Spaghetti Squash with Thai Peanut Sauce

December 10, 2014 by Mackenzie

Happy Wednesday everyone! I can’t believe it is already December 10th – I head home for Christmas in a week! Those of you who follow me on Instagram may know that I brought my doggie out to college with me after Thanksgiving. I talked my family into letting me take her for the three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas – and boy has it been fun!

She slept on my lap on the whole (4 hour!) plane ride and while it took a few days to get used to my apartment with all its new sounds and people – we have settled in quite nicely! I take her with me almost everywhere – to (some) classes, for walks all over campus, to visit my professors, to meetings on campus, downstairs to dinner with the Coop… she loves it. Go check out my photos on instagram – and follow me to see the rest of our adventure!

I finished my classes last week and am pretty excited to have NO FINALS or any papers due this week! I’m DONE! I had a crazy last week of class with 6 papers and a final but got through it and am pretty happy to have lots of free time! Of course, that means plenty of cooking and baking! One of the first things I made was this Spaghetti Squash with Thai Peanut Sauce from Leelalicious. I wanted an easy, healthy meal that I could take on the go with me last week and this was perfect!

This recipe makes double the sauce that you need for one spaghetti squash – but it is easier to make double, and save it than only use half a can of coconut milk and figure out what to do with that. I ended up saving the second half of the sauce and buying another spaghetti squash yesterday to finish off the sauce with!

And if you’ve never made spaghetti squash, you are in for a real treat 😀 After you roast it, run your fork through the flesh to make noodle-like strings. It’s a great, healthy alternative to pasta!

Spaghetti Squash with Thai Peanut Sauce

Recipe Type: Main Course, Lunch, Dinner

Cuisine: Vegetarian, Vegan, Weight Watchers

Author: Mackenzie

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 4

For those of you on Weight Watchers, one serving (so 1/4 of the squash and 1/4 cup of sauce) is only 4 WW points

Ingredients

1 medium spaghetti squash
Olive Oil
Salt
1 14 oz can light coconut milk
2/3 cups peanut butter
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons red curry paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons crushed peanuts

Instructions

Prepare Spaghetti Squash: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Carefully halve the squash (top to bottom) and scoop out the seeds and guts. Drizzle inside with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 30+ minutes, until flesh can be easily pierced with a fork.
Remove squash from oven and let cool. Run a fork through the flesh, scrapping the inside into “noodles.” Place noodles in a bowl until ready to add to sauce.
Combine the coconut milk, peanut butter, brown sugar, water, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, sesame oil and red curry paste in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Remove from heat.
In a large skillet, add the minced garlic, chopped parsley and 1/4 cup of the peanut sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the squash, peanuts and 3/4 cup more sauce, stirring to coat all of the squash. Continue cooking until heated through. Garnish with parsley and more peanuts.
Store leftover sauce in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

November 28, 2014 by Mackenzie

Happy day-after Thanksgiving! How was your holiday? Mine was fantastic – I am back in Seattle and am so happy to be with my family and friends. We had a full house – family and friends from Spokane, California, New York, Indonesia… quite the holiday!

We tried a couple of new recipes this year – the Dutch Apple Pie from Dieter’s Downfall was my personal favorite! And Smitten Kitchen’s Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Praline Sauce was to die for! Then we did all of our standards – my stepdad’s stuffing, my aunt’s mashed potatoes, these lightened up sweet potatoes… One of my favorite appetizers is my Rosemary Roasted Cashews – we only make them for the holidays because they are so addicting!

Are you ready to switch gears to Christmas? Already there? Well, today I’m diving into Christmas cookies! These Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies are probably my favorite Christmas cookies of all time! I’ve been making them with my aunt since I was little and always know it is the holidays when we make these cookies!

I’m participating in a Christmas cookies roundup with some fellow bloggers! Check out their posts after the recipe for some more holiday favorites!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Recipe Type: Cookies

Cuisine: Christmas cookies, dessert

Author: Mackenzie

Serves: 36 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup turbinado sugar (or regular)
36 chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter until creamy and smooth. Add the peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Beat in the milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the peanut butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Cover and chill the batter for about an hour, or until firm enough to handle.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Pour the turbinado sugar into a small bowl.
Roll the batter into 1-inch round balls and roll each ball in the sugar until thoroughly coated in sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, place an unwrapped Chocolate Kiss into the center of each cookie – pressing down gently until the cookie just starts to crack. Allow to cool completely on a wire wrack.

An InLinkz Link-up

Peanut Butter Cheerio Treats

July 23, 2014 by Mackenzie

Rice Krispy Treats… always a childhood favorite! For whatever reason, I wasn’t a fan of rice krispy treats when I was growing up. It was always the post-game snack after soccer games or the summer camp go-to. But I just refused to like them. I honestly think it was because my mom loved them. Don’t you remember as a kid when your parent loved something and you just decided that you don’t like it, really just to spite them? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was why I never liked rice krispy treats – because my mom LOVED them. Well, when I got to college and discovered our campus bakery’s rice krispy treats, all of my rice krispy treat resolutions went flying out the window. The cafes sell individually packaged, just-made rice krispy bars and they are so good. Gooey, sticky, marshmallow-y… So much better than the store-bought kind! They quickly became my go-to library study treat and at the end of the school year, when I had to finish out my meal points, I bought ten of them to bring home for my mom and I! Oh, how things change 🙂 Well, I found this recipe on Pinterest awhile back and have been dying to try it. I’m not sure what took me so long – it is the simplest recipe! It took me a whopping ten minutes to make. And seeing as I did NOT need to eat them all, and I would have if they stayed in my kitchen, I brought them in to work to share with my coworkers. They were a hit! I watched several of the staffers casually wander by for seconds and even thirds! Ha 😀 It’s a fun twist to a classic treat!

Peanut Butter Cheerio Treats

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Mackenzie

Serves: 28

Recipe slightly adapted from JustJennRecipes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 (10 oz) bag marshmallows
6 cups cheerios (peanut butter cheerios, multigrain cheerios, honey nut…whatever your favorite is!)
1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Butter a 9×13 glass baking dish. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and peanut butter. Add the marshmallows and melt them down. Just as the marshmallows dissolve into the peanut butter, pour in the cheerios and stir it all together, making sure all the cheerios are coated in the peanut butter mixture.
Transfer the cheerios to the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Let sit for 10 minutes to set and cool and then serve!

Quinoa Peanut Soup

March 9, 2013 by Mackenzie

I made this soup for dinner last night because we had most of the ingredients already and we needed to use up the produce before we all left for break! The recipe comes from the most recent Eating Well magazine and it just sounded so good that I had to make it!

The proportions we used are quite different than the original recipe because we wanted to use everything in the fridge – almost all the veggies are doubled from what it calls for. But I think that made it better because we ate this as our main dish instead of as a first course or a side and so all the veggies made it more substantive and filling. The peanut butter gives it a really distinct flavor – transforming it from a traditional vegetable soup to one with some South American flare.

After every drop was cleaned from our bowls, I thought of one addition we should have made – peanuts. I think they would have complemented the existing flavor really well and been a perfect texture addition. Alas, I will have to try that next time!

Quinoa Peanut Soup
Recipe adapted Eating Well Magazine, April 2013
Serves 2, easily doubled

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 large red potato, fist sized, cubed, skin on
1/4 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
1/2 of a red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup peanut butter (more to taste – we added one more spoonful)
1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley (optional)
1/2 tablespoon hot sauce, tobacco (optional)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the carrots, potato, quinoa, broth and water. Bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover and cook for 18 minutes, until the quinoa is cooked and the vegetables are tender. Stir in red pepper and cook for another 3 minutes. Microwave the peanuts butter for 39 seconds or so to thin it out. Then stir it into the soup, mixing well. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley, hot sauce and pepper and serve!

Christmas Cookies #4: Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

December 13, 2012 by Mackenzie

I love these cookies! Peanut butter and chocolate… who wouldn’t love this combination?

Peanut Blossom Cookies
Recipe from joyofbaking.com

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
48 chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Directions:

Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until creamy and smooth. Add the peanut butter and sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 2 – 3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine. Beat in the milk. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the peanut butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Cover and chill the batter for about an hour, or until firm enough to roll into balls.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven.

Roll the batter into 1 inch round balls. Place the turbinado sugar in a shallow bowl and roll each ball in the sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for about 8 – 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, place a unwrapped Chocolate Kiss into the center of each cookie, pressing down gently until the cookie just starts to crack. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Mackenzie

A Look Back