You know that I am no stranger to swapping out pasta for veggies. Zucchini Lasagna anyone? Or how about this tasty zoodle recipe? Well, I am really trying to get back on track with my diet and exercise (because this baby weight is not going to lose itself, unfortunately.) Using Spaghetti Squash is a tasty and easy way to get more veggies, and less carbs in your diet. You can eat a ton of this spaghetti squash dinner and not feel guilty about loading up on all that pasta!

Additionally, PH has finally admitted he may have gluten sensitivity issues. There is gluten free pasta out there, and you can hunt down a quality brand that doesn't immediately taste like cardboard. Spaghetti Squash tastes so much better! Everyone loves Spaghetti for dinner, and with Spaghetti Squash pasta it is back on the menu in our house!

​Cooking spaghetti squash for this spaghetti squash dinner is super easy. Follow the pictures below to see how!

With your squash all ready, you just need to cook your meat and sauce as you normally would for a spaghetti dinner. I used lean ground beef this time. You could also use turkey meat if you'd like.

Here is how I do it:

Spaghetti Meat Sauce
1. Brown 1 pound lean ground beef with 1/4 cup white onion in a skillet.
2. When meat is cooked add in one can tomato sauce.
3. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, and Italian seasoning.
4. Let simmer about 10 minutes.
5. Serve over spaghetti squash noodles
6. Top with Parmesan cheese

Your spaghetti squash will make a lot of noodles. You can eat more and fill up on veggies. We still had plenty of leftovers, so guess what I ate for lunch the next day?

This chicken taco soup recipe happened because I didn't know what to make for dinner and I didn't want to go to the grocery store. I'm telling you, having food storage is so important. It can be really fun to figure out what you can eat simply from what you have in the house.

The results can be magical. A Magical taco soup that your husband will rave about.

I am always a fan of anything you can do in a Crock Pot, especially now with a five month old baby who doesn't always like when mommy is busy in the kitchen and doesn't have her attention 100% turned to the cute little rolly baby rolling all over the place. I can throw something in the Crock Pot and not think about it, and hours later have a tasty meal.

Now, my mom has a recipe for taco soup that she uses that is a little different from this one. I wanted to try and come up with my own thing, because, options. Options are always good my friends.

You could cook the chicken as the first part of the recipe calls for and then shred it for chicken tacos. That would be totally legit and delicious. If you're in the mood for tacos, without the tortilla, this chicken taco soup is the answer! So check your pantry and get to soup making!

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I am excited to share today's post with you because it was the first time I got to make a cake for someone in a long time (like really decorating a cake) and I enjoyed it! It was also my first time making a pinata cake, and it was a lot of fun!

About a month ago a girl I go to church with said she was looking for a cake maker for a cake she needed rather quickly. I told her I could probably do it for her if she didn't need anything too elaborate. That's when she told me she wanted a pinata cake for her gender reveal. I was so excited because I didn't even know she was pregnant! Babies are so wonderful and exciting, and this is such a fun way to do a gender reveal!

She dropped offer her little piece of paper for me, and it was a weird feeling knowing that I knew what she was having before she did!

Well, she is having a baby boy so I went and found some blue chocolate sixlet candies to fill the cake with. She and her husband were doing the gender reveal with her family in Spain, so there were only going to be two people eating the cake, so I decided to do six inch rounds. I felt like this would be the best size since the cake was going to be three layers. It was fun to make and I was so happy when she sent me the picture of the cut cake with the little chocolates spilling out! 

To make a pinata cake you can use whatever cake recipe you like the best, or even a box mix if you want! (I have a great chocolate recipe I intend on sharing with you soon!) Since this was a gender reveal cake I decided to do a funfetti cake, since it would have colorful candy chips in the batter.

To Assemble Your Cake:

Now I feel like a minimum of three layers is bet for a pinata cake. You could probably do two, but having a layer underneath really helps the candy pop out! I used a small glass to cut a hole out of the center layer of the cake.

Start with your bottom cake, spread a thin layer of frosting all around the cake, then place the center layer with the middle cut out.

Spread another thin layer of frosting around the outside and top of the cake.

Fill the center with your candy.

Place the top layer on top, and do another crumb layer.

To frost the cake I put my frosting in a piping back and pipe it on with a flat tip. I have a round cake decorating tray. Once the frosting is all piped on so your cake looks like this you can use a frosting smoother make it look beautiful. Place the smoother on the cake at a 45 degree angle and spin the cake . You'll have to stop periodically to remove excess frosting, but eventually the side of your cake will be nice and smooth. you can then carefully smooth the frosting over the edges and smooth it on the top.

To decorate the cake I just used pink and blue sprinkles. It was simple and sweet, but I knew she didn't want to spend much time looking at the cake, she wanted  to cut into it and find out if she is having a boy or a girl! So I just tried to make it look nice, but add a little fun with the sprinkles.

Cake making and decorating is something I really enjoy. It's hard to find the time with an infant to really spend on it, but there is something so satisfying about looking at a beautiful cake!