Oh my lawd almighty, does it feel GOOD to be home after being gone for 10 days. I get to wake up every morning and have collagen in my coffee, I get to walk my dog, I get to go to lunches with my friends and catch up. It’s all quite lovely. Getting back to my routine is seriously my favorite. Except I’m really excited to travel again at the same time. I love being at home but I love exploring. And I think my next trip will be totally solo, which will be fun and empowering!
Speaking of empowering, let’s talk about my past weekend in Dallas! I had the opportunity to be around some of the top 200 influencers with LIKEtoKNOW.it – the company I’m always talking about when I’m sharing my outfits! Well I was asked to speak at this event about expanding your brand through books! All these women are fashion or beauty bloggers at the event, so I don’t know if any of them actually enjoyed my speech, but it was still really cool to get to share my story and what it was ACTUALLY like to write the book before and after.
But even though it was totally empowering to be at event filled with women who have created their own business from an idea that just came to be a few years ago, it was extremely intimidating knowing absolutely no one. And they had cocktail parties every night so I would just walk into the party in hopes of someone else have no one to talk to so I could swing in and feel less like an assh*le. It really did feel like being the new kid at school during recess. Except way harder because adults don’t really give a sh*t about making new friends with a random chick who is by herself. Luckily, a few women were kind enough to chat with me and bring me into their conversations so I didn’t have to take my cocktail into the bathroom stall, Mean Girls style. I’d love to say that I never did that in middle school, but I fully did.
I consider myself a pretty confident person, but it is straight up exhausting trying to prove to strangers that you’re worth talking to. I could tell that they didn’t mind having me around, but they weren’t so sure about actually liking me. Which is fair. I’m a hard pill to swallow. But I persevered the entire weekend – all 3 parties and two lunches worth. I tried my heart out. So if I have the opportunity to go back next year, hopefully I know a face or two and I don’t have to drink my cocktail in the bathroom. Fingers crossed!!
Meatball Casserole
- Yield: 4-5 1x
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 2½ pounds), cut in half
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- ½ yellow onion, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup pizza sauce (no sugar added)
- 2 eggs, whisked
For the meatballs
- 1 (25 ounce) jar of marinara sauce (no sugar added)
- 1 package gluten free turkey meatballs (I got mine at Natural Grocers, but you could always make your own with my Southwest Meatballs recipe)
- fresh basil, for garnish
- fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the skin gives when you press your finger to it. Remove the squash from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
- While the spaghetti squash cooks, place a large pot over medium heat. Add meatballs and sauce, cover and let cook down for about 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs cook, place a large saute pan over medium heat, add ghee, then add peppers, onion and garlic cloves, sprinkle with a little bit of salt, and cook for about 10 minutes, until onion is translucent.
- Use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti squash strings and place in the greased baking dish along with the onion and pepper mixture, garlic powder, salt and pepper, the pizza sauce and the eggs. Mix to combine and spread out evenly. Then use a slotted spoon to remove the meatballs and press them into the uncooked casserole, leaving behind the sauce in the pot.
- Place in the oven to bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the center is cooked through and edges have begun to brown. *When the casserole has about 15 minutes left, place the sauce that’s remaining in the pot on low heat to reduce and thicken.
- When the casserole is done cooking, let set for about 10 minutes, then pour the sauce on top along with some torn basil and chopped parsley! Serve up!
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More Casseroles!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole (video!)
Italian Spicy Sausage & Kale Gnocchi Casserole
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Ha, I know the exact feeling you’re talking about (going to a conference where you know nobody).
I work in a male dominated field and I can’t tell you how many conferences I’ve gone to where the only conversations are sports…hunting…etc. Super frustrating. But I’m sure hoards of blogger gals can also be unfriendly!
My only positive is that it definitely gets easier as people start to learn who you are over the years. I went from having no one to talk to, to people coming up to me because they recognize my name. I always try to be as nice and friendly as possible. I never want anyone to feel left out!
Hope you enjoyed Dallas (my hometown). Can’t wait for a recap!
Spaghetti squash is easily cooked in the Instant Pot if you don’t need or want to heat up the oven.
OMG my boyfriend is going to LOVE this casserole. I can’t wait to make it this weekend!
What size of package/roughly how many meatballs? My store has a small and large pack. Wasn’t sure what amount the recipe calls for. Sounds delicious
i think the package i bought had about 24 meatballs in it
People at my crossfit gym have lately been all hyped up about this whole “collagen in the coffee” thing. Can you please explain the magical benefits (and possible taste changes) about this stuff?
here’s a post all about it – https://paleomg.com/collagen-protein-powder-im-loving-right-now/
Just wanted to get in my two cents worth…collagen in your coffee (or anywhere) is life changing. I have been doing it for years now. I am 50 and my skin is firmer now than it was at 40. It has also helped my nails and hair, but by far the biggest difference is with my skin. It’s really good for all of your connective tissues. I blend it into my coffee in the am along with coconut oil and/or unsalted Kerrygold butter. Whipping it up in the blender makes it all frothy like a latte. Totally love it!
Oh my God! That looks so delicious. I will try this out today. To the happiness I have all the ingredients. I am very excited! Thank you for the inspiration! LG from Berlin.
Toootally relate to being the new kid. I’m a traveling nurse so every 13 weeks I usually start a new job. About 75% of the time I don’t mind being the odd man out, but it does get exhausting after a little while. Props to you for pushing through the weekend! 🙂
Looks sooooo good!! Cappellos is a tad bit expensive for me so I’m going to try it with zoodles! #alltheveggies 🙂 Side note: What kind of collagen do you use in your coffee? I have been looking into them and Great Lakes and Vital Proteins seem to be the winners. Do you use the beef collagen or the collagen peptides? Thanks babe!!
i share my favorites in this post – https://paleomg.com/collagen-protein-powder-im-loving-right-now/ i use both brands and switch off between the collagen and peptides
hahaha I just realized that I mixed two posts together!! Collagen from this post and veggie pasta from your post today. Can you say Paleomg overload?! lol. You are too good to us for sharing all these recipes 🙂
This looks tasty! Definitely going to need to try this. Always looking for new ways to make meatballs. Thanks for sharing!