Acorn Squash

I had never eaten an acorn squash let alone cooked one! I was curious about them, so I gave it a try. Cut the squash in half and place it meat side up in a baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes. While it is baking, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. I used 4 cloves of garlic and half an onion sliced on a mandolin. I pretty much slice all of my onions on a mandolin; I just like the thinness. I will say however, for this dish it seemed a bit stringy. When the squash is done, scoop the meat out and add it to the onion and garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. I used large sea salt. One recipe I looked at called for nutmeg. I didn’t have any nutmeg so I used cinnamon. How much cinnamon, I cannot tell you. The plan was to shake some into the pan but things went slightly awry. A large amount of cinnamon came pouring out! I mixed everything together pretty much like mashed potato. The cinnamon was a bit more than I will use the next time, but the dish was quite good.

Garlic Dip

Definitely for garlic lovers! I was at a Mediterranean restaurant and had this wonderful garlic dip! I came home and researched recipes on line. I combined a few and came up with this.

Slice half an onion thin (I use a mandolin.), 4-6 garlic cloves; sauté in olive oil. Then blend them in the Cuisinart with some mayonnaise (maybe 3 TBs), and juice from one lime or lemon. Now this is strange: boil a potato until it is almost done. I added half a potato to this mix. I was reluctant to try the whole potato. Too much potato and your have mashed potatoes, not dip! Add 2 healthy TBs of low fat sour cream. The dip is divine. I used it as a dip for chips and then later put it as a side for my rice.

Chicken Picatta

Simple and really good!

Pound chicken breast (for 2 people) until about ¼ inch. Dredge in flour, salt, pepper, and garlic. Brown in pan with olive oil, lemon (1/2 lemon) and 2 Tbs butter. Saute until done. That’s it! Sometimes we add mushrooms. If you really want to go hog wild: remove the chicken from the pan, add milk and a bit of corn starch to make gravy. Oh my!

I should have taken a picture.

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos

This is good, and it makes a lot! It is another recipe I got from the "Oh She Glows" web site.
Get the recipe here:
Black Bean and Butternut Squash
I would suggest that you cook the squash on another night. You really don't need a whole squash, and if you cook it on another night you can have squash with ...perhaps your pork chops. Then you have one less step when you prepare the burritos.
This picture doesn't do it justice, but the smell of this in the kitchen was great!

I tried the recipe as it is and used the cayenne pepper. However, the next time I will use jalapenos or maybe an ancho chili pepper. Also, the recipe calls for brown rice. I didn't have any so I used a wild rice mix. It was a brown rice and wild rice mix. I would use that again.

A must is avocado served with it!

Vegan Mac and Cheese

Say what? When a coworker told me about her vegan mac and cheese, quite frankly I was very wary. Mac and cheese is a sacred dish, how can it go vegan? However, since I am looking for some healthy alternatives (after packing on 5 pounds eating tray after tray of peach cobbler this summer) I decided to give it a go. 

Link to:

"Oh She Glows" web site

I misunderstood the recipe (a matter of not reading the whole thing, but forging ahead) and actually mixed the bread with the "cheese sauce". Don't do this.

It, of course, absorbs too much of the sauce when you bake it. That being said, I have to say the "cheese sauce" was so good I was taking samples of it before it even made it to the oven. So good.

Also, I did not use the nutritional yeast as I just didn't want to buy too many ingredients at once. I will the next time. From what I hear it adds even more of a cheese delusion.

As for the left over almond milk? It is going in my breakfast smoothies. Very tasty.

Give it a try!

Spaghetti Sauce

As seen on the "What I Ate Wednesday" page!

This one is easy! The big difference to your sauce will be the kind of tomatoes you use.

Hand crush a can of San Marzano tomatoes in a sauce pan. Also add a small can of tomato sauce and a small can of tomato paste.

Finely chop half an onion – sauté this in a pan with olive oil (use good olive oil) and garlic and then add this to your sauce pan.

Add oregano to your pan as well as basil, salt, and pepper. 

simmer