"Pad Thai" spaghetti squash

Misha has fun with a stink bug

Imagine Ritalin Dog (my husky Misha) without his wrestling buddy (my malamute Nika sidelined by surgery and unable to help tire him out). Are you picturing Misha bouncing off the walls, chasing Bailey (the cat) mercilessly and becoming more mischievous by the minute?

Then imagine being the poor hapless smuck of a stink bug who stumbled into our "Animal House." If stink bug's could curse, I think this one would have said, "Oh, @#$?! Why me?"

Nika and Misha get a noseful of stink bug odor

You'd think getting a sniff of a stink bug's disagreeable odor would have been enough to deter Misha. Ritalin Dog was temporarily discouraged but never underestimate a husky's insatiable curiosity. The stink bug provided an hour's worth of "entertainment" for Misha, occasionally assisted by Nika (on pain meds) and Bailey.

Nika sports her ProCollar post surgery

Nika had to wear the dreaded ProCollar last week after being spayed. I would never downplay Nika's discomfort from her surgery but she can be a bit of a drama queen. I lost count of how many times I heard my hubby (wrapped around Nika's big paw) say, "Oh sweetie, are you okay?" Okay, I'll admit I worried too because she vocalized every ache and pain.

"Pad Thai" spaghetti squash

I used to reach for peanut butter when I was having a stressful week, like last week. Now, I reach for sunbutter because of food sensitivities. I love using sunbutter to make a mock "Pad Thai" sauce to serve on zucchini ribbons. This time, I thought why not serve the sauce on spaghetti squash noodles.

"Pad Thai" Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients for Sauce:

1. 1/3 cup sunbutter (unsweetened)
2. 1/4+ cup water
3. 1 T. sesame oil
4. 2 T. aminos
5. 1 T. lime juice
6. salt and pepper
7. Optional: pinch of stevia and 1 clove of garlic

Other Ingredients:

1. Noodles removed from one small, baked spaghetti squash
2. 2-3 cups of additional veggies, such as zucchini, broccoli, jicama, cucumber, etc.
3. Mixed greens

Directions:

1. Put sauce ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add additional water if mixture is too thick.
2. Serve sauce tossed with spaghetti squash noodles. Mix in stir-fried or raw carrots, zucchini, cucumber, jicama, radishes, cut into matchsticks. Serve the mixture on a bed of mixed greens and top with toasted sunflower seeds and sliced green onions.

Contributed to: http://www.dietdessertndogs.com/2012/02/23/wellness-weekend-february-23-27-2012/