Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Greek Chicken

I posted this pic on Instagram and Facebook about a month ago with this caption: 

"Roasted spaghetti squash with Greek chicken, tomatoes, spinach, feta cheese and pine nuts. Food porn! Who wants the recipe?"

Got a lot of people asking for the recipe. My mother-in-law even texted me for the recipe the next day so she could make it for dinner.

I had every intention of getting the recipe up here on Domestic 360 ASAP, and it just hasn't happened until now. No excuses, just haven't gotten around to it. Other posts took priority. I am finally getting around to posting this really easy, super yummy and healthy dinner recipe.

If you want to make this a Paleo dish, just leave out the pine buts and cut back on the cheese.
Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Greek Chicken

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 cup diced fresh tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes, drained of most of the liquid 
• 1 bag of fresh baby spinach
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Greek seasoning (I used Pampered Chef but you can make your own using this recipe)
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• a few drizzles of extra virgin olive oil (the really good stuff!)
• 1/4 balsamic vinegar, or balsamic vinaigrette
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion (I didn't include because we don't like onions)
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (red, yellow or orange)
• 1/2 cup slivered Kalamata olives (no pits, obviously)
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 1/2 cup feta cheese (or a little more according to your tastes)

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cut the squash in half long way. Scrape out the seeds and the bit of stringy flesh that surrounds the seeds. I usually use a grapefruit spoon for this. Put the two squash halves cut side up in a glass baking dish. brush the inside of the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add about one inch of water to the baking dish. Bake at 425F, until the squash is tender, about 45  minutes to one hour.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute garlic and onions with some olive oil until tender and onion is translucent. Add chicken, Greek seasoning, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook until done, no pink!

Add tomatoes, spinach and bell peppers and cook until the spinach is wilted. Remove from  heat. Stir in lemon zest, pine nuts and olives. 

Once the squash is cooked, scrape the flesh to loosen the strands. Fill the squash with the chicken mixture and top with lots of feta cheese. Put it back in the oven and bake until the cheese just starts to brown. 

My Whole 30 Journey - Guacamole Chicken Salad Recipe

Guacamole is one of those things that, up until recently, I was convinced I hated. I had never had any guacamole that I liked and I thought I hated it so much that I was sure I hated avocados in general. Oh how wrong I was! 

As it turns out I LOVE avocados and guacamole. It was the onions in guacamole that I hated. I don't like onions, like super don't like them. I pick around them in pretty much anything that contains them. I won't eat anything that has too much of an onion flavor, especially a raw onion flavor. 

Sometimes I get sad if I go to dig into something that I usually really like and I get a huge mouth full of onion flavor. If I'm really hungry and PMSing I have been known to cry over this culinary catastrophe. I just really don't like onions.

Guacamole Chicken Salad

All that said, take the onions out of guacamole and you have one of my favorite dishes of all time! Toss in some fresh cilantro and tomatoes and you've got a flavor explosion!  Add the fact that avocados are packed with healthy fats and I'm totally on board!

My brother makes the best guacamole. He is the one who converted me. His secret? Fresh squeezed orange juice. 

I took his recipe for awesome guac and added some grilled chicken and orange bell peppers and served it over a bed of lettuce and BAM! an awesome Whole 30 approved meal that is packed with good for you foods. Trust me, your body and your taste buds will be thanking you!

One of the things I like to do at the beginning of the week, is grill or boil some chicken that I then chop or shred it and leave it in the fridge for salads or other quick meal options. If you have the chicken already cooked you can toss this meal together in 10 minutes. You can even use store bought guacamole if you want an even easier fix. Whole Foods has fresh guacamole made every day in the produce section.

Guacamole Chicken  Salad

• 2 breasts of chicken, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces or shredded
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 sweet bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tomato, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1-2 clove(s) garlic, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 orange, juiced
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional: chopped onion, chopped jalapeno

Scoop the avocados into a large bowl and add the lime, lemon and orange juices. Smash up the avocado with a potato masher or a fork until smooth. Stir in garlic, salt, pepper and cilantro. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until the everything in well coated with avocado. Serve over a bed of lettuce.

That's it ladies and gentlemen! 

Super simple, quick, delicious, and healthy meal. 

Enjoy this!

Let me know what you think of the recipe.

XOXO,

Coco

P.S. Lucky you! You have stumbled upon two recipes in one! Just leave out the chicken and you have the best guacamole recipe on the face of the planet! You're welcome :)

T-Shirt Scarf - Quick and Easy DIY

Here is another one of my homemade Christmas gifts.

Its a...

T-SHIRT SCARF

woohoo!

This project literally took me about 30 mins to make.  I think it turned out super cute and my sister-in-law (well they aren't married, but I consider her my SIL) loved it. She is a really cute little college student who is studying dance and has a great and easy style about her.

I had a feeling this would be perfect for her. T-shirt scarves are so easy to throw on and go out the door to class. It livens up an outfit without trying too hard or having to think too much before having coffee.

I used a scrap of leftover jersey fabric that I stitched into a tube and then cut into strips, but there is a really great tutorial for using an existing t-shirt on Tiny Anchors. Check it out and make your own or one for a friend, its so EASY!

Little Girl's Reversible Skirt (really quick and easy tutorial)

I really, really love my son and I love my nephew, but I LOVE having a niece! I love having someone to make little pink things for. She likes dolls and to play dress-up, she is a girl after my own heart. I think she would wear her princess dresses to church if her parents would let her. 

For Christmas (and birthdays  I try to give my niece things other than toys (kids -including mine- have waaaaaay too many toys.) While she is young, I want to give her little sweet things, like clothes and other treasures that she can keep forever and give to her kids one day. My mom made me and my sister so many cute clothes that I can't wait to put on my daughters (if I have any) one day. 

This year, I made my niece this darling little reversible skirt using the tutorial from Fashioned by Meg. It was really simple to put together. It only took me about an hour. The tutorial was very easy to understand straight forward. I love the way it turned out!

The Savannah Bag

My wonderful niece, Savannah, just started preschool and her mom asked me to make her a bag to put her folders and papers into. I had such a good time picking out the fun fabrics and ribbons. 

The only problem I had while making this bag is that my niece has such a long name that it was had to make it fit. The original plan was to write her name with fabric applique letters diagonally across the bag... Yeah, there was no way that was going to happen. So, I ended up adding a strip of fabric around the bottom of the bag and just painting the letters on. I like the way it turned out.

I used the tutorial  for The Twenty Minute Tote from Molly's Sketchbook over at the Purl Bee. (P.S. I love the Purl Bee Blog, check them out for some great inspiration!) I modified the pattern a little, added some ribbons to the top of the bag, added the fabric stripe to the bottom, and made the straps out of fabric instead of using webbing. Its a super easy and quick pattern, and the tutorial is really clear and simple to follow.

I also made a little pompom flower that can be pinned to the bag or be a hair clip! Just cut out a bunch of little circles of fabric. Fold them into quarters, stick a threaded needle through the corner of each folder circle and bunch them all up at the end of the thread. Loop the needle through the whole bunch a few times to secure and then knot. Add a small circle of felt to the back of  the pompom, stitch a safety pin to the felt and hot glue on a small hair clip. That's it! Easy!

(Jude didn't like having a flower in his hair)