Rainbow Salad

A head of red cabbage, a head of romaine, matchstick carrots, a cucumber, a squash, an apple, red onion, grapes, a tomato, a celery, & an orange bell pepper.


I'll take Random Foods in Alison's Fridge for $1,000, Alex.


Pretty much anything goes in Rainbow Salad. The brighter & more diverse the colors the better!

Rainbow Salad

1/4 head red cabbage
1 small head romaine or green leaf lettuce
handful matchstick carrots
1 cucumber, diced
1 squash, diced
1/2 apple, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
handful of grapes, cut in 1/2
1/2 bunch of radishes, sliced thin
nuts, toasted
cheese (Feta, mozarella, monterey jack, or other white cheese)
vinaigrette salad dressing (I prefer a balsamic or raspberry vinaigrette)

~ Alison

Oven Roasted Asparagus

I love all oven roasted vegetables!  Even though it's not probably quite as healthy as steamed, I definitely prefer veggies caramelized in the oven.  Mmmmm... and oven roasted is really the only way to eat asparagus.  NEVER canned.  Ever.  Ew.  Don't do it.  And if you do, don't tell me about it.

I probably let mine roast a little longer than the average person would,

 I like them a little charred and crispy. 

What Ya Need:

fresh asparagus

olive oil

kosher salt

cracked pepper
Optional:  garlic or parmesan cheese!

What Ya Do:
1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2.  Snap off the end of one of the stalks so you can see where the natural break would be.  Then line it up with the rest and just chop them all to the same size.  It will only be 1-2 inches.
3.  Place on baking sheet & drizzle with olive oil.  Just enough to cover evenly.
4.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper & and any additional toppings you'd like to try (garlic bits or parmesan cheese)
5.  Roast for about 15 minutes.  It should be tender, but not soggy and definitely not too tough
6.  Enjoy!

I could eat a whole platter of this by myself!

~Kristie

Spaghetti Squash with Almonds

We have a problem. Eli wants to take a nap right about the time when I have to leave to pick up Braden from school.

So, about 2 weeks ago I grabbed my Real Simple magazine that I splurged on & left early to get Brother from school. The magazine cover boasted "A month of easy dinners" so I decided that I would make a grocery list while Eli napped and at 2 get Braden from class, go by WalMart on the way home & begin making dinner. An hour in a car with quiet, my ipod, & a magazine I've had for 5 weeks but have been too busy to read.

They had a section on squash & I have never really made squash. And since I'm up for trying new things & will not be intimidated by a recipe (even when I probably should) I bought my squash & figured I will make it & love it & learn something new.

Going to give Spaghetti Squash with Almonds a try.



This is where I'm frustrated w/ Blogger. I can't rotate a pic???



That was 2 weeks ago.

The squash has been sitting on my counter untouched for 2 weeks. 

My husband is beginning to drop hints, "have we used that squash?" "When are we going to make the squash?"



I've been dragging my feet b/c for some reason the sound of spaghetti squash sounds unappealing.

... and that's being kind...

 So Braden & I decided Today will be the day! And began making the squash while Eli napped. 

Okay, after some brute force & a really big knife, we got that bad boy open.

The 4yr old & I, each armed with a soup spoon, bagan digging. Of course, why would you use a spoon when you have God-given hands that God gave you for the sole purpose of getting messy playing with squash guts while chanting, "Getting messy is fun." God gave me boys.

Gross hands covered in squash guts it is.

As we're digging out the squash guts I'm noticing that the seeds have sprouted. Not just a little sprout. 7 inch long sprouts that have roots & leaves. Gross.

Of course, I can't mention that I'm a little grossed out b/c Braden will pick up on it & decide that the squash is inedible & my ultimate goal, remember, is that I want to make it & love it & learn something new. And by "I want to make it & love it," what I really mean is that I want to make it & love it & my kids eat it enough to warrant the giant pain this is becoming. 



Okay. Roasted the squash.

Now, "With a fork, gently scrape the squash flesh into the bowl."

As Turk from Scrubs would say, "Learn by doing."

Here we go!

I must say, for my first time I did a rather fine job!

Surprisingly, somebody liked it!

The verdict: Braden & I thoungt it was gross.

Jason & Eli liked it & would like it again.

Unfortunately for them, I do the meal planning, grocery shopping, & cooking so they can look for it at a restaurant. Good luck with that. 

Thanks for reading. This was a fun post.

~ Alison