Recipe RAVE: Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Three words....YUM, HEALTHY, and EASY! 

If you've never tried this before, put 'spaghetti squash' on your next shopping list.  If you don't know what to look for, hunt for a yellow egg-shaped squash a bit smaller than a football.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH SPAGHETTI

By: Who Knows

It's too easy to give credit anyway....like giving credit for bread and butter; right?  But I will have to give Mrs. Denbow a big "thank you" for introducing me to it.

Serves: 4-5

Time: 25-30min

Ingredients:

1 - Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Sauce (same as regular spaghetti)

Cheese (parmesan, mozzarella)

Directions:

1.  In a large sauce pan w/ 3in sides, bring to boil 1.5-2 inches of water.

2.  Cut squash in half END to END & scoop out seeds.

3.  Place 1/2 of squash in boiling water face down for 15-20min. (see pic)

4.  Prepare sauce. (May need to start this earlier if it takes longer than Step 3).

5.  Remove squash (use a fork).

6.  Hold squash upright and scrape out squash. (see pic)

7.  Add sauce & eat! (see pic)

(Step 3)

(Step 6)



(Step  7)

NOTES: 

- You don't have to 'cover' when boiling the squash, but will alter cook time & temp a bit.

- Basically ALL but the rind is edible when scraping out middle after cooking; no wasting! :)

Movie: Exit Through The Gift Shop (2010)

If you think "tagging" (spray painting buildings with various graphics/pics/etc) is cool and like documentaries, you'll enjoy this movie.  As for me, I could have skipped this one and maintained my intelligence level and probably gotten something constructive accomplished......despite the high reviews it received by both critics and movie goers; see below.

Don't expect action, laughter, anything jaw-dropping, suspenseful, or overly dramatic.  It's simply the story of a nut who really likes the video camera and follows well-known taggers around the world until he becomes a tagger himself.  He then follows in the footsteps of some of those taggers and puts on an art exhibit and makes a chunk of money all the while revealing how nutty he is.  The End.

I'll give it only 2.73 out of 5 stars.  It is Rated R for "some language".  From what I saw, it could have been PG-13 pretty easily, but because it was about an illegal activity that makes our cities and towns look like trash (most of the time) I like the rating.

RottenTomatoes (click the link to read more reviews and to see the trailer)
Movie Watchers rated it: 92%
Critics rated it 97%

A Neat Community Event

Here are several pictures from the Knoxville, TN 3rd Annual Chalk Walk.  After experiencing the atmosphere I was left wondering why all cities don't have one of these events.  Very cool!!!  In addition to the fun, there were cash prizes for the winners of each category. 



Did you guess who she is??? L.T.

Clever.

 One of the competition's categories was 'film'.

Next to this Fox & The Hound drawing was the DVD box with the same picture.  Impressive!

These two ladies, Helen and Ellen, twin sisters, run the "Love Kitchen" in Knoxville.  A place where homeless or poor folks can get a free meal.  They make several thousand meals a day and even use volunteers to deliver.  They apparently made an appearance on the Oprah show and I recently saw them on an episode of "Secret Millionaire" filmed in Knoxville.  If you need a hug, a good example of a humble servant, or dose of Jesus just walk in the door and say hello. 

This elephant was really neat.  Cool (well, warm...harhar) colors.  That's as funny as this post is getting, sorry.

  



I'll give this event an A+.  GREAT for families, creates community, a good reason to get out, low (or no) tax-payer cost, generates business for surrounding establishments, and lots of fun.  Can't wait for next year!

Recipe RAVE! Bet You Can't Eat Just One!

This is a YUMMY dessert that Tami (my wife) found in the Kraft Food & Family magazine (Summer '09 issue, pg.25).  If you have small kids, this is a great recipe everyone can enjoy making.  We'll be making this LOTS I think for years to come.

Cookies & Cream Pudding Pops

Prep: 10min + Freezing

Servings: 9

Ingredients:
1 pkg./box (3.9oz) Jell-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
2c cold Milk...as opposed to the warm kind??? Weird.
6-9 Oreo cookies
1/2c Cool Whip Whipped Topping thawed

9 Small Cups (like Dixie Cups). Plastic worked great.
9 Popsicle sticks (or plastic spoons)

Directions:
1. Beat pudding mix and milk in large bowl with whisk; 2min.
2. Place cookies in Ziploc bag; smash them up.
3. Add cookies and Cool Whip to pudding; stir until blended.
4. Spoon into 9 cups..
5. Insert Popsicle stick/spoon into each for a handle.
6. Freeze for about 5hrs or until firm.  Now eat 'em!

Don't worry about the leftovers....you'll figure out what to do with those when the kids hit the sack! :)  Good find babe!  A+.....again.  I think Isaac approves too!

MOVIE: 127 Hours

If you like suspense, stories of perseverance, will-power, and survival, you'll enjoy this movie and might bite off a nail or two in the process; it's on DVD now (go rent it!)

If I had to say something negative about the movie, I wish they would have taken about 15 minutes out of the middle of the movie and created a nice ending; it's pretty abrupt after all the suspense.  It's like needing a cool-down after a hard workout. 

Positives...a good story that keeps you interested and gets your nerves, GREAT camera work, and the movie makes you feel like you're right there with him...if not 'actually in his shoes'.  I also liked that I didn't know any of the actors.  The new face, James Franco, made it more 'real' and less 'movieish'.

I'll give it a 4.32 out of 5 stars.  It is Rated R, but no sex/nudity although it's implied briefly.  Rating is mostly for a bloody/graphic intense scene.

RottenTomatoes movie watchers rated it at 93% and the critics gave it 85%. Click the link to read more reviews and to see the trailer.

Enjoy!

In Case You Didn't Know...

Migraines suck.