Successes, failures and ongoing experiments in the kitchen.

I’m running another 5k this weekend – Saturday to be exact.

I wish races were stroller friendly. Aidan and the Bob could join me. I don’t think I mentioned in my vacation post just how much I missed my Bob.  I seriously considered renting one for the week while we were down there. When I walked in the door, it was sitting there in the entry way begging to be used. So of course we dumped our bags and took Aidan and Maddy on a stroll in the first of the fall weather.

That’s when I realized I’m in stroller love. If any of you out there are contemplating buying one, here’s my advice: do you want to walk or run a lot? If so, you simply cannot go wrong with the Bob. Mom and baby will be comfortable and happy for miles and miles. If you don’t plan on walking or running a lot, and you just need a stroller for zipping around town, malls, etc., the Bob probably isn’t for you. After all, I do feel like I’m wheeling a trailer through Starbucks when I stop in during the morning rush. Off-peak hours are fine.

But I digress! This post is about (mis)happenings in my kitchen. So here’s my latest and greatest:

Success. Raging success.

Two things:

1. I know foodie pictures are usually way more attractive than this, but I was starving and forgot to take a picture before I started.
2. This is actually leftovers from the night before, so that’s twice I forgot because I was starving. (Btw, isn’t leftover spaghetti the BEST?)

I’ll work on my images…

So what you see there is actually NOT spaghetti! It’s spaghetti SQUASH (with your standard, but delicious, meat sauce). My mom tipped me off to this years ago, but like most things, I had to learn for myself the awesomeness that is this squash. As I was forking away the noodle-like pieces out of the baked squash, I was simply in awe. It’s so COOL! And it seriously tastes great. Granted, you can’t slurp up the noodles the same way Lady and the Tramp did (yes, I did a slurp test – don’t judge me). But you have no after-meal-carb-overload-crash-and-burn-nap sensation. You’re not bloated post-meal, and it fills you up and satisfies you just the same!

Not sure if I mentioned yet, I’m currently gluten/dairy/sugar free while I figure out my migraine sitch.  And it is working wonders all around. It was an easy transition after the detox (which btw, I forgot to mention, I did survive 5 days and felt like $5 million bucks after it). So recipes like this to replace essential gluten-ous (yes, that’s a word) items are so awesome.

I did bend the rules just a little on vacation (hey, I could afford to… I ran all night and day…). I had a slice of this:

Taste test success; ongoing aesthetic experiment.

I made that topsy turvy bad boy to celebrate the births of my Mom (September) and my Dad (August). The family vacay was the perfect time to celebrate both.

Why does it look like a 1 year old’s cake, you ask? Good question! I’m making Aidan’s birthday cake to save a buck (or $150 bucks… minus cake and icing ingredients). So I had to get a practice run in before the big day.

I attempted to get the butter cream icing to look like fondant (since butter cream tastes so much better) while just using fondant decorations here (although on A’s cake the fondant will actually be multi-colored and not just plain white – sorry for skimping Mom and Dad). With the help of my mom and Pinterest, I found some solid techniques, the best of which works with a thin layer of icing and Voila! paper towels, believe it or not. My icing got a little thick for that method, especially since we started with a pretty thick dirty ice.

The good news is, the taste was a big hit. It stayed moist despite the 2 to 3 day event it required to get the exterior job done.

Anyway, you live, you learn, and I’m hoping for the big 1-year bash my fake-fondant-butter-cream techniques will have drastically improved.

So last but not least, today’s trials (click the links for the actual recipes at two of my current fave blogs – Wellness Mama, and Elana’s Pantry):

1. The much awaited Pumpkin Bread (gluten free).
2. A fake Dirty Rice recipe that’s been calling my name.

And here come the excuses as to why this is the only picture you’ll get of either:

P Bread: Failure (potential future experiments). Dirty Rice: Ongoing Experiment. Husband and baby: Wildly successful.

I tried to take a picture of the dirty rice when we sat down to dinner. In fact I did take a picture of it. But my photo memory on my phone is apparently full and I’m just learning it didn’t save.

The dirty rice came out just fine. I over did the cumin (I know, rookie mistake), but other than that, it was actually kind of good with the peppers. To get the fake rice, you put cauliflower in a food processor (and pulse just a few times, don’t leave it on too long, otherwise the pieces get too small). I’ll definitely try this one again and go a little lighter on the cumin next time.

As for the pumpkin bread, no picture because it was definitely NOT successful. It didn’t even taste sweet. And it definitely didn’t ever cook all the way through. As a disclaimer, the recipe said you could use Stevia OR honey. I should have gone with the honey. And secondly, I was a wee bit scared of the thickness of the batter pre-bake, so I added a little water (the recipe says that’s fine, just don’t let it get runny). Well it didn’t look runny, but it definitely never cooked through.

I want to try it again, but I also don’t want to waste five more eggs and a pumpkin to get poo bread. I’ll muster up the courage again eventually.

Clearly, I am sorely disappointed about that Pumpkin Bread. But my girl over at PaleOMG cheered me up with a recipe for Zucchini Apple Spice Muffins that I think may satiate my craving. Doesn’t that sound deLICious?

What’s in your oven this week? And what else should I put in mine? Any suggestions on recipes with ground turkey? Bought it for the first time yesterday… And don’t say turkey burgers!