Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients

• 1 acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 1lb hamburger
• 1 small to medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Spaghetti sauce of your choosing
• green pepper (not necessary)
• salt and pepper to taste
• provolone cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place squash, face up, in a shallow baking dish.Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until squash is very tender. may take longer depending on the size of your squash
3. Chop the onion, green pepper and garlic mix in to the hamburger let sit.
4. when the squash have about 20 min left to cook. place the hamburger mixture in a pan and cook until the hamburger is done.
5. Drain the hamburger and return to pan. Mix in spaghetti sauce let simmer.
6. When squash are soft remove from oven and fill with the hamburger mixture. Place a piece of provolone cheese over top of the hole in the squash and place back in the oven until the cheese melts.
7. Serve and enjoy

side note you can always add rice to the hamburger mixture if you like.

Fresh spinach and mushrooms

2 - 3 hand fulls of fresh spinach (cooks down to be about 1/4 to 1/2 of what you see)
1 package of mushrooms (your choice) you may only want 1/2 but I love mushrooms
clove of garlic
chicken broth
salt & pepper

1. Wash the spinach then remove fat stems at the end. I grab the leafy part in one hand the stems in another   and twist them off.

2. in a frying pan place about 1/4cup of chicken broth, garlic, and place the spinach leaves in the pan let cook down. Once the spinach has cooked down (you will notice pan goes from full to not so full) I add the mushrooms.

3. let simmer until everything is soft. you may need to add a little more chicken broth just depends on how fast you cook it.

Turnips one of my FAVORITE veggies...

5 turnips, peeled and chopped

1 pound bacon

4 tablespoons rendered bacon fat

Directions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add turnips; cook until tender but still firm. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl to cool.

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Crumble and set aside. Reserve bacon fat.
2. In the large bowl, combine turnips, bacon, reserved bacon fat. Mix together and serve.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

half the squash remove seeds

place a few slices of butter in the bottom of a baking dish

salt and pepper squash place cut side down in the baking dish

bake on 350 for about 40 min squash will be soft and easy to fork the insides out..

fork the insides out and place in a hot frying pan stir constantly until they start to brown a bit (not all will brown)

plate and serve with butter, salt and peper to taste!

enjoy

Spaghetti squash

A great (HEALTHY) alternative to regular pasta

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeded
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 1/4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Place squash on a baking sheet, and bake 40 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, cool, and shred pulp with a fork.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees Lightly grease a casserole dish.
4. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in the green pepper, red pepper, red onion, and garlic. Continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.
5. Mix the shredded squash and tomatoes into the skillet, and season with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through. Remove skillet from heat, and mix in 2 cups cheese until melted. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish.
6. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and continue baking 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Butternut Squash and Turnip Soup

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups cubed butternut squash

2 cups cubed turnips

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/8 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt to taste (optional)

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the butternut squash, turnips, celery, onion, and garlic; cook and stir until the vegetables just begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a large pot over medium heat until simmering.
2. Transfer the vegetables to simmering stock, and add the bay leaf, honey, pepper, nutmeg, coriander, cayenne pepper, and salt. Continue simmering until all the vegetables are softened, about 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Butternut Squash

Its that time of the year when all the fall veggies are coming in butternut squash, spaghetti squash, potatoes both sweet and regular. I love the veggies that are produced this time of year I could eat just about every day and not get tired of them due to the versatility of each one! 

Here is a couple of ways to use butternut squash

1 (4 pound) butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed

1/3 yellow onion, minced

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme

6 ounces crumbled blue cheese

sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees
Toss the squash, onion, olive oil, 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, thyme, and blue cheese in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into a large baking dish. Sprinkle 1/4 cup bread crumbs over the squash.
1. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned on top, 35 to 40 minutes