Spaghetti Squash Bake

We are pretty big couch potatoes. Thank goodness we don't own a TV, or our brains would turn into mush from watching the tube 24/7. Because of studying, we've limited our TV time to only when we eat our meals. Yeah, I know... but meal time conversations are over-rated. Our favorite food network show is Diners Drive In and Dives with Guy Fieri. He has literally the best job in the world! Although, it also probably includes heart attacks, myocardial infarctions and hypertension over time :\

Anyway, in the episode he went to this restaurant called The Pitstop and introduced a new recipe for my blog. I couldn't wait to try it. Spaghetti squash is a great alternative to carb-y pasta and this dish can be made vegan (using nutritional yeast) or vegetarian. It's quick if you use bottled pasta sauce or you just have some lying around. And 1/2 a serving will make you extremely stuffed. So remember you're cooking for 2 :) You seriously won't miss the carbs in this dish. Even bubs liked it and he's a steak and potatoes kind of guy.

I have a pseudo scientific tip for the ladies this time! Enjoy.
Interesting Tip: Marry a Man with a LONG Ring Finger
A man with a longer ring finger has apparently been exposed to more testosterone in the womb. Dr. John Manning of Rutgers University. A person with high testosterone levels have been associated with being more logical, decisive and ambitious. But then too much testosterone means highly competitive and aggressive people douchebags. That's why women are such a good balance :D

So ladies, it's great if you meet someone at a bar and his muscles are rippling and he looks like a cross between Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt. But remember to look if he's got those "man" qualities with a long ring finger. If it's short and stubby... watch out. He could be a huge sissy.

Spaghetti Squash Bake
Adapted from the Food Network

Ingredients
1 Spaghetti Squash cut lengthwise
4 oz Mozzarella + Parmesan shredded (I also used 2% sharp cheddar)
1 tsp Rosemary or basil

Sauce
1/2 lb ground turkey (optional for vegetarians)
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 zucchini small
1 cup mushrooms sliced
1/2-1 can diced tomatoes (fire roasted)
4 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp Rosemary or basil
1 tsp Oregano (or italian seasoning)
pepper + salt

Preheat oven 350F.
Slice squash in half, scrape out the seeds and place fleshside down in a baking dish

Add 1/4 inch water. Bake for 40-50 mins or until tender.
While that's baking, let's make the marinara sauce!

If you already have left over pasta sauce or if you're going to use ready made pasta sauce, then you can skip this step! Or jazz up bottled sauce with vegetables and meat if you like. I actually doubled the recipe here to make leftover sauce for future meals.

Dice your onions, mince the garlic, slice zucchini into half moons, slice mushrooms.

In a large skillet, saute garlic and onion in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the turkey if you're a meat eater and cook until just brown. Add zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes and cook for another 5 mins. Add your seasoning herbs, pepper and salt to your liking.

I added tomato paste and let it simmer for about 8-10mins to make it more saucy.

Your spaghetti squash should be nice and soft. Careful because it is hot! You can scrape the strands inside and then transfer it to a bowl.

Using a fork, rake the flesh to create the "spaghetti" strands.

Mix in about 3/4 cup of the sauce, 1/2 of the cheese and remaining fresh rosemary.

Put it back into the squash shells, top it off with some extra sauce and remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Crack some fresh black pepper on top. Bake until the cheese begins to melt and bubble and create that lovely crust. About 10-11 mins.

HMM!

I added some sharp cheddar cheese under the mozzarella

Baked Jalapeño Cheese Poppers

Are you gearing up your liver for Cinco de Mayo?!  Más cerveza por favor! We're making some spicy Mex inspired party finger food. I don't have a potluck to bring it to, but maybe you do. Did you also know that Cinco de Mayo isn't a celebration of Independence in Mexico. I used to date a Mexican so I've been told 235398 times. Terrible. Here, it's a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. But also to commemorate the Mexican army's victory over ze French in the Battle of Puebla. It didn't really gain popularity until the 1980s when beer (think corona) capitalized and promoted the holiday.

Myth Buster: Our tongues are mapped into 4 areas: salty, bitter, sweet and sour
Busted! The entire tongue can taste these senses almost equally. We have taste receptors or taste buds concentrated on the surface of our tongues that can differentiate between different tastes based on different molecules or ions that binds to those buds. If we get to the deeper biology of things, sweet and bitter taste is triggered by activated G protein-coupled receptors; while salty from Na+/ sodium ions and sourness from H+ protons/ acid entering the cell. Don't ever believe those wine snobs who think you should direct wine to a certain area of your tongue to taste the different tones. Bogus.

Nerdy cooking tip: 
If you think you've over salted your food, just add some acidity like lemon juice. Since they both activate the same taste buds, the lemon juice will interfere with your salty taste receptors and fool your brain.
Thank you science.

Wow, that's 2 myth busters today... Also, don't forget to wear gloves or wash your hands after handling Jalapeño peppers. Or else fire in yo eye!

Baked Jalapeño Cheese Poppers
Prep time: 10mins          Cooking time: 20mins

Hot from the oven!

Ingredients

8-10 Jalapeño peppers - sliced in 1/2 (seeded if you hate spice in your life... haha kidding)

4 oz cream cheese (feel free to use fat free)

3 stalks scallions (chives, parsley, cilantro all work)

1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar

2 tsp Red Chili flakes (optional)
salt/pepper

1 egg

1/2 cup Panko crumbs

1/2 tbsp Chili powder

1/2 tbsp Cayenne

Salt/Pepper

Start washing your peppers and slice them in half lengthwise. Cut off the tops and deseed them.

Preheat the oven to 350F








In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, cheddar, chili flakes and a pinch of salt and lots of pepper.

Chop up your green onions finely and using mostly the green parts, mix it into your cream cheese mix. You can taste it and adjust it when you want it saltier or spicier







Stuff your deseeded peppers with the cream cheese mix.

In another small bowl, scramble an egg. This will be your binder for your breadcrumbs/ panko.








On a plate, lay out your panko crumb mix (with chili powder, cayenne). Adding paprika is nice too.

I used a seasoned breadcrumb mix of rosemary and lots of pepper. I think the panko would give it more crunch though.

Roll your stuffed pepper in the egg and then roll it around in the crumb mix. Coat it nicely.

Lay them out on a baking tray. You can sprinkle some olive oil over the poppers. But that can be skipped for lighter fare.

Let it bake for 25-30 mins or until you see that cheese oozing out!






Let it cool before you eat it. Or you'll burn the roof of your mouth like I did :(

Happy Early Cinco de Mayo!

Adapted from skinnytaste.com

Turkey Meatballs stuffed with Cheddar Cheese

The weather was super awful in DC, but now it's shining and sunny again! WOo! except it's always nice when I have to study. I can only enjoy the sun through the library windows. Sobfest *whine whine whine*


But the sun makes me scream for ice-cream! This brings me to health mystery of the day. What makes you get brain freeze after chugging down a slurpee? 


If you don't get brain freeze, you're probably not eating your ice-cream right.


Apparently, a science paper presented at the experimental biology conference this year, showed that brain freeze is accompanied by a rapid dilation of the anterior cerebral artery. Blood floods the brain when it senses cold and the increase in pressure induces pain. These results would be even better if they could figure out a way to prevent it so I can eat my milkshakes without going OWWwww... But seriously, this paper has bigger implications, including curing migraines and headaches.

Bubs was gone for the weekend, so I made these meatballs solo! They're healthy and delicious. And very juicy. Try it out!

Turkey Meatballs - Cheddar cheese stuffed served with lentils

Meatballs served over lentils and a bed of spinach

Ingredients
Lentil side:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 can of Fire roasted tomatoes
1/4 sliced onion
1/2 cup lentils
salt, pepper, chili flakes

Meatballs:
1 lb Ground turkey
1 egg
1/3 cup breadcrumbs (or 1 slice of bread crumbled)
1/4 finely chopped onions
2 tbsp of dried parsley
2 tbsp of chili flakes
1 tsp dried garlic
pepper/ salt
Cubes of sharp cheddar (or brie)

Let's prepare the lentils first!
Heat up the olive oil in a pot and fry up the garlic and onions until slightly translucent. Drop in the can of tomatoes and add the lentils. Simmer that while you make your meatballs.

In a bowl, add in all the ingredients except for the cheese. Using your hands mash it all up and massage it real good.








Shape 1/2 a ball in your hand and press the cheddar cheese into the middle and cover it up with more meat. This should make around 13 decent sized meatballs (2 inch diameter).

Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan and sear both sides of the meatballs until you get that lovely brown.








I popped it in the oven at 350F for about 10-15 mins. But if you make small enough meatballs, then you can just fry it until cooked.

Then you're done! The lentils should have been simmering in the pot for 30 mins. Try it and the lentils should be soft but still give some chew.

Serve your meatballs over a bed of lentils.





Have fun with the herbs you can add and even the cheese. I first though to use some soft Brie but my neighbor can't stand strong cheese. So I stuck with cheddar.

Hope you guys like it!

Look at that oozing cheese!

Oatmeal Ricotta Choc Chip Cookies

So I was thinking that I should do health myth busters or some factoid about medicine in each post. Ya know... just going along with the MD theme. For those who have asked. MD stands for Medicinae Doctor (latin). Like how JD stands for Juris Doctor, a law degree. So yea.. I realized people didn't get my blog name.. "does that stand for Mabel Dddd...duhhhh iono???!" 

@$&*@% it doesn't.

Soo.. I give you Health caution of the day. Don't Double Dip.

Studies show that every 3 times you dip that chip back into that delicious green salsa, that's 10,000 bacteria going from your mouth and to that reservoir of GERMS. And then imagine that going back into your mouth when everyone else has dipped in it maybe 2983 times?? 

HMM delicious. 

BUT that doesn't stop me from dipping my fries into mah ketchup a gazillion times. Ketchup is so damn good! Like suck it out of their packets good! What? Ketchup has 7% of my daily sodium intake in a tbsp? *shrug*

Bacteria, germs and what not. Now aren't you in the mood for cookies?? :D

These cookies are like pillows and healthier-than-your-mum's cookies. Only 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of olive oil in two dozen of these bad boys. My taste-tester bubs thought a stick went in. A good use to that left over ricotta you had making pasta. Give it a whirl!

Oatmeal Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chips!!!

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup Brown sugar + 2 tbsp white sugar

1⅓ cup Quick cooking oats (instant, rolled)

2/3 cup Ricotta

1/3 cup Yogurt (or just 2/3 cup yogurt w/o ricotta)

2 tbsp Vegetable oil + 2 tbsp melted butter

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 cup Chocolate chips

1/2 cup Nuts (optional)

I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I forgot about that while mixing my ingredients!
Anyhoo, mix all your dry ingredients from flour to oats in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate medium sized bowl, mix your wet ingredients (from ricotta to vanilla) until smooth. I melted my butter in the microwave for ~10 secs.

Then, add your wet to your dry ingredients and mix until no lumps or dry spots. The batter appears to be really dry but that's okay. The cookies come out really moist!

Fold in your chocolate chips and nuts if you like. Dried fruits like raisins are also yummy.

Bake them for 11-13 mins at 350F. Or until the edges are a little bit brown. These cookies appear a little pale because of the ricotta. So don't over bake them!

Leave them to rest on the tray for 5 mins and then leave them to cool.
Makes about 24 healthy cookies!

I enjoyed it with some tapioca pudding...nomzzz