Sunday Swaps

Last night I tried out a new recipe: spaghetti squash casserole.  I'm no stranger to squash casserole - it was a staple that graced my Southern table at least every other week growing up and one that I re-create often now that I keep a home of my own.  While perusing Pinterest, I spotted this recipe which uses spaghetti squash instead of regular yellow squash and thought it was worth a try.  After all, I did nothing but sit on my couch all day so if this ingredient swap could shake up my boring Sunday, it was worth a shot.

I sauteed some onion (reserving some for another dish) and mixed with spaghetti squash, red pepper flakes, sour cream, and shredded white cheddar.  I topped the mixture with a little extra cheese and baked til golden brown.  The result was similar to the tried and true, but the squash switcheroo resulted in a slightly firmer texture that I may even prefer to the original.  The use of sour cream instead of cream of mushroom soup and/or mayo also altered the consistency and taste a bit.  I'm not sure which creamy ingredient I prefer so I'll probably alternate between the two methods from now on.

Squash wasn't the only ingredient to get a face lift last night.  I made jumbo pigs in a blanket as the protein but used chicken sausage instead of regular hot dogs.  Pigs in a blanket always look so good to me with that flaky, buttery puff pastry, but there's a tiny problem: I don't like hot dogs (with the exception of Papaya King and that's probably because of how much I love the papaya drink).  I really want to like them, but they're just not my thing so I'll always pick the burger when it comes to backyards and ballgames.  My distaste for hot dogs sounds downright un-American, so in order to enjoy one of the nation's favorite appetizers, I replaced the less favorable meat with something I enjoy.  I used apricot rosemary chicken sausage and rolled in puff pastry with those reserved sauteed onions and cheese.  I loved it.  Why don't we just get rid of regular hot dogs?  These sausages are so much better and also come pre-cooked.  Bonus: just like the squash casserole, this dish is kid friendly.

Perhaps I should have swapped my tv watching, couch sitting activities for something more exertive (how many episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress" can one girl watch?!), but I'll settle for these tasty change-ups to my otherwise lazy Sunday.