside. 

3. Cook diced onions and mushrooms until wilted, about 10 minutes over medium heat. Cool and set aside.

4. Thaw and squeeze spinach and soften cream cheese. Mix together with onions & mushrooms mixture, bacon and 2 heads of roasted garlic. Season with freshly ground pepper and salt (if desired).

5. Slice peppers in half, remove seeds and membranes (if desired) and stuff.

6. Top with panko breadcrumbs (mixed with melted butter or olive oil), phyllo dough squares or puff pastry.

7. Bake at 400ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until topping is lightly browned and peppers begin to wilt.

Tomato Corn Chowder

Comfort food.

Every family has special recipes they remember their mother making--those dishes that signify all the love and care their mother put into cooking everyday--that's comfort food to me.

This Tomato Corn Chowder is one of those dishes.

In this case, the dish was made by my mother's father--we called him Norwalk Jichan.

When my mother was growing up, it was her father that did all the family's cooking.

Tomato Corn Chowder is his recipe.

Everyone in my family loves Tomato Corn Chowder.

I remember the first time I had it at my sister's house--

"You make this, too!"

I've also heard my brother Warren talk about this dish, I think he makes it too.

Ingredients:

4 cups tomatoes, skins removed and chopped or crushed

2 slices bacon, chopped and fried until crisp

1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped

1 generous teaspoon brown sugar

1 large clove garlic, minced or 1 tablespoon crushed roasted garlic

1 or 2 ears of fresh corn, cut off the cob

 optional:

1 small potato, peeled and diced

chicken or vegetable broth

I think the recipe tastes the best with home grown tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, but I've seen a family member make it with canned tomatoes too.

My mother-in-law gave me a big bag of cherry tomatoes, they worked well in this recipe--I didn't even mind peeling them.

Immerse the tomatoes into boiling water for a few seconds.

The skin will loosen and they will be easy to peel.

Roughly chop or crush the tomatoes and set aside.

Slice 2 slices of bacon thinly.

Fry the bacon until crisp.

Drain fat.

Add 1/2 cup chopped onions.

I'm making triple the recipe, so my quantities will be larger.

Saute until the onions become soft and translucent.

Crush or mash roasted garlic, measure about 1 tablespoon, and add to the pot.

The last time we barbecued, I roasted several heads of garlic, popped them out of the husks and keep them in the refrigerator.

An optional addition--one that my mother doesn't add--is one small diced potato.

Add the potato to the pot and saute for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes.

Cut the corn off the cob.

Scrape the cob with the dull side of your knife--the remaining parts of the kernel will come off onto your knife.

The cob will look perfectly clean, a sign you've gotten all the corn.

Add the corn to the soup.

When the soup starts to boil, skim the foam that appears on the surface and discard.

Simmer gently until the potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If the chowder is too strong, my mom adds a little bit of chicken or vegetable broth, but I didn't add any.

My dad brought over 2 bags of the last of his corn for the summer--along with my mother-in-law's tomatoes, made for some delicious Tomato Corn Chowder.

I'll have to make another batch to share, I'm sure this one will be gone in no time!

Itadakimasu!

***

This is a picture of Norwalk Jichan and four of his children. 

Uncle Kats and Uncle Bill are not pictured.

The baby is David, Uncle Tommy's son, who is now in his thirties, I think.

My mom is on the right.

My mom said she learned how to cook by watching her dad, since he did all the cooking in their family.


I remember it was a long drive to Norwalk, and we knew we were almost there when we'd pass dairies and smell the cows.

While the smell of cows is not exactly a good smell, for me it's not a bad smell since it reminds me of my Norwalk grandparents.


When I was little, we went to Norwalk Jichan's house for the 4th of July.

We had a special spot that we'd light the 'snakes'--fireworks that would expand into long black snakes--they would make a mess and leave dark, black marks on the concrete, year-to-year evidence for us of our get-togethers.

We'd also go to Norwalk in December to make mochi.

I remember Norwalk Bachan's hands could withstand a lot of heat from the mochi--she would portion the mochi with her hands when it was piping hot straight from the machine.

I might have hands like hers--mine can withstand a lot of heat too.


Whenever we would go to visit them, Norwalk Jichan gave us popsicles.

We got to eat a whole one--the kind we had to break in half at home--we knew we were special to be able to get a whole popsicle.

Norwalk Jichan used to call popsicles "Ice Candy".


When I'm a grandma, I'm going to have Ice Candy in my freezer for when my grandchildren come over--just like my mom and just like Norwalk Jichan.


***

Ingredients:

4 cups tomatoes, skins removed and chopped or crushed

2 slices bacon, chopped and fried until crisp

1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped

1 generous teaspoon brown sugar

1 large clove garlic, minced or 1 tablespoon crushed roasted garlic

1 or 2 ears of fresh corn, cut off the cob

 optional:

1 small potato, peeled and diced

chicken or vegetable broth

Remove the skin from the tomatoes, roughly chop or crush them and set aside. Chop and fry bacon until crisp, drain the fat, and saute 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 clove minced garlic or 1 tablespoon mashed roasted garlic and corn cut off the cob. Add optional diced potato and saute until translucent. 

Add crushed tomatoes, a generous teaspoon of brown sugar and bring to boil. Skim foam as necessary. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.