At a loss, in so many ways!

Ravings: How do you raise someone else’s child once they’re already grown? That’s the dilemma I am faced with every day. How do I get him to value a hard day’s work? How do I get him to take pride in himself and the things he does? Aren’t these all things you instill into a child as they grow up? How do I take an 18 year old and shape him into an adult? I really am at a loss. He doesn’t seem to care about much at all, although he would argue that point.

God, clearly, has a sense of humor on this one. This is not exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted a child. I wanted an actual child. Not this man-child being who argues with everything and thinks I’m a materialistic, out of touch Martian, and breaks everything in his path! This is exactly why babies are born so cute and cuddly. So you can look back at those sweet times and curb that desire to lock them out of the house and pretend you don’t know them! I didn’t get that cute, sweet smelling baby time so can someone please tell me how I can keep from secretly moving in the middle of his 4 hour shift?

Cravings: I absolutely adore spaghetti squash. I even adore it knowing full well what a PITA (Pain in the ASS!) it is to make. Pomegranates and spaghetti squash are permanently adorned across all corners of my kitchen. I am sure of it. To start the job, I cut the squash into fourths and clean out the seeds and seed pulp. I doubt that’s the official name for it, but I have no desire to google spaghetti squash seed pulp and see what comes up. Just not feeling it today. Similar to the butternut squash I put the pieces into a pan bit a bit of water and put them in the microwave for 10 mins. I cut the squash into 4 pieces because that’s what fits in my microwave.

In the meantime, I chopped up about a half a sweet onion and then sautéed it with a couple heads of garlic, mashed. I added a small can of chopped green chilies and a can of enchilada sauce. You can make your own, which I’ve done, but it was a Wed’s evening so I went with the canned. I then added some salt, black pepper, dried thyme, and dried oregano. I covered it and let it simmer on low while I did the rest of dinner prep. Once the squash was cooked a cooled enough to handle with a towel, I began the scraping process. I did my squash in 2 batches, so while I was scraping the first batch, I was nuking the other batch. After a bit of yelling because the dishes weren’t done (see above rant!) and my kitchen isn’t even as big as a walk in closet, I had a bowl of spaghetti squash which I then added to the sauce.

While that was simmering a bit, I chopped up the rest of the rainbow chard and sautéed it with some olive oil, butter, and quite a bit of garlic (probably like 4-5 heads). I also added just a small bit of butter and salt at the end once I turned off the heat, just to finish it. This is my favorite way to eat it. It’s pretty (although you can't tell from this picture!) and so yummy!

I served the spaghetti squash with some grated white cheddar cheese alongside the sautéed rainbow chard with a glass of Layer Cake Shiraz. What a perfect meal! Oh, and I also had a scoop of Jeni’s pistachio and honey ice cream later in the evening. Food makes me happy!