Acorn squash

Last night, I made some Acorn Squash. I haven't cooked anything in a long time and it was great to get back into making something. Jerad has been doing most of the cooking and I always appreciate that it is one less thing that I need to worry myself over. I do love that when I do feel up to cooking, he lets me.

When I was a kid, my parents would bake butternut and acorn squash with some sort of meat where the seeds were. I decided to do a play on that and prayed that it turned out all right. So, here is what I had to make it:

*rectangle cassrole dish (pyrex)
*one acorn squash
*box of stuffing (yes, I cheated), I probably should have used two boxes
*bread crumbs
*about half a pound of ground pork sausage (no casing)
*Seasonings: Italian, Garlic, Pepper, Salt
*Butter

Here's what I did:
Preheat oven to 375 F
1. Wash and cut the acorn squash in half (From stem to bottom), and "gut" it. You can save the seeds if you want, I didn't because I didn't think of it until I started the pumpkins. Set the halves aside.
2. Make the stuffing as the box directs. Mine took 1 and 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of margine.
3. You can put some oil or cooking spray on the cassrole dish, I didn't have any on hand. Spread the prepared stuffing in the casserole dish to make an even layer.
4. Place the squash, skin side down, in the stuffing. Take some margine and put three small (really small) pieces round the cavity of the squash.
5. Ball up some sausage, knead some breadcrumbs and seasoning to your liking; form the blob into more of a ball, plop it in the cavity of the acorn squash and pat it down. Top with some more bread crumbs and seasoning, if you like.
6. Slide the dish into the oven to bake for about 1 hour, or until the squash is tender, when poking it with a fork.

7. Take out of the oven and let cool a few minutes before dishing it out.

Enjoy!

We did :)

What are some of your favorite squash recipies?
Feel free to check out some of my other posts and leave comments below. I do love hearing from you.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Squashing Out the Excuses

 

I am so happy to be back and blogging again! A lot of things happened and I was unable to find time or internet, long enough to be able to post. Lame excuse, I know. I don't really want to get into all of my excuses I just want to dive right into posting and I have quite a few posts planned, so stay tuned! As much as I want to post them all tonight, I don't want to over load you with the adventures I have had.

As of this moment, our adventure is more of a squash "problem". The acorn squash is in the oven, for dinner. Butternut squash is in the fridge for future use in a meal and we have two pumpkins from Halloween that we are just now starting to carve (they are still good) and figure out how to cook.

 I will post a picture of the Acorn Squash once it is finished. Right now. These three pictures, in this post are all from one pumpkin and they are separate parts. I have a really full pan, a pumpkin bowl with pumpkin. Pumpkin wedges are in another pan, waiting to go in the oven and then there are the seeds.  This is all from one lovely pumpkin.

We want to roast the seeds and do different flavors. I'm thinking some cinnamon sugar but we are the adventrous types so what are some of your ideas for flavors? Have you ever made roasted pumpkin seeds before? This would be, admittedly, our first attempt.

We are going to boil down some of the pumpkin meat that we already have in the pan, tonight and probably bag it and freeze it. I have no clue what to do with it though.

I remember, as a kid, my dad would boil the pumpkin and we would eat mashed pumpkin with some butter and sometimes brown sugar. I loved it and I'm excited to enjoy it, once again. However, seeing as we have "pumpkin for days" I'm thinking of trying some recipies.

What are some of your favorite things to do with pumpkin and the seeds?  Feel free to leave comments below. I always love hearing from you!
Again, I apologize for the lack of posting. I'm going to try and do better.
Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

White Peppermint Bark

It is the season for baking and making the house smell so wonderful that you stomach growls. I love the feeling of baking, the warmth and the togetherness. I think that is why I like Thanksgiving so much. Today, I'm going to share with you, a very simple recipe that I only learned to make in the past couple of years.

White Peppermint Bark

What you need:
2 cups white chips (I use Hershey's, when it is on sale)
1/4 to 1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy (I usually use the mini candy canes because you can get a lot of them for much cheaper, and they are great for stirring hot chocolate!)
A cookie sheet
Wax paper

1. Crush up those peppermints!
2. Line the cookie sheet with wax paper (learned that the hard way.)
3. Place the white chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave them for 1 minute. Stir. Continue microwaving at 15 second incriments and stir after each, until chips are melted smooth when stirred.
4.Set aside about 1 Tablespoon of the crushed peppermint candies. Stir the rest into the melted chips and pour the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet. Spread to about 1/2 inch thickness. Gently tap out the cookie sheet on the counter to even out the thickness. Sprinkle the 1 Tablespoon of crushed candies over the surface.
5. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the bark is firm. Break it into pieces and store in a cool, dry place.

This makes about 3/4 pound of candy.


I know that it isn't exactly baking, but it still makes the house smell good and then you can put mint candies on your hot chocolate and marshmallows, while you wait.

I loved making this while I studied for finals because I would put several mini pepermint candy canes into a ziploc bag and just have at them with a rolling pin, hammer, whatever I could find. It took out some of the stress and if you do this with kids, they will love it!

As I go through my recipe box, I will share more of them.

I hope that you enjoy, if you try this.
Stay warm and remember that you are beautiful!

Food to fight the Cold

I found this picture, today. It is not mine, but I did want to post it on the blog because it has something to do with Raynaud's Syndrome. I never really thought about foods that could actually help your body to keep it's temperature. I always drank hot chocolate because it is hot (duh). No matter what I put it in, it keeps my hands warm. When I sip it, it warms my core.

I have read that ginger can help people who have Fibromyalgia. It is something that my mother has and I was trying to help her find some home remedies so that she wouldn't have to take medicines. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not a fan of pills, so I try to do things in a somewhat natural way. I do understand that sometimes, medicine helps. I didn't even consider the fact that ginger might help people who have Raynaud's. After all, ginger helps to improve your body's circulation.

Also, I am anemic. I have low iron, among a bunch of other vitamins and minerals that my body seems to be missing. I thought that it was interesting to learn that iron can help your body contain up to 30% of it's heat. Unfortunately, I cannot take iron supplements and my doctor has said that I could eat nothing but meat, spinach, multigrains and other iron rich foods; but I would still have low iron. I have been anemic since I was six or seven years old. I remember my first encounter with Raynaud's around that time too.

My family and I were living in Gulfport, Mississippi. It snowed for the first time and my dad took my brother and I outside to build a snowman, with all of the snow that was in our yard. We went out and bought gloves, but even with the gloves, my hands hurt. They turned interesting colors, I thought I had frost bite. I was crying and my dad didn't know what to do, except to take me inside, start the fireplace and have me roast my hands by the flames. Needless to say, I still have yet to build a snowman, and I still have yet to have decent levels of iron.

With this new knowledge, I am going to try and find other remedies that could help control the symptoms.

Feel free to comment below, if you have any thoughts, questions or comments. I would love to hear from you.

Do not forget, you are beautiful, inside and out!

The Penny Pincher's Fondue

Hey there!


My husband and I just got a new-er refridgerator because our old one took it's last volt of electricity during a bad storm that took out the power (and apparently our fridge). Our new fridge works really well and I was treated to a nice surprise, today, when I pulled the strawberries from the depths of the cold cabinet and found them to be half frozen!

I cannot tell you how delicious they were!

Two of my favorite foods are strawberries and chocolate. I remember when I was in high school, combining foods that were cheap but tasted like heaven.

With strawberries, and I did this today, I take strawberries that I find on sale and a chocolate pudding cup (low sugar) and allow myself to have a small piece of heaven. It's not fondue but it comes very close and it is so affordable. Especially when I can get pudding cups, four for a dollar, at my groccery store.

Another treat that I indulge in, from time to time, is apples, chocolate and peanut butter! I take any apple, I'm a fan of them all, core and slice it. Then, I either have a chocolate and peanut butter pudding cup or I mix my own peanut butter and chocolate pudding. Dip and enjoy!