Another week and another day to work on our house. I spent last week cleaning out one corner of a shed. Typically, one corner should not take all that long, but stuffed in a small space were: several bags of chewed up foam padding, two large carpets, two jackets, a tarp, a rusty fold up chair, and many other odd things. What pains me is that some of this stuff could have been reused if it wasn’t in such bad shape. For some people, keeping stuff is an obsession. However, keeping stuff until it rots means that no one can use it. This week I will be breaking out my bad cement job. Granted, it was a tough job and I had never built a shower floor before. After I break it out, I will be using guides to make the new one. If the shower drain were in the middle, I would have been fine, but try angling a shower floor at the right angle with on 6 inches to work with on one side. It didn’t quite work. So I will rebuild.

Again, I will need something I can stick in the slow cooker. I am using a recipe from Half Baked Harvest for Slow Cooker Saucy Thai Butternut Squash to start with. I love the idea of using butternut squash this time of year. It’s best to eat in season. I also love Thai flavors. They lend perfectly to the slow cooker. I am going to change one thing about this dish and that is the noodles. I have been shying away from noodles because they give too many calories and not enough nutrients. When I do use them, the portion size is so small it’s not worth it. There WILL be noodles, but I plan to use something else.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I swapped out the coconut milk for light coconut milk to reduce the fat and calories.
• I increased the amount of kale for more bulk and to increase the vitamin C.
• I added in some chicken thighs to add in more protein and flavor.
• I swapped light soy sauce for the fish sauce to lower the sodium.
• I reduced the amount of curry paste to reduce the sodium.
• I replaced the noodles with spaghetti squash to lower the calories.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Slow Cooker Saucy Thai Chicken and Butternut Squash Curry

Serves 7

• 1 tablespoon Thai Red curry paste
• 2 cans (14 ounce) light coconut milk
• 1-2 cups low sodium veggie broth
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 4 cups cubed butternut squash
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
• juice from 1 lime
• 1/2 pound shredded kale
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thigh
• 5 pounds spaghetti squash, split in half and deseeded
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, or basil, roughly chopped

In the bowl of your slow cooker, combine together the curry paste, coconut milk, 1 cup broth, soy sauce, and peanut butter. Add the butternut squash, chicken, cinnamon, ginger, and lime juice.  Place the spaghetti squash, cut side down, on top. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.

Remove the spaghetti squash and use a fork to remove the strands and set aside. Stir the kale into the curry and cook 5 minutes until wilted. Stir in the cilantro (or basil). Add the spaghetti squash to each bowl and top with the chicken mixture.