mama mia papa pia buy two and the third is free-a {cooking}

that episode of saved by the bell always made me laugh. they were selling screech's grandma's spaghetti sauce. spaghetti is such a comfort food. it's good with a red sauce, a white sauce, butter and parmesan, chili, CINCINNATI chili (duh)...etc.

so you buy wheat spaghetti instead of the other stuff (otherwise known as enriched bleached flour sticks) - that's awesome.

let's do better.

these are the ingredients you'll need: a spaghetti squash, francesco rinaldi no sugar added pasta sauce, a green pepper, roma tomato, some onion and garlic.

I LOVE SPAGHETTI SQUASH.

like i'm obsessed. i make it with all of the sauces mentioned above.

here's how you make it.

1. preheat the oven to 350.

2. put holes all over it so it doesn't explode while it cooks. the holes need to be big enough to actually see through but not too big. i racked my brain the first time i made it and finally decided to use this.

yes, that's my mixer guy. it's perfect.

punch holes sporadically (clueless reference, duh). bake it for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

while it's cooking chop up the tomato and how ever much green pepper you want.

add onion and garlic. (again, your preference of how much.)

i love this sauce. no sugar added and natural ingredients. only problem is this - we've accustomed our taste palettes to what sauce should take like. and that's because most have tons of sugar in them. this tastes okay but not great. hence adding the vegetables. i love chunky sauce anyway but throwing in some tomato, pepper, onion & (especially) garlic is the best way to add flavor without adding stuff you don't need/want.

so add the veggies to the sauce, stir & heat it on the stove.

when an hour has passed, remove the squash carefully and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

it will still be very hot and i recommend still using oven mitts while handling it.

cut it down the center.

and scoop out the 'gunk' just like you would a pumpkin.

then take a fork and just scrape and the 'spaghetti' will loosen.

keep scraping. you can get so much out of it before getting close to the outside.

see. looks just like spaghetti. and it takes on the taste of whatever you serve it with.

final project. you can even sprinkle some parmesan on it if you'd like.

it's delish. it's healthy. per cup of it you're only eating about 40 calories, no fat, and are getting 3 grams of fiber. you're also saving about 37 carbohydrates if you choose it over enriched spaghetti.

so with this recipe, you're looking at roughly 100 calories, 2 grams of fat and an abundance of fiber from all of the vegetables. not bad eh? and it's delicious.

let the chips fall where they may {cooking}

i love chips.

potato chips, tortilla chips, pita chips, bagel chips, doritos (cause they're in a category of their own that could also be called 'freaking delicious'). i love them.

so i stopped eating normal chips awhile ago and now eat popchips, baked tortilla chips, and whole grain pita chips. good, right?

let's do even better.

first, i will never be able to top popchips so i won't even try. but the other two, i've found a way to make even healthier and consequently more affordable. and best of all, really easy.

homemade pita chips:

this is the pita that i buy - kind of. of all days for whole foods to be out of the whole wheat version, it was today when i was going to make these for you. but these are still good for you. i'll give you the nutrition info when we're done. you'll see.

get out your cookie sheets. you'll be able to fit 2 pitas on each sheet.

i put them different ways so that i can separate them easily after their cooked and i can know the exact nutrition in each serving. (and to keep it portion controlled, duh.)

DO NOT BRUSH THEM WITH OIL OR SALT THEM. 

completely unnecessary. this is where you're benefiting from making them yourself. much less sodium, less fats (even though they can be good fats, sometimes they're not) and less preservatives.

cook them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes if you like them toasted (soft in the middle still) or 15 minutes if you want them more 'chip'-like. you could even do longer if you want them reallllly crunchy.

let them stay on the sheets for 1-2 minutes and then transfer them to a plate to cool. keep the servings separated! let them cool completely before you put them in plastic bags or containers. i learned the hard way - moisture will make them go bad if they're not completely cooled first.

reasons i love these: no oil, no salt. 

here's the stats: first, there are 200 calories in a serving. i know what you're thinking - "my pita chips only have like 130 calories! fail, rachel."

oh young grasshopper, let me show you the error of your thinking. each of these servings of pita chips has 6 grams of fiber and 7 grams of fiber. check that against your bagged chips. TOTALLY worth the extra 70 calories.

i've found my favorite (non-homemade) hummus. 

you can also find this at whole foods. it's my favorite. NO OIL!

now, i'm not anti olive oil or fats. i know where healthy fats can be found and i incorporate them into my diet daily. however, i don't like putting things in where they're not necessary. this hummus is perfect without oil. it's also completely natural with no preservatives.

you can have 6 tbsp of this and a serving of the chips for lunch for 284 calories and make out like a bandit with 9 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein.

are you sold yet?

homemade tortilla chips:

the exact same process. 350 degrees for 15-19 minutes. NO OIL OR SALT.

i love these. not completely natural/organic but nothing in it that makes me sad. you can find them at kroger. they are also realllllly delish with turkey tacos.

i also make sure i separate these too for portion control.

let these cool completely too. 

i'll be honest. they're not near as delish to eat alone as the pita chips are. but for me, not wanting to munch on tortilla chips senselessly is appealing. :) it was a vice. besides, salsa has SO much flavor, the chip is just a way to not look crazy eating it with a spoon.

the facts:

one serving has 71 calories (that's IT!), 8 grams of protein and (GET THIS!) 12 grams of fiber. 

if you're not sold yet, i have no hope for you.

like i've said before, it's not just about changing the kind of foods you want to eat, it's about making the ones you do want even better for you.

actual reality. act up. fight aids. {give}

anyone who knows me well knows that aids research & prevention along with the hope of a cure is incredibly important to me. i've always told people that i wasn't exactly sure why it's on my heart the way it is. often times, a person who has perhaps lost a mother to breast cancer will walk, donate, and bring awareness to breast cancer. my father battles heart disease and i'm running in the mini-heart here in cincinnati this month in his honor. when something directly affects us, we care enough about it to try to stop it.

i don't know anyone with aids.

but for some reason, i think about them all the time - those here in america & around the world who are suffering from aquired immune deficiency syndrome. my heart breaks for them. i've often called it the underdog disease. it doesn't get as much 'publicity', if you will, than say, cancer. i've never heard someone question the moral decisions of a man with brain cancer. aids is much different. the media has told us what they want us to think about aids and it's sufferers.

they're wrong.

you can learn more about aids here and i urge you to do so.

here's what i'm really writing to tell you about - the little ways we can help. regardless of the disease or cause close to our heart, not all of us have the funds to donate to research facilities, the time to serve the patients, or the abilities to walk or run or march on their behalf.

to all of my winos out there, i found a way we can help.

it's called OneHope Wine

i found them thanks to Groupon. 45 dollars for 100 dollars worth of wine sounded great to me! then i read that partial proceeds went to charity. even better. THEN i read that their merlot (my favorite) went to the fight against aids.

done and done.

now i realize that purchasing one bottle and paying for the shipping might not be as practical as going to the grocery store. but maybe around christmas time when you're giving gifts, or maybe just to stock up every once in awhile, you would consider purchasing your wine here. they have 4 reds and 2 whites and each wine benefits a different cause. the causes represented are aids, autism, the planet, breast cancer, the troops, and children's hospitals. in addition to that, a portion of the proceeds that is donated is donated to another cause of your choice.

out of my 45 dollars, 12 dollars went to the fight against aids and 8 dollars went to keep a child alive, which provides treatment for the youth in africa affected by aids.

and all i had to do was buy some wine.