I hope you guys had a fantastic weekend! Mine was full of a little of this and a little of that, but the highlight? The most MARVELOUS part was most definitely getting together with the besties for A Toast to Tennessee Wine Festival on Saturday!
We got all gussied up and made the trek to Nashville for a day of fun in the sun that started with wine glasses hanging from our necks (seriously, whose brilliant idea was THAT?!). The event was held at Nashville Shores waterpark and with over TWENTY Tennessee wineries represented, we knew it wouldn’t be long before…well, I’m sure you can guess! 😉
Our sweet, angelic PRE-buzz faces!
What goes well with wine? Cheese and crackers of course…even better when they’re FREE (samples)!
Yup, totally need one of these at my house!
This was right after we found the tent serving up the “healthy” pours…and then proceeded to taste everything they had on the table! 😉
Break for food!
My French fries were obviously so good they deserved a close up! 😆
And what happens when you get a bunch of winos together and a DJ puts on The Cha Cha Slide? Yeah, you better BELIEVE I was right there next to those girls after I stopped long enough to secure some future blackmail snap a picture! 😉
For the record, we DID have a DD (thanks Ms. D for putting up with all our crazy drunken antics!) and also for the record, we are already planning our trip for next year! Oh and check it out, I actually practiced some restraint with my “souvenirs”…
Let’s just hope the Cajunfest is as good as I “remember” it being 30 minutes before we closed down the park! Lol
The day was absolutely perfect…warm and sunny with just enough of a breeze to keep us cool while we were shaking our groove thangs! So many laughs and even MORE memories made with my two favoritest women in the whole world! This is seriously going down as one of the best days EVER!
Oh and I just have to share one more little snippet from the day. A conversation bestie #1 (the blonde) had with a complete stranger:
Bestie: “Oh wow, I really love your dress!” Stranger: “Oh, thank you!” Bestie: “I’d totally get one of those if I had the boobs to fill it out.” Stranger: “Oh, well, /mine are fake” Bestie: “Seriously?! But they look SO real!” Stranger: “You bet! Wanna feel?”
Incredibly filling, this spaghetti squash dish, topped with creamy, garlicky avocado sauce, is ready in 30 minutes or less…and you’d never guess it’s VEGAN!
What’s that? A SAVORY dish?! I know, I know…I was a bit surprised myself when I first concocted this rich and creamy sauce. I was not so surprised, however, that after my first taste, that I wasted ANY time hunting down a spatula to scrape the blender clean!
This meal is perfect for those nights when you come home from work and all you want is a quick and easy dinner you can put on the table eat in your lap while you sit with your fuzzy slippered feet up.
Precook your spaghetti squash at the beginning of the week and it can be even easier…all you have to do is heat it up! Or you could be lazy strange like me and eat it cold! 😉
Either way, this recipe NEEDS to be in your regular menu rotation!
A great source of healthy fats and protein, with enough veggies to please any volume eater, this gluten-free dish is sure to satisfy! And if your meat-eaters still think something lacking, just top it with some grilled chicken or shrimp!
1. Cook spaghetti squash in the microwave according to these instructions.
2. While the squash cooks, combine remaining ingredients (except for the mixed vegetables) in a small blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Adjust seasonings as necessary.
3. After the squash has finished cooking, fluff with a fork and then add sauce and vegetables and serve in the peel.
Who needs to dirty up dishes when your food comes with its own disposable bowl?! 😉
And just because this recipe makes me think of sunshine and warm weather (which I’m hoping we get this weekend), I’m busting out my spring-ified logo!Be sure to head on over to Sprint 2 the Table to see what other #strangebutgood creations are being linked up this week!
What is your favorite way to eat spaghetti squash?
I promised you guys a post on my thoughts of the 21-Day SP Cleanse I did last month and well, it looks like I’ve finally found a way to string all those thoughts all together. First off, I just want to say that I am not making light of post-traumatic stress disorder. I mean that title in the most serious way possible. But before I get to that, let’s back up a bit…oh and I’ll just warn you, this post maybe be a little TMI in some parts. 😯
I started the detox completely level-headed with a promise to listen to my body and give it all up if I started to feel it was too restrictive. In the nine days that I was cleansing, there were some ups and downs…mostly due to the incredible amount of bloating that I experienced from the overabundance of vegetables, but I never thought I felt deprived.
I’ve known for a while that my body doesn’t process fiber like everyone else. Even after experimenting with the types of fiber I consume and being sure to stay hydrated, I’ve never been what some would call “regular”. I thought with the complete body reset that this cleanse boasted, that somehow things would be different…but they weren’t. In the week and a half, I had maybe two “normal” bowel movements. On the night of day four, bloated to the point of looking six months pregnant, I decided I would throw in the towel in the morning, but for some odd reason, I woke up feeling amazing…with absolutely no bloat. Still not sure about that one. Maybe the fiber fairies came in my sleep? 😉
Anywho…I went for the NEXT four days feeling excited about food. The creative juices were flowing through me. I was coming up with new food combos. I was rediscovering old foodie flames. But then the bloat came back.
Womp womp.
So that’s when I said “fuck it”, came home from work, and scrambled up some eggs with toast because I felt like it was just going to be an endless (and painful) cycle…and well, let’s face it, I was pretty sick of carrying around an air freshener in my back pocket, if you know what I mean!
Some things I learned:
1. My body does NOT tolerate green lentils…though I’m fine with red ones.
2. RAW cruciferous veggies do horrible things to my system.
3. Just like Laura, I feel that without an ample amount of protein, my energy is incredibly low.
But the biggest thing, and the thing I didn’t realize until just last week…
4. No matter the level of restriction, a cleanse/detox/anything that regards any food as “off-limits” brings back the dieting mentality in me.
Arman explained it really well in his recap of the Whole 30 program. Even though he too tailored it to his needs, he mentioned that it started to bring back some old thought patterns. It wasn’t until I did some journaling this past weekend, that I was able to see MY old thoughts that had been trickling back in…
Starting with the first night of “real” food post cleanse. At the bestie’s party where I was bombarded with so.many.CARBS! I had to have them…ALL! Of course, at the time, I wasn’t in tune with my body enough to know what was going on in my head. At the time, I chocked it up to my history with the big bad buffet, but in hindsight I see that I obviously was having a dieting flashback where the once “forbidden” food was now free game!
This happened again with my second trip to the Indian buffet last weekend. It was not just an “oops I overdid it” moment. After coming home from the restaurant, I polished off an entire bag of cinnamon sugar pita chips. It was not a proud moment for me. Just like they mentioned in Intuitive Eating, this was a classic moment of using food as punishment.
The previous week had been a series of bingeing…”get back on track”…and bingeing again. I guess now you can see what I meant by the teeter totter reference in yesterday’s post. I couldn’t see it at the time, but every time I binged, I allowed myself to feel guilt and every time I promised to “do better” the next day, I allowed myself to cling to that dieting mentality again.
After journaling and also getting some advice from a very dear blend, I’ve learned even more…
1. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve started labeling foods as good and bad again. If I’m going to get back to a place of balance and moderation, I HAVE to focus on the food and how it makes me feel…both physically and mentally.
2. I’m a lot more comfortable “indulging” when I’m with someone else who’s doing the same, but alone, the feeling is totally different.
3. I need to put more thought into preparing MEALS instead of throwing something together quickly that may or may not fill me up.
4. Eggs, eggs, EGGS!
Eating more savory…with a little sweet mixed in…is the BEST way to pull myself out of a funk and get me back to feeling normal again. Ok, so maybe that’s nothing NEW but c’mon, these babies are just too gorgeous not to share again!
No questions today, just your thoughts! Though please be gentle…this post was not easy to publish. 😕
My name is Heather! I'm a southern gal with a passion for food, fitness, and photography...and alliteration if you didn't notice! Here you'll find a mix of random musings, delicious recipes, and hopefully a chuckle or two! Check out my "About' tab to learn more!
What goes well with wine? Cheese and crackers of course…even better when they’re FREE (samples)!
