Team K in the Kitchen!

So I'm not always the best at keeping up with this blog. *wah wah* But I AM keeping up with our "New Foods Challenge"! :)

January was Persimmon month and we loved it!

For February, we tried out spaghetti squash.

For some reason I am really intimidated by squash - acorn, butternut, even pumpkin! (Ok fine - I bake with pumpkin if I'm feeling particularly festive, but I buy the canned stuff from the store!) I'm just never sure what to do with squash!

As it turns out, spaghetti squash is pretty healthy! And bland!! Ha!!

In all honesty, it's super bland, but it can be super tasty when cooked with the right stuff. We tried it two different ways - as a bowl, and as a noodle substitute in a casserole. 

The bowls were great. Layers and layers of flavour, like a lasagna. Like twice baked lasagna in an edible bowl and without all the carbs! Here were the layers: herbed chicken mixed with pesto (not any ordinary pesto, but THIS STUFF which blew my mind), a seasoned ricotta and parmesan mixture, and fresh chopped tomatoes! With a final layer of mozzarella on top, it was perfect! Nom nom nom!!!

Even better than that was the mexican casserole. SO easy and SO delicious, I actually made it, and then made it again two weeks later!

Basically, it's well-spiced ground turkey mixed with spaghetti squash, diced tomatoes, corn, green peppers, black beans, and cheese! Baked and served with sour cream and diced avocado. Beautiful!

Spaghetti squash was definitely a success in our house!

Following spaghetti squash, March was time for steel cut oats.

I am all about a big bowl of oatmeal on a cold winter morning, or as far as March is concerned, a cold "spring" morning! *commence eye roll* But I always use quick cook oats or rolled oats for our oatmeal, so I thought we'd give steel cut a try!

Yeah… definitey not a fan. 

Luke loved all the recipes, but I decided that I prefer my oatmeal crunch-free (except maybe the occasional walnut or pecan). 

I tried it three ways : cooked on the stove, cooked overnight in a crockpot, and put in a mason jar in the fridge overnight and heated in the microwave in the morning. The last one was my favourite, and in fact the only one I was willing to take a picture of.

 I couldn't resist getting a picture of it beside the matching purple hyacinth! 

JOY comes in the morning! :)

This was really creamy and delicious and easy. You put oats, almond milk, vanilla greek yogurt, jam (any fruit, I used my homemade blueberry jam), and vanilla extract into a mason jar, shake it really well, and then put it in the fridge overnight. I stuck mine in the microwave in the morning and then topped it with some blueberries! 

Taste was 10/10, but texture was iffy for me. I would, however, make this again with rolled oats!

I wanted to also try grinding the steel cut oats up and making bread or scones. I didn't get to it in March, but maybe later this year!

April will be full of a fresh flavour that reminds me of spring - asparagus!!! As far as "new foods" are concerned, this one is *kind of* cheating, because I've eaten asparagus before, but I've never cooked it. Also I've only eaten it two different ways, so I thought I'd try to find some unique ways to prepare it. Stay tuned. :)