Mention spaghetti and most people probably think of red sauce, meatballs, and maybe some Parmesan cheese on top. Of course there's nothing wrong with that combination, but lately I've been seeing so many interesting ways to cook noodles that I thought I'd see if I could entice BlogHer readers to branch out in their spaghetti options. What seems newer than new these days is combining spaghetti with vegetables for pasta dishes that are ultra nutritious. If there's been a bit too much Halloween candy on the menu at your house, how about cooking one of these combinations over the weekend?

How do you feel about butternut squash? Personally I never liked squash as a kid, but as an adult, I can't get enough of it, and I consider butternut to be the premium type of squash for roasting, using in casseroles, or for making yummy butternut squash soup. When variations of butternut squash soup start showing up on food blogs, you know Autumn is really here.

October is Celiac Awareness Month in the United States, designated to encourage all types of public media to share information about celiac disease. There's no doubt that diagnosed cases of Celiac disease, sometimes called gluten intolerance, have risen dramatically in recent years, but the good news is that there's also a corresponding increase in resources for people who need to avoid gluten in their diet.

Halloween is less than two weeks away, the annual holiday where for many American kids the goal is to see how much candy they can consume in a short period of time. For adults, the Halloween challenge is to find other activities for the kids that can compete with eating candy, not always an easy task. I love cooking with my sister's kids when I go to visit, so I've been scouring the food blogs for some fun Halloween treats that would be fun to make.

Fall means time for apples, and cooks who like to bake go crazy in the fall with homemade apple pie, apple tarts, and apple cake. Of course all these apple dessert creations taste great, but one of the best and easiest use for fresh apples is homemade applesauce. If you haven't made homemade applesauce, you've never had *real* applesauce, which tastes amazing and makes the house smell wonderful too.