Adventures With Spaghetti Squash

This is my first recipe/cooking post from my new kitchen, and I could not be more excited!  The kitchen in our last house was very small and very outdated, so cooking my first meal in this beautiful, open kitchen was an absolute delight.  Oh!  And this was my very first time cooking spaghetti squash!  I've always meant to try it, but for some reason it has taken me a lot of years to actually attempt it.  Maybe it was fear of the unknown?  Laziness?  Who knows.  This particular recipe came from Blue Apron, and I have to admit, it was nice to have a helping hand with something brand new to me.  If you remember from my other Blue Apron posts, they send a refrigerated box of fresh ingredients and step-by-step cooking instructions right to your doorstep.  I've been pushed out of my cooking comfort zone many times using their services, and I love it!  Here's how my first experience with making roasted spaghetti squash went down:


Here are the pretty components that came in my delivery.  Swoon.


I began by prepping my ingredients-- washing and chopping veggies, and preheating the oven for the squash.


After I cut the squash in half, it went in the oven to roast while I started the sauce on the stove.  Fresh garlic, onion, mushrooms, and oregano were the first things to go in.


The aroma from this filled my whole house.  Oh my goodness.  The smell of home-cooked meals wafting through the house is one of my very favorite things.


When the squash was finished roasting, I scooped out the pulp and removed the outer shell.  I threw the meat in a pan with some water and a little butter, and then cooked it a little longer until it was ready!


This meal was one of my very favorites!  This was from the two person meal plan, but it was so filling that we ended up having extra and I got to have it for lunch the next day!  I'm already planning all the different ways I want to try preparing spaghetti squash.  So good!

I'm definitely looking forward to trying more recipes next month.  I'm especially interested in the whole wheat linguine with kale, red walnuts, and percorino cheese and the mole-mushroom tacos.  I'm so ready to get back into the swing of cooking this fall and winter!  It's one of the things Johnny and I have been most excited about in our new home.

Oh, and one more reason to love Blue Apron: they now offer a recycling program!  You can either use their recycling locator to help you find local recycling options for your packaging, or you can return your packaging for free to Blue Apron via USPS.  You can learn more about these options right here.  This makes me extremely happy!

**If you are interested in trying it out for yourself, the first 25 readers will get two free meals on their first Blue Apron order.  Just click here! 

Happy cooking, friends!!  xo. 

What's Your Passion?

I've been thinking a lot about passions lately-- what mine are vs. what I'm actually pursuing.  I had a family member once tell me that I needed to just pick a "thing" I liked and stick with it.  Sure, my hobbies and work ventures can sometimes seem all over the place, but I can't imagine feeling passionate about something... you know, truly in love with and inspired by something... and not at least attempting to chase it.  There's always a chance of failure, sure, but as I move up in years, I want to continue to be braver and stronger.  Putting yourself out there in any capacity can be scary, but the more strength you find in yourself, the more you are able to love yourself AND others.  That's my experience, anyway.  I'm continually a work in progress, as are all of us, but recognizing that and pushing through is the best thing ever.  So... here's a sappy Tuesday post for all of you lovely people.  Follow your passions.  Explore your interests.  Find people who relate with you on these levels and encourage each other.  Strive to grow.  Tell that fear of failure inside your head to go suck an egg.

Girl Power

Today, I'm very excited to be partnering with Schoola to share a little bit about the Malala Fund with you!  As a refresher, Schoola is a company that takes 40% of all sales from their gently used clothing selection for women and children, and gives it back to schools.  Right now, proceeds from the Malala Fund go to support girls' education projects in some of the most vulnerable communities around the world.  The Malala Fund works to secure girls' rights to a minimum of 12 years of quality education, particularly in the global south.


All of our outfits came new, with tags, from Schoola.  Hope is wearing a dress from the Tea Collection, Poesy is wearing pants and a top from the Gymboree collection, and my dress is from the ModCloth collection.  All of these items benefit the Malala Fund.


I love supporting a company like Schoola that does so much to give back.  The girls and I will be filling yet another bag to send off to today!  If you'd like to request your own Malala Fund bag for donations, click here.  If you'd like to shop items that benefit the Malala Fund, click right here.  Education and opportunity for girls couldn't be nearer or dearer to my heart, and I'm so honored to be able to share a bit about this with you.  If you have a minute today, check out what the Malala Fund is all about.  Girl power.  xo.

Snapshots

Here are a few more house snapshots for you guys!  Johnny and I have officially starting moving more of our big stuff over, and today is the day we start on wallpaper!  I can't wait to see everything come together in this house.  We're having an epic moving sale this weekend at the old place, so hopefully the great purge will continue and we can get rid of lots more before we move in at the beginning of November!

I'll share more as we continue making progress!  Have a great day, friends!

Fall Wishlist

I was doing my normal round of internet browsing and fell in love with so many things at one of my favorite online shops, Emerging Thoughts, that I just had to share some of my favorites!

1. Dahlia Dress  //  2. Larry David candle  //  3. Quay Sunnies  //  4. Swan Patch  //  5. Postcard

What are some of your most loved online shops?  I've (of course) have been finding lots of cute new stuff on Etsy lately.  Other than that, Salvage Life, Family Affairs, and Nasty Gal are some of the others I like to frequent.  I'm always looking for new favorites, so if you have any recommendations, leave them in the comments and I'll take a peek!

Happy Thursday, friends!  xo.

Weekly Wears: Transitions

I've been spending my days obsessing over furniture and decor for the new house.  I answered this question in the comments of my house peeks post from a couple of weeks ago, but to state it here: yes, we are moving into the old ABM studio house!  Since a lot of the ABM crew ended up moving around the same time, the studio house became available.  My family decided it was too good not to call it home, so we will officially be moving in at the beginning of November!  I really think it's going to be such a good place for us.  I just bought both the girls new beds, so you can imagine how anxious they are to get settled in!

Sweater: c/o ModCloth;  Jeans: Free People;  Boots: ModCloth (similar);  Bag: c/o Nena & Co.;  Glasses: BonLook;  Pin: Ivonna Buenrostro;  Ring: The Vintage Pearl

I'm off to pack up boxes and do more sorting!  Happy Tuesday, friends!  xo.

Snapshots

These are some iPhone snapshots from the past couple of weeks.  Johnny and I played music for a wedding this past Saturday, and it's been a while since we've done that.  I'm glad to be getting back into it!  Otherwise, we've been keeping busy with friend dates, packing, and painting.  Speaking of painting... I need to get back at it.  Happy Wednesday, friends!

**Pink clogs from Sandgrens and beautiful package from 23 Skidoo.