I love to cook. I don't know what took me so long to explore this side of me... but it is true. I love to create a masterpiece and then have my hubs taste it for the first time to see his reaction. This month, I have not had only 1 1/2 boys in the house, but 2 1/2 (Adam, Brian and Tyson) boys to cook for. I know, Brian no way expects to be cooked for... but honestly, it works out great because I usually make too much food because cooking for just 2 can be hard!
Anyways, I have my personal favorites that I make about every 1-2 weeks, so I decided I need to start branching out again. And that led me to this recipe below. I made it last night... seriously so easy and you know its good when you not only get compliments that night on it, but then Brian walks in the house today after being at the hospital and says how delicious it was and how he considered eating some for breakfast :)
Anyways, here it is:
Spagetti Squash Lasagna:
Note: I didn't put a boullian cube in the sauce and it still tasted great. And I just used a regular cooking dish, instead of serving in the shells....
Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 (14 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 cube vegetable bouillon
black pepper to taste
1 (15 ounce) can black olives, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with a thin layer of cooking spray. Place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet.
Bake squash 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife can be easily inserted. Remove from oven, and cool.
Meanwhile, spray a non-stick saucepan with cooking spray. Over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until golden brown. Stir in tomatoes, basil, bouillon cube, and black pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until you have a medium thick sauce.
Remove squash strands with a fork, reserving the shells. Layer each half with a spoonful of the sauce, a layer of spaghetti squash strands, olives, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers until shells are full, or until all of the ingredients are used. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until Parmesan cheese melts.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
San Diego Recap
I had to be in San Diego for work last week, so Adam flew on Friday evening to spend the weekend with me. Such a cool city, such a fun time. Here is the recap:
View of Downtown
Zach (our new friend) took us to a really fun restaurant and then went out for a little. All in all, it was an excellent day. 
Fun, fun and now we can't WAIT to be in Manhattan this weekend. Who's going to the game??
Friday: Adam got to the hotel, we grabbed a few drinks and then went out to eat with my co-workers and then just hung out. I took no pictures this night.
Saturday: Wake up at 8:30am... we think... (Adam forgot to reset the time on his Blackberry and I never checked the clock) and headed down to Fox Sports (who was opening at 9am) for the KSU game. Get there at 9:30 and it is locked. Adam calls them and asks when they open and they say 9am. He says well I am here and it is locked and they then tell him it is only 8:30. Oh right.... we finally get in, eat breakfast and watch the Cats pull in a win!
Then Adam suprises me. He said he was going to plan our weekend and that was fine by me. So after the game he says- we are getting picked up in 15 mins and going sailing. I was like what?! Yipee! Through Facebook this actually happened. One of my FB friends (who I actually had never met) saw that we were coming to SD, he messaged Adam because he is part of a sailing club and that is how it all went down.
About to get on the boat...
View of Downtown Love this picture. Maybe a framer.
I seemed relaxed, but lets just say I hated it when the boat leaned really far over. I was a little tense at times, even though I was assured over and over it was impossible to capsize the model of sail boat we were in. I had my doubts...
I seemed relaxed, but lets just say I hated it when the boat leaned really far over. I was a little tense at times, even though I was assured over and over it was impossible to capsize the model of sail boat we were in. I had my doubts...
After the sailing (which may or may not have given me a heart attack at times) we drank a little champagne on the dock and then heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
Zach (our new friend) took us to a really fun restaurant and then went out for a little. All in all, it was an excellent day. Sunday morning was a relaxing day. We got some breakfast in the Historic Gas Lamp District and walked around an art show that was happening right by our hotel. Then it was time to say farewell to San Diego. I definietly want to go back- 2 days was not enough. 
Fun, fun and now we can't WAIT to be in Manhattan this weekend. Who's going to the game??
Keeping my emotions in check... fail
Yesterday was a regular ole Monday. When Adam got home from work, we headed to the grocery store. All normal. Let me give you some background information real quick:
Adam and I don't eat a lot of meat. Fish- yes, Eggs- yes... but the meat you typically buy (beef, chicken, etc) hardly ever. I mean, I probably eat meat once every couple months. Why? Well, I just have decided I don't love chicken anyway and besides that, if the meat is not raised hormone-free, free range- I honestly don't feel right about eating it. I mean, have you SEEN what they do to those animals? Anyways, so I will eat meat from Whole Foods, but again, that is hardly ever.
Adam and I have always been on the same page with this stuff. So, we were in San Diego this week and Adam orders carnitas on Friday and lamb on Saturday. I was a little confused, but at the end of the day I don't care about what he eats- duh. But then thinking about the lamb started to bother me.... like a lot. I mean, out of all the meats that you could choose from- you choose lamb!!!!
So back to the story.
We walk into the grocery store. Hit up the produce then go over to the meat section (which we typically grab our fish from- and only fish) and Adam just grabs a pack on Bison and tosses it into the cart. I was like "so.... you are eating meat now?" and he was like yes I am. I was like... ok, whatever. Then, I got this crazy wave of emotion come over me and I reverted back to a 5 year old mentality. I went semi- crazy. Like I thought I was going to cry in the grocery store.
What the heck is wrong with me!! Like I honestly can say I don't really care. I have no clue why I was so upset about it and I have been trying to pick through my emotions for the last 1/2 day. I am not sure if it was because he didn't tell me first he was doing a 180 or what, but I got upset literally over nothing.
Long story long, Adam thinks I am a straight freak now. I know, I was! I even apologized the second we got into the car. Something is wrong with me.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Harvard of the West
I saw this article on the top 25 most desirable large schools. Looks like KSU is the #2 most desirable in the Big 12 (next to Texas). These were ranked on ACT, SAT scores, etc.
Full Article: http://education.newsweek.com/2010/09/12/the-25-most-desirable-large-schools.all.html
1. Harvard University
2. University of Pennsylvania
3. Cornell University
4. University of Southern California
5. University of California, Berkeley
6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
7. University of Virginia
8. University of California, Los Angeles
9. University of Florida
10. New York University
11. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
12. University of Texas at Austin
13. Brigham Young University
14. George Washington University
15. University of Maryland-College Park
16. Kansas State University
17. University of Nebraska-Lincoln
18. University of Miami
19. Northeastern University
20. University of Georgia
21. Clemson University
22. Baruch College, City University of New York
23. University of Central Arkansas
24. Texas A&M University
25. University of Wisconsin-Madison
I knew you had to be REALLY smart to get into KSU!!! haha...
Full Article: http://education.newsweek.com/2010/09/12/the-25-most-desirable-large-schools.all.html
1. Harvard University
2. University of Pennsylvania
3. Cornell University
4. University of Southern California
5. University of California, Berkeley
6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
7. University of Virginia
8. University of California, Los Angeles
9. University of Florida
10. New York University
11. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
12. University of Texas at Austin
13. Brigham Young University
14. George Washington University
15. University of Maryland-College Park
16. Kansas State University
17. University of Nebraska-Lincoln
18. University of Miami
19. Northeastern University
20. University of Georgia
21. Clemson University
22. Baruch College, City University of New York
23. University of Central Arkansas
24. Texas A&M University
25. University of Wisconsin-Madison
I knew you had to be REALLY smart to get into KSU!!! haha...
Monday, September 13, 2010
Livin the life
This past weekend, Tanner Richards and his parents let us use their mountain cabin right outside of Estes Park. Adam and I were so excited because we have never been to Estes and well... we got to stay in a mountain cabin for the weekend.
Typical.
Chef Larry.
Peace. It was 9/11 and all.... (disregard the no-makeup, paleness)
Shirt off breakfast party.
God Bless America.
The group on Saturday night minus me.
We found this zip line in the trees on our hike.
Pretty stream.
Team Griffin
Thanks again Tanner!
Through a little discussing, we decided to open this opportunity up to a few of our friends- I mean, Adam and I are together all the time now that I am not traveling as much (yipee!). So Friday night, we headed up to the mountains and to the gorgeous teeny-tiny town of Glen Haven. The best part of this weekend was, you could do whatever you wanted. Watch football, nap, hike, drink, etc. There were no plans to be made.
Their cabin in amazing- might I add. Literally the perfect mountain get-away. Not huge, but not small... decorated perfectly for the mountains and secluded.
Here are some pictures from the weekend. Note: I tried to be "artsy" in some of these.... but don't think I have the photog skills my husband possesses.
View from their deck.
Typical.
Chef Larry.Peace. It was 9/11 and all.... (disregard the no-makeup, paleness)
Shirt off breakfast party.God Bless America.The group on Saturday night minus me.
We found this zip line in the trees on our hike.
Pretty stream.Team GriffinThanks again Tanner!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Read-A-Holic
I am literally obsessed with reading and the library. I get a HIGH from going to the library... I love the smells, people and when I get that magical email in my inbox that says "the book you requested is ready for pick-up". (and the fact that our library has every DVD you could ever want- for free and you get the movie for 7 days).
I started this year, with writing down every book I read to see how many I could hit this year. I stopped at the end of January and don't know where the list went... I would have to say I am somewhere in the 40-50 book range now, but I could be slightly off. My reading habits are typically this: I find one book I like and read every other book by that author and then move onto the next author I find. This is great and all, but I have tried to start mixing it up a bit.... I wanted to share some of my favorites with you, if you will return the favor, that is :)
1) The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins. I have already blogged about this trilogy, but these are a MUST read and I hear the new President of KSU has these on his "must read" list as well!
#1 The Hunger Games #2 Catching Fire #3 Mockingjay. I can't sing enough praise about these. Quick Summary: These are set in the far future, after North America is destroyed. There is a new country formed called Panem. Panem consists of the Capitol and 12 Districts. Every year, the Districts are required to send one girl and one boy to the Capital to fight to the death on national television, like a reality show.
Amazing!
2) Author Sarah Strohmeyer. I picked her books up on a whim because I was out of things to read and her books have very cute covers. She is a chick-lit author to the max, but very entertaining. Some of her books are extremely funny too. I would compare her to Emily Giffin (if you haven't read her books either, get on it!). I think my favorite of hers that I have read so far is "The Cinderella Pact" but I have read several and all are good reads and very light-hearted.
3) The White Queen: Phillipa Gregory. If you liked "The Other Boleyn Girl" you will like this book. This takes place several decades before the Tudors. The "Plantagenet" era is just as messed up as, if not more than the Tudors. I had a hard time turning this book back in, because I was so emotionally attached to it. I know, I am really weird... But she is coming out with "The Red Queen" next and I can't wait!
4) Author Jennifer Weiner. She is another chick-lit author, but with many more deeper topics. I have actually cried in some of her books... A good one to start with from her is "Good in Bed" and then move onto "Certain Girls". She has a handful of very good books out and I have read all but one of them (the last is sitting on my nightstand right now).
5) Last but not least... "Mark of the Lion" series by Francine Rivers. This is another trilogy #1 A Voice in the Wind #2 An Echo in Darkness #3 As Sure as Dawn. Let me tell you, the first book takes A LONG TIME to get into. In fact, I almost put it down like 80 times. But I kept going and the second half of #1 and book #2 will go down in my history as some of the best books I have ever read. Francine Rivers is a Christian author, FYI. This is set in the Roman Empire times and are about a slave girl for a very wealthy family. So, so, so good.
I am currently reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and I know I am a little behind the times on this one, but I am expecting greatness...
Anyways, I am always ALWAYS looking for recommendations- so that was really the point of this post. Send them to me!!! Happy reading!
I started this year, with writing down every book I read to see how many I could hit this year. I stopped at the end of January and don't know where the list went... I would have to say I am somewhere in the 40-50 book range now, but I could be slightly off. My reading habits are typically this: I find one book I like and read every other book by that author and then move onto the next author I find. This is great and all, but I have tried to start mixing it up a bit.... I wanted to share some of my favorites with you, if you will return the favor, that is :)
1) The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins. I have already blogged about this trilogy, but these are a MUST read and I hear the new President of KSU has these on his "must read" list as well!
#1 The Hunger Games #2 Catching Fire #3 Mockingjay. I can't sing enough praise about these. Quick Summary: These are set in the far future, after North America is destroyed. There is a new country formed called Panem. Panem consists of the Capitol and 12 Districts. Every year, the Districts are required to send one girl and one boy to the Capital to fight to the death on national television, like a reality show.
Amazing!
2) Author Sarah Strohmeyer. I picked her books up on a whim because I was out of things to read and her books have very cute covers. She is a chick-lit author to the max, but very entertaining. Some of her books are extremely funny too. I would compare her to Emily Giffin (if you haven't read her books either, get on it!). I think my favorite of hers that I have read so far is "The Cinderella Pact" but I have read several and all are good reads and very light-hearted.
3) The White Queen: Phillipa Gregory. If you liked "The Other Boleyn Girl" you will like this book. This takes place several decades before the Tudors. The "Plantagenet" era is just as messed up as, if not more than the Tudors. I had a hard time turning this book back in, because I was so emotionally attached to it. I know, I am really weird... But she is coming out with "The Red Queen" next and I can't wait!
4) Author Jennifer Weiner. She is another chick-lit author, but with many more deeper topics. I have actually cried in some of her books... A good one to start with from her is "Good in Bed" and then move onto "Certain Girls". She has a handful of very good books out and I have read all but one of them (the last is sitting on my nightstand right now).
5) Last but not least... "Mark of the Lion" series by Francine Rivers. This is another trilogy #1 A Voice in the Wind #2 An Echo in Darkness #3 As Sure as Dawn. Let me tell you, the first book takes A LONG TIME to get into. In fact, I almost put it down like 80 times. But I kept going and the second half of #1 and book #2 will go down in my history as some of the best books I have ever read. Francine Rivers is a Christian author, FYI. This is set in the Roman Empire times and are about a slave girl for a very wealthy family. So, so, so good.
I am currently reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and I know I am a little behind the times on this one, but I am expecting greatness...
Anyways, I am always ALWAYS looking for recommendations- so that was really the point of this post. Send them to me!!! Happy reading!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Ornery
I'm so ornery that I pull my bed onto Mom and Dad's bed.........
Ya... I know, I am pretty clever, although Mom does not appreciate this but I know she secretly thinks its funny.
Ya... I know, I am pretty clever, although Mom does not appreciate this but I know she secretly thinks its funny.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Success! Well, Almost...
Who doesn't love days off?! This weekend was another absolute blast here in the great state of CO. Let me preface this by saying- I suck at taking pictures. So didn't take one. Blah.
Friday night, we went downtown with a group of Kansas folk. Yes... all 10 of us were from KS and it was awesome. We ended up having a great time at happy hour and then heading to a Mexican restaurant downtown. After dinner, we headed over to Becky's and just hung out. We had some great convos (one of them being a 45 minute convo about Ghosts...). Good times!
Saturday we met up with Nick Paradise and Maddie Phillips who came in town for the weekend and grabs some breakfast and headed downtown to watch the CSU/CU game and the KSU game (woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Our KS friends were there as well, plus 1 million wasted CSU fans... yes, lets just say they don't call it MENver for nothing. All the girls got hit on constantly with our sig. others sitting right there!!! It was weird. On this day, I wore my "I miss Manhattan" KSU shirt. I will never wear this shirt again unless I am in Manhattan or going to the KSU bar here in Denver. I got asked approx. 1000 times if I was from Manhattan, NY.
After the game, we grabbed some dinner, loaded the car and headed up to the mountains to go camping. This trip went much more smoothly. We had smores, drank a little (not too much) and just enjoyed the outdoors and the people we were with.
On Sunday, we woke up, hung out and loaded up our packs for the hike to the cars. It is about a 1.4 mile hike from our site to the cars, a nine mile twisty drive down the mounting, and then the 15 min trek back to our house. We get to the bottom of the twisty mountain road when we get a call..... ummm, apparently the campfire wasn't all the way out??? It was the park ranger calling us. This was confusing because we had sat around all morning staring at the ashes from our fire the night before. This meant that Adam, me and Nikki (who was in our car) had to drive the 9 miles back up and hike again over to the site. Not fun at all. Luckily, the park ranger was really nice and did not give us the $200.00 ticket we should have gotten. They do not take this lightly, but we learned our lesson and never again will I leave a camp site without triple checking the fire. Who knew that even if it looks out- there is a possibility it is not all the way out??
When we finally got back home on Sunday, Adam and I took a LONG nap. Considering we hiked about 4 miles that morning with the whole campfire fiasco, we deserved it. Sunday we watched a movie and lounged around.
Monday- was a Wash Park day! This means, we go up to Washington Park with the crew + volleyball net + cooler + polish horse shoes and/or washers pits and just hang out in the beautiful sunlight and drink a few beers. It was a great day and absolutely beautiful! Adam, Brian and me came home after, grilled out and went to bed...
I am very excited for this week - more to come on this soon.... but we are watching all the Harry Potter movies. Adam has never seen ANY of them!!!!! Can you believe it? I took a trip to the library this morning to get the first three... can't wait!
Friday night, we went downtown with a group of Kansas folk. Yes... all 10 of us were from KS and it was awesome. We ended up having a great time at happy hour and then heading to a Mexican restaurant downtown. After dinner, we headed over to Becky's and just hung out. We had some great convos (one of them being a 45 minute convo about Ghosts...). Good times!
Saturday we met up with Nick Paradise and Maddie Phillips who came in town for the weekend and grabs some breakfast and headed downtown to watch the CSU/CU game and the KSU game (woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Our KS friends were there as well, plus 1 million wasted CSU fans... yes, lets just say they don't call it MENver for nothing. All the girls got hit on constantly with our sig. others sitting right there!!! It was weird. On this day, I wore my "I miss Manhattan" KSU shirt. I will never wear this shirt again unless I am in Manhattan or going to the KSU bar here in Denver. I got asked approx. 1000 times if I was from Manhattan, NY.
After the game, we grabbed some dinner, loaded the car and headed up to the mountains to go camping. This trip went much more smoothly. We had smores, drank a little (not too much) and just enjoyed the outdoors and the people we were with.
On Sunday, we woke up, hung out and loaded up our packs for the hike to the cars. It is about a 1.4 mile hike from our site to the cars, a nine mile twisty drive down the mounting, and then the 15 min trek back to our house. We get to the bottom of the twisty mountain road when we get a call..... ummm, apparently the campfire wasn't all the way out??? It was the park ranger calling us. This was confusing because we had sat around all morning staring at the ashes from our fire the night before. This meant that Adam, me and Nikki (who was in our car) had to drive the 9 miles back up and hike again over to the site. Not fun at all. Luckily, the park ranger was really nice and did not give us the $200.00 ticket we should have gotten. They do not take this lightly, but we learned our lesson and never again will I leave a camp site without triple checking the fire. Who knew that even if it looks out- there is a possibility it is not all the way out??
When we finally got back home on Sunday, Adam and I took a LONG nap. Considering we hiked about 4 miles that morning with the whole campfire fiasco, we deserved it. Sunday we watched a movie and lounged around.
Monday- was a Wash Park day! This means, we go up to Washington Park with the crew + volleyball net + cooler + polish horse shoes and/or washers pits and just hang out in the beautiful sunlight and drink a few beers. It was a great day and absolutely beautiful! Adam, Brian and me came home after, grilled out and went to bed...
I am very excited for this week - more to come on this soon.... but we are watching all the Harry Potter movies. Adam has never seen ANY of them!!!!! Can you believe it? I took a trip to the library this morning to get the first three... can't wait!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Straight Freak
I am seriously obsessed with planning vacations. I spend time everyday looking up cool places to eventually travel to, or refining a current trip that is planned. Courtney Kelly is convinced I should become a travel agent on the side....
**My current obsessions include: our San Fran/Napa Trip in November. We need suggestions on wineries!!
**The Seacat/Kelly festivities in Mexico (yes, I have already talked to their travel agent several times and have a good idea of when we are going and where we are staying... Adam and I are celebrating our 2year on this trip as well). If anyone wants to share a room with us at the Moon Palace- let us know! haha... but seriously... we are going to be at the Sun Palace prior to the Moon Palace so would like to save some $$ at the Moon Palace if possible...
**Our actual 2 year: we decided we would just do something super small for the actual weekend of our anniversary, but I have HUGE plans! Not expensive, but BIG
**Backpacking OR Costa Rica: Yes, we have pushed back backpacking until next fall ASSUMING BumblePost hasn't taken all our money and we are actually making some money from it :) If BumblePost goes all wrong, we might just do a Costa Rica trip instead... Adam is planning this.... I see hostels in my future.
Anyways, you get my drift? I email Adam constantly about vacationing, and we can't really afford all of these vacations - so if you need help planning any of yours, please let me know!! I will do a baller job. Just ask Adam, he will tell you!
**My current obsessions include: our San Fran/Napa Trip in November. We need suggestions on wineries!!
**The Seacat/Kelly festivities in Mexico (yes, I have already talked to their travel agent several times and have a good idea of when we are going and where we are staying... Adam and I are celebrating our 2year on this trip as well). If anyone wants to share a room with us at the Moon Palace- let us know! haha... but seriously... we are going to be at the Sun Palace prior to the Moon Palace so would like to save some $$ at the Moon Palace if possible...
**Our actual 2 year: we decided we would just do something super small for the actual weekend of our anniversary, but I have HUGE plans! Not expensive, but BIG
**Backpacking OR Costa Rica: Yes, we have pushed back backpacking until next fall ASSUMING BumblePost hasn't taken all our money and we are actually making some money from it :) If BumblePost goes all wrong, we might just do a Costa Rica trip instead... Adam is planning this.... I see hostels in my future.
Anyways, you get my drift? I email Adam constantly about vacationing, and we can't really afford all of these vacations - so if you need help planning any of yours, please let me know!! I will do a baller job. Just ask Adam, he will tell you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)