A New Direction

Healthy Eating

Something I am most passionate is nutritional health. Throughout my childhood my mom made it a priority to eat dinner every night as a family. She cooked basically seven days a week. My greatest memories with my mom were watching and helping her prepare dinner. People ask me where I learned to cook so well... honestly I didn't know I was learning. I was just hanging with my mom. The rules of the table still stands as we are grown adults and rules I have carried on into my married life :

YOU EAT WHAT I MAKE YOU, OR YOU GO TO BED HUNGRY

NO PHONES

NO TV

As a young adults we argued these rules more than not. Many important, intellectual, and argumentative conversations were held around the dinner table. As a family they were the uninterrupted moments where we could bond.

As I progress in my own life I have come to love cooking. Eating healthy is habit. Don't get me wrong I love a Cafe Rio salad or Training Table cheese fries, but I love them because they are a treat. Living on my own during my first year of college made me realize that I  needed to fen for myself. That Christmas I asked my mom for one thing.. a cookbook of all of her recipes. I used it all the time and made it feel like a piece of home was with me. I wouldn't always have every ingredient so I would adapt, and change things. Now I have started to create my own healthy dishes.

When you get married you both bring different experiences of life. Jake didn't exactly come with a knowledge of healthy eating, or a liking for vegetables. Being a firefighter he is at higher risk for certain health concerns like heart disease, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease. Not to mention all the other dangers of walking into a burning building. As his wife I would like to do whatever I can to help reduce these risks and keep him here and healthy as long as I possibly can.

I have definitely had to get creative in the kitchen when it comes to veggies, and things that he "thinks" he doesn't like. If he doesn't like a certain food I try to prepare it in different ways. For example: carrots-he hates them raw, but will eat them steamed or roasted. Cauliflower.. is a no go, but if I steam it, puree it, and add it to mashed potatoes you can't even tell it's there. 

As a broke-newlywed-student I want to be able to inspire people that anyone can eat healthy. You don't need to shop at Whole Foods (even though it's heaven in there), you don't have to juice, and you don't need to be an expert in the kitchen.

Veggie Mac & Cheese

1- Spaghetti Squash

1 Package- Frozen Spinach

2 cups- Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 cup- Milk

2 TBS- Flour

2 TBS- Butter

1 -Onion

1 TBS- Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper, and Nutmeg to Taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut ends of spaghetti squash off and cut it long ways in half. Scrap out the insides with a spoon. Olive oil and salt and pepper the insides and place them cut side down on a cookie sheet. Place the squash in the oven for 40 minutes.  Dice the onion. Defrost the spinach. Place spinach in a paper towel and squeeze to drain extra liquid.

Add butter to a large skillet on medium-high heat. Once your skillet is hot add the onion. When the onion is translucent add spinach. Once spinach is warmed through add flour. Stir in flour for a minute or two. Add milk and continue stirring. Bring to a light boil while continuing to stir. Once it is at a boil turn in down to medium/ medium-low and keep stirring. The mixture should become thick. If after bringing it to a boil and turning down heat and it doesn't thicken up add a little bit more flour. If it is too thick you can add more milk. Fold the shredded cheese into the skillet. 

Once your spaghetti squash is done scrap the insides with a fork and it should pull off the sides easily into shreds. Add the squash directly to the cheese mixture and stir together. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. 

Serves 4 People

Suggestions:

For something more hearty you could add grilled chicken on top.

You can substitute spinach with broccoli or any other veggie on hand. You could even puree carrot or cauliflower and add it to the cheese mixture. 

Sometimes I put it in a casserole dish and put Panko bread crumbs on top and keep warm in the oven until Jake gets home.

An easy meal you could make ahead of time and pop in the oven to heat up.

Love, 

Jake & Lex XO