Paleo Pesto Spaghetti Squash Noodles with Bacon

 I made Paleo Pesto Spaghetti Squash Noodles with Bacon and a Mango, Banana Peach smoothie for dinner.

Finished product. Tasted like Pesto pasta too!

It is beginning the slow descent into autumn. So I decided to pull out a spaghetti squash recipe. I may do one more summer dish as an au revoir...but a part of me is totally ready for fall. I am a jeans and t-shirt/sweater kind of gal. Also, since I grew up in Michigan, I have a sweet spot for everything and anything fall.

For example:

Anything with apples is fantastic. Michigan apples, apple crisp, apple pie, etc.

Apple cider and Cinnamon donuts are a must.

Pumpkin Carving and roasting pumpkin seeds.

Thanksgiving is practically the best holiday because it involves food and my family.

Haunted Houses are super fun. In high school I'd go with my friends.

My birthday is in the fall. Gosh this year I'll be 25! 

Pumpkin Spice lattes from Starbucks = delicious.

Buying candy as an adult and eating almost all of it. (Not so good for my health but good for my inner child yes.)

Apple picking is always awesome.

I guess fall is my favorite season because there’s so much going on and I have so many great memories. When I was a kid and we were apple picking, I'd try to find the perfect apple and then devour it. Once I was done, I'd try to throw it as far as I could in the orchard (of course, away from other people.) Also, my mom would make home-made apple sauce. She'd churn a ton of apples over the stove after we came back from picking. It was great because the whole house would smell like apples. She’d then freeze the leftovers which were always a fantastic surprise after fall was over. My mouth salivates when I think of it. If I was on death row, I'd want my Mom's apple sauce, ratatouille,pizzelle cookies, and my Dad's steak. There's nothing like home cooked food. Food enriches all your experiences and creates memories.

 Wow, after all this talk of fall, I guess I need to find some fall-inspired recipes to share! :) <3

Anyways, let's get to it!

First thing I did was preheat my oven to 400 degrees. I got my Spaghetti Squash at Whole Foods. 

Make sure it is yellow. Sometimes they will be a pale cream. It typically isn't ready yet until it's yellow or light yellow. Then get a pan big enough to fit your squash, line the bottom with aluminum foil and bake for 60 minutes. Some recipes will tell you to do 30-45 minutes. I've felt like the squash never gets done enough, so I do 60 minutes to ensure that it is done. Word of advice: Don't ever try cutting the raw squash in half unless you are either A) have incredible super strong strength or B) want to chop a finger off for fun. If you're A, good for you! If you're B, you got some issues dude.

While that's cooking, I then made the avocado pesto sauce. 

I chopped my lemon into quarters to fit my lime squeezer. My lemon one broke. Womp womp. Sad face. :(

Squeeze the crap out of that lemon! The recipe called for 2 tablespoons but I figured might as well use half of a lemon.

Grab 2 garlic cloves and minced them.

Using my lovely Ninja. I also added 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Then I chopped up some basil leaves till it filled loosely 1/4 cup.

Then grab your avocado! Don't squeeze it. Your avocado should be slightly firm. If it's mushy it may be too ripe.

This is how I check for ripeness. At the store, I pop off the little dry end of the stem. If it's green then it will be ready to go. If it's brown then don't pick it. It will probably be slimy and brown.

Then I chopped up the avocado into cubes and threw it in my Ninja to blend until you get a smooth sauce.

Then, we cooked up some Applegate bacon. I like how there's no nitrates or artificial ingredients. 

Glorious bacon!

Once the squash is done, take a spoon and scoop out the seeds. Spaghetti squash guts! Reminds me of pumpkin carving a bit.

Then scoop out the spaghetti squash. It will come out to strings! You may get some clumps but you can break them apart with your spoon or nuke in the microwave to soften more. Then I added the pesto sauce!

We also made some Mango, banana peach smoothies for dessert. We used frozen mango sorbet, organic orange juice, frozen bananas and frozen peaches. It was quite delicious!

Creamy Avocado Pesto Sauce:

1 avocado, chopping into chunks

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 C. of fresh basil, chopped

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

Dash of crushed Red Pepper flakes

Directions: 

Place in blender or food processor and blend until a smooth creamy sauce.

Pesto recipe is based off of livegreenhealthy's instagram account.

Stay tuned for more fun and rambling from me!

Emma