Tuesday's (Newtritionista) Iron Chef Ingredient: Pumpkin

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I accidentally opened two cans of pumpkin puree over the weekend, when I only used a cup... (don't ask).... so I have ALOT of pumpkin to use. Today I decided to work it into every single meal!

Breakfast was Pumpkin Oats with Fage mixed with cherries on the bottom.


I ate ALL of the oatmeal, but I must admit, I ate very little of the yogurt (I did pick the cherries out). I want to like Fage so bad, and I just CAN'T. It tastes like sour cream. :-( And I have to put SO much stuff in it in order to make it bareable, the calorie content skyrockets. I prefer flavored Chobani. Why oh WHY can't they sell them around here?!

Work... sucked. Kids threw up, kids hit me, kids did this, kids did that... hmmm. Somehow, I do end up with a satisfied feeling at the end of the day, though. (Maybe I'm just proud that I didn't have a meltdown, scream and pull out all of my hair?! I don't know.)

Lunch break could not have come any sooner! I actually got to take it a little early today (Noon) because I had to go work in the infant room from 12:30 to 2:30. (The infant room is MUCH more relaxing... I love cuddling babies!)

For lunch I had packed another amaaaaaaazing salad. It consisted of romaine lettuce, sprouts, broccoli slaw, carrots, pumpkin, cauliflower, salsa, chickpeas and black beans. I drizzled on a tiny bit of light honey mustard dressing.


Then I had some leftover carrots from the kids' lunch. They were sweetened with maple syrup, I think, like on Thanksgiving! YUMMMMMM.




AND a peanut butter cookie. But it was small!



So I know I promised myself a workout today. However, I was little on my feet the ENTIRE day (except for my lunch break), and I WAS EXHAUSTED. Trust me, I exercised today. In fact, AARP says that the average childcare worker burns 211 calories per hour. I don't know about you, but I'd call 8 hours on the job a workout, then.

I had a hard time deciding on what to make for dinner. Kris wanted to heat up some of his leftovers, so I microwaved myself a spaghetti squash and turned it into a fantastic gourmet-esque meal.

Spaghetti Squash in a Spicy Pumpkin Marinara Sauce



The sauce's ingredients:
  • 1 15 oz. can of organic tomato sauce
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 jar 9 oz. jar Festival Spicy Garlic marinated mushrooms
  • 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 teaspoons hot sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • Ground Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Mix it all together and heat in a saucepan! The pumpkin adds an awesome flavor and works as a thickener. I LOVED this sauce. It especially complemented the spaghetti squash.

Here were the delicious mushrooms I added:


I had some steamed garlic asparagus on the side.


Ok. Bedtime. And I WILL get in a gym workout tomorrow. I will, I will, I will, I will.

7 comments:

Olga said...

O0o I love the idea of incorporating pumpkin into every meal, sounds great! You should enter your dinner into the BSI contest. Too good to pass up!

Maggie M. said...

Childcare is DEFINITELY a workout :) I love all the pumpkin!

Anonymous said...

Yum pumpkin! Sorry to hear about the rough work day and I agree Fage just isn't as good :( Hope today is mucho better!

I am Angie Pooh said...

Wow, you really worked pumpkin into all your meals! Amazing. :-)

I agree with you about Fage. Saw it in the blog world, tried it, hated it, and never bought it again! Lol.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

LOVE. ALL. YOUR. EATS.

Hang in there with work!!

Erica said...

You should submit your dinner for BSI! It looks great! I don't like fage either! Chobani is my fav greek yogurt! I'm sorry your day was so rough! I hope today is better :)

Anonymous said...

Fantastic dinner!!! I would definitely enter that in the BSI... And your salad was beautiful! Thanks for stopping by my blog yesterday! :)