Hi! Welcome to “good mood food” from Kale Me Maybe’s Carina Wolff. If you’ve made it here and aren’t yet a subscriber, come join! You can expect recipes, musings, and faves in your inbox every Wednesday! Paid subscribers get even more! Learn more about the paid tier of my newsletter here. You can also try a week for free!
CATCH UP!
My birthday is this weekend, and I feel like each year I’m starting care less and less. On the one hand, it’s nice to not put pressure on the day, but on the other hand, it makes me sad that I don’t look forward to it liked I did when I was younger. I think birthdays were so much more fun when you were in school with everyone and got to bring in cupcakes and just be with all your friends during a regular day. You didn’t have to do much except show up. I also found I stopped caring once I hit the big milestones — I remember when my 21st birthday came around, I thought to myself, “What do I look forward to now?”
Thankfully though, that’s not the attitude I’ve carried over into my life. I know there is so much to look forward to, at every age. I cringe when people freak out over turning 30 because so many people would KILL to be 30 again! I’m very comfortable with aging, and I welcome all that life has to offer in my future. I just feel BLA about celebrating 33 because it feels anticlimactic. But I feel appreciative to be alive on this earth and make it to another year of life! And I am really hoping this will be a good one :)
THINGS I’M LOVING!
I read The Rachel Incident so quickly! Shoutout to my readers on here who suggested it! The book has a bit of unsettling tone (even though it does have some humor) but I loved the complex relationships in the book and the characters just felt so rich I couldn’t put it down. I’m such a sucker for any coming of age story.
I rediscovered my Levi’s Ribcage Jeans in my closet recently, and I was surprised at how much I loved the fit. When I bought them a few years ago, they felt really wide legged to me (even though they’re technically considered straight) but now seeing how much wide jeans can actually get now, they feel like a very approachable width. And I just love how long-lasting Levi’s are. Mine are the Dark Indigo, but there are plenty of other shades of denim as well!
Earrings and rings are the most important accessories for me. I love to dress my outfits up with chunkier hoops, but for day-to-day wear, I always wear gold huggies. These gold ones from Etsy are my most recent purchase – they are so affordable and shipped so quickly!
RECIPE!
Last year, I rediscovered my love for the spaghetti squash, especially when I learned that cutting it crosswise was a much easier way to cook it. I made a similar baked feta recipe as part of my squash series on Instagram, but I wanted to take it up a notch by adding a protein and a little bit of spice. For this recipe, the base is still tomatoes and feta, but I also added in Calabrian chiles, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas, basil, shallots, and garlic for a full meal that’s rich in flavor but also filling!
This “pasta” ends up being vegetarian and gluten-free, but it’s loaded with nutrients!
Spicy Tomato Feta Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas
Ingredients (serves 4)
1 medium/large spaghetti squash or 2 small ones
24 oz cherry/grape tomatoes (about 4 cups)
1 large shallot, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup jarred sun dried tomatoes, with just a little of their oil
2 tbsp chopped Calabrian chili peppers (from a jar)
5-6 oz block feta
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped basil
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut spaghetti squash in half crosswise, and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Place face down on a parchment paper line baking sheet.
2. In a separate large baking dish, add tomatoes, shallots, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and Calabrian chiles. Drizzle on some olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Mix together, and then make some space for your feta and nestle it between the tomato mixture.
3. Transfer both the spaghetti squash and the tomato and feta mixture to the oven. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and have begun to burst and spaghetti squash is soft and flesh is easily pulled out.
4. Let your spaghetti squash cool slightly before flipping it over and scooping out the squash noodles. Mix the feta into the tomatoes to form a creamy sauce. Remove the flesh of the squash (aka the noodles), and add them to the baking dish with the tomato feta sauce. Add the chickpeas and basil, and mix together until squash is evenly coated. Serve warm, and top with freshly grated Parmesan, if desired.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!
Last week, I made the most delicious tuna melt for episode #3 of 30 Minute Budget Meals! This one doesn’t even take the full 30 minutes, so I can highly recommend it if you’re looking for something quick! I added some jalapeño and pickles into this tuna melt, and it is truly simple but divine.