Guest Post: Spaghetti Squash and Apple Cider

Hello everyone! My name is Danielle. I have known Kim since birth - literally! So when Kim asked me to share my recipe with her blog, I was delighted to do so. A little about me: I graduated from Boston University and am now a dentist in the US Navy .. stationed in San Diego, California. I am not a professional chef in any way but enjoy cooking a lot. I love food way more than the average person but try to cook healthy when possible.
I have two recipes for y'all - Spaghetti Squash and Crock pot Apple Cider with Baked Apples to eat. Hope you enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash

This is a healthy, guilty-free, low calorie, high fiber dinner! It is not identical to pasta because it has more crunch to it.. but if you dress it up right, it is delicious! I like to make this dish using sausage and shrimp - some of you may prefer to use chicken or other types of meat. Be creative!

Ingredients

1 Spaghetti Squash
4 links of Spicy Italian Sausage (Substitute this with any meat you prefer for the dish)
1-1.5 lbs of shrimp- clean, deveined, with no tail. Chop into similar size pieces.
2 tbs olive oil
1 organic tomato, diced
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (or any choice of sauce)
2 tbs of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese (feta or Parmesan would work well too!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash on a foil covered baking sheet. Some like to cut the squash in half prior to baking it to prevent sticking - I like to keep it whole. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until it is easy to get a knife or fork through.
*Do step 2 & 3 while squash is baking*

2. In a sauce pan: Prepare your sauce (you can use a Pesto sauce, something from a packet or jar, or I make a roasted red pepper sauce using a 1/2 jar of roasted red pepper sauce, 1 clove of garlic minced, fresh basil & cilantro, 1/2 onion chopped and a half jar of tomato sauce)

3. In two separate skillets: Cook your sausage. Sauté shrimp in olive oil. Saute tomato.

4. Once the squash is finished baking, cut in half. Be careful, it is SUPER HOT! Let it cool for a bit then take a fork to each half and scrape the squash out until it strings like spaghetti.

5. Add your cooked meat, shrimp, sauce and squash into one of the skillets and heat for 5 minutes on medium heat.

6. Serve in bowls, and top with some fresh cilantro and your choice of cheese.

Baked Apples and Apple Ciders

Crock pot recipe!

Ingredients

4 Apples

6 cups of Apple Cider or Apple juice

4 sticks of Cinnamon

2 tsp ground cinnamon, separated into 1 tsp each

2 shots of fireball whiskey (or other liquor that would pair nicely)

1/4 walnuts

1 tbs butter, warmed and softened

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tbs brown sugar

Directions

1. In a small bowl mix walnuts, nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, brown sugar and butter.

2. Core your apples to hold the mixture made in step 1.

3. Place in crock pot. Add the juice, cinnamon sticks, the other tsp of cinnamon, and liquor.

4. Heat on high for 2-3 hours. You're ready to indulge. The apples are delicious with all the flavoring inside! Pour yourself