Whole 30 - Day 17

So I’ve been listening to Backstreet Boys since the concert on Saturday. Yes, I’m a 26-year-old woman listening to my favorite childhood band. Don’t judge. I find it interesting that I can still identify who is singing based on the sound of the voice... yeah, that's Brian singing, now AJ, oh and switching over to Kevin. Is that not crazy that even though I haven’t really listened to Backstreet Boys for 10 years, but I still remember each of their voices. I bet I can still do the same thing with N’Sync too. It’s incredible what the mind can do. I can pick out the sound of some of my old choir buddies’ voices even when they’re singing in a group, like our old choir tour CD or one of my friend's a cappella group's CD. I guess some people just have very distinctive sounding voices. Sorry for that tangent. I’m just listening to BSB right now, so it’s on my mind.

If you want an easy side dish, give acorn squash a try. It’s got a nutty flavor and is a bit sweeter than summer squash. Some tips for picking a good one: You want the squash to be 1-3 lbs, because larger squash tend to end up stringy and dry. There should be no soft spots and the skin should be smooth and dull (shiny skin is either applied wax or the squash was picked too early). I aim for the ones with more green color than orange, but some orange color is okay. Too much orange and you could get a stringy squash.

I think the most common non-Paleo way of cooking acorn squash is to cook it with butter and brown sugar and/or cinnamon. If you’re Paleo, here’s one way to do it, and it smells delicious while baking!

Cinnamon Acorn Squash

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Cut your acorn squash in half length-wise. Scoop out the seeds.

3. Rub coconut oil or ghee over the surface of both halves of the squash.

4. Sprinkle with cinnamon and a little bit of nutmeg.

5. Place halves face down on a lined baking sheet (or unlined if you don’t care about cleanup).

6. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

You can eat as is, or you can add some chicken or eggs inside to make an acorn squash bowl.

Another random side note… did you know that there are gluten-free dating websites out there? Go figure.