As sort of a pre-holiday ritual, we are doing the low-carb thing. It is the only "diet" that seems to work for us.
Here's what I came up with last night, a sort of f aux pizza casserole.
Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole
Base:
1 small spaghetti squash, cooked and shredded.
1/3 cup half and half
4 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used some leftover Swiss then filled in with Colby/Jack)
topping:
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 small can sliced black olives, drained,
1/2 can diced tomatoes, drained.
Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste.
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Colby/Jack)
Cook and cool and shred and drain the spaghetti squash. I lightly press it with a few paper towels with the shreds in a colander to get a little more of the moisture out of it. Lightly beat the eggs then add the half&half and beat to combine. In a bowl mix the cheese with the squash then gently combine the egg mixture with it.
Spread this mixture in a greased casserole dish (oval or rectangle -- on the large side) ... spread evenly over the bottom of the pan, and even push up the sides a little. Bake this at 350 for 25-30 minutes until well set.
Meanwhile, brown and drain the ground beef. Lightly saute the onion, pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes ... . Sometimes I saute them together with the beef (just drain it before use). Season the meat while cooking with your choice of salt/pepper/herbs.
Spread the meat/veggie mixture over the baked squash mixture. Top with about half the cheese and bake at 350 for 15 minutes, then add the rest of the cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.
Allow this to rest for about 5 minutes before slicing into serving pieces.
Interesting spell checker on this blog application .. it suggested low-crab for low-carb and pee-holiday for pre-holiday.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Okay, I'm gearing up for NaNoWriMo, starting November 1st. For those who don't know what this is, it is National Novel Writing Month, an annual exercise in literary abandon. The goal is to write a fifty-thousand word rough draft novel in 30 days or less. Some write more, but believe me, 50,000 words is plenty. That averages out to 1667 words a day.
You can find more information about this at www.nanowrimo.org.
I've been doing some general research for my novel, coming up with a few character profiles, and localizing some of the settings I'll be using. Some people write by the seat of their pants -- they are called pantsers, and some people do a great deal of preparation and planning -- they are called planners. I tend more toward the Pantser but I also see a bit of value in having at least some clue to a few details. After all, the story itself has been lurking in my brain for quite a number of years. To sit down and start hammering out 1667 words a day with absolutely no ideas in place, well, that is not realistic.
This is my third attempt to write a novel this way. I have two rough drafts in the hopper ... both successes. If you can call a rough draft a success. It is just a step in the creative process. Sure, it is a big step, but it is just a step. Last year, I had a rough outline and didn't look at it for about a week. Then I hit a wall, a block. I decided to check my outline, even though when I jotted it out it was just a loose progression of BS. I was surprised to see that I had actually been generally following it. At the point where I was now, I think I had jotted down like a single word. Conflict. "Huh?" I thought to myself, "What does that mean? What was I thinking?" Suddenly several ideas popped into my head and I continued on. This rough outline saved me again and again and kept my on track.
See, I consider the 50,000 word goal as part of the challenge. You see people on the NaNoWriMo forums touting their plans to write 75, 100, 120, 150 thousand words. All fine and good, I guess, but trying to fit a beginning, middle, and end into 50 thousand word suggested limit is part of the challenge. As you write along it is part of the fun to wrap the story up and try to come to a logical and entertaining conclusion by the 50,000 word mark.
You can find more information about this at www.nanowrimo.org.
I've been doing some general research for my novel, coming up with a few character profiles, and localizing some of the settings I'll be using. Some people write by the seat of their pants -- they are called pantsers, and some people do a great deal of preparation and planning -- they are called planners. I tend more toward the Pantser but I also see a bit of value in having at least some clue to a few details. After all, the story itself has been lurking in my brain for quite a number of years. To sit down and start hammering out 1667 words a day with absolutely no ideas in place, well, that is not realistic.
This is my third attempt to write a novel this way. I have two rough drafts in the hopper ... both successes. If you can call a rough draft a success. It is just a step in the creative process. Sure, it is a big step, but it is just a step. Last year, I had a rough outline and didn't look at it for about a week. Then I hit a wall, a block. I decided to check my outline, even though when I jotted it out it was just a loose progression of BS. I was surprised to see that I had actually been generally following it. At the point where I was now, I think I had jotted down like a single word. Conflict. "Huh?" I thought to myself, "What does that mean? What was I thinking?" Suddenly several ideas popped into my head and I continued on. This rough outline saved me again and again and kept my on track.
See, I consider the 50,000 word goal as part of the challenge. You see people on the NaNoWriMo forums touting their plans to write 75, 100, 120, 150 thousand words. All fine and good, I guess, but trying to fit a beginning, middle, and end into 50 thousand word suggested limit is part of the challenge. As you write along it is part of the fun to wrap the story up and try to come to a logical and entertaining conclusion by the 50,000 word mark.
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