Spaghetti Squash

When I purchased this spaghetti squash at the store:

the checkout lady asked me what in the world I planned on doing with it. She said she has seen people buying them and she knows they are edible, "But...how?!"

I told her it is actually ridiculously simple and I will explain to you exactly how I explained it to her.

You take the lovely yellow squash, you give it a quick rinse and you throw it into a preheated 375 degree oven for an hour and you are done.

I know!  It's ridiculously simple, right?!

You will know it is done because a sharp knife will pierce through it like butta. That's the most important part is to make sure it is cooked through.  If you can't slice through it easily, throw it back in for another 10 minutes.

Cut the squash in half and make the comment about how it must be related to pumpkins because the insides are almost identical! (It is, in fact, related to pumpkins.)

Just like you do a pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and the gooey-ish inside.  Using a fork, you will be able to scrape the actual "meat" from the squash and it will separate like individual strands of spaghetti (hence the name). The scraping is the most time consuming part, just to warn you.

Once you have scraped out all the spaghetti squash, throw it onto a skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in some butter (about 2-3 Tbsp, depending on amount of squash), a couple of minced garlic cloves, salt, pepper and some fresh parsley or basil (about 1/4 C).  Give it a good stir and make sure it's all heated together.

Throw it all into a serving bowl and add some parmesan cheese on top (about 1/4 C or so) and stir it until the cheese has melted into the squash.  

I served ours with a salad because spaghetti squash is quite filling.

  My children were leery of the name, but both girls loved it.  Julia ate all of hers and she is 3.  It's supposed to have some crisp crunch to it, so don't be alarmed by the texture.  It's a lovely fall meal and you should definitely go out and try it (especially while they are in season and so cheap at the stores!).

Enjoy!

This Week's Menu

This week, Evan is gone to Virginia (the state), so it's just me and the girls.  Meals will be a bit more kid friendly and simple.

Monday:  Little Stars with Butter and Parmesan
               Vegetable

Tuesday:  Hash Brown Brunch Casserole
               Fruit

Wednesday: Crispy Chicken Nuggets
                    Tater Tots
                    Vegetable

Thursday: Hot dogs
                Mac n Cheese
                Vegetable

Friday:  ?????

Gnocchi with Roasted Cauliflower

I have stared at this recipe a million times in my cookbook as I try to figure out what to eat for the week.  It's such a simple recipe and I've always wanted to make it but it's just never made the list.

I finally gave it a chance.  Now, I must share it with you.  You will thank me for doing so, I promise.

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small florets; 12 fresh sage leaves (or dried sage if you forgot to buy it at the grocery store); 3 Tbsp olive oil; Kosher salt; black pepper; 1 lb. gnocchi; 1/4 C. grated Parmesan.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start by cutting up the cauliflower and throwing it into a small bowl.  Sprinkle it with the sage, oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Give it a good stir to make sure the cauliflower is coated.

Throw the cauliflower on a baking sheet and roast (make sure and give it a shake so it doesn't stick and burn) until the cauliflower is golden brown and tender.  About 25-30 minutes.

(While the cauliflower is roasting, go ahead and get that pot of water boiling for the gnocchi.)

Mmm...roasted cauliflower.  I could eat the whole sheet of it by myself.  I'm sure my tummy would totally appreciate it later.

Gnocchi is one of my favorite foods.  It takes just minutes to cook.  Once the water is at a low boil (aka: not rolling), throw in the gnocchi and wait for it to float.  It'll take 4-6 minutes.

In your serving bowl, add the gnocchi and cauliflower together.  Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and give it a toss.  The cheese should melt a bit once it meets the hot gnocchi and cauliflower.

I served the Gnocchi with Roasted Cauliflower with canned peaches.

  This was simple and delicious.  It is a very mono-colored dish, but it tastes soooooo good.  And, because gnocchi is so filling, it was more than enough for 2 grown-ups and 2 kids (who also loved it!).  I'd double it if we were having company.

Enjoy!!

This Week's Menu

Monday: Chicken Parmesan
               Salad
               Parmesan Popovers

Tuesday: Rigatoni with Sausage, Peppers & Onions
               Salad

Wednesday: Baked Cod
                   Mediterranean Salad
                   Corn

Thursday: Spicy Tofu with Broccoli & Cashews
                Wontons

Friday: Zesty Red Clam Chowder
           Fruit

Pizza Bubble

Pizza Bubble.  Sounds a bit weird, right?  Well, I, personally, love pizza and variations of pizza, but Evan thought this meal sounded terrible.

Then, I made it, and he apologized.  

I got this recipe from my Aunt Delene last year when I asked for recipes from the people in my family in their own handwriting.  I had never had this dish before, but it is definitely one I will be making again since both my girls declared it delicious!!

(Please forgive me for the few short  pictures I have for this post.  I am so out of practice with this blog. Sorry.)

Ingredients: 

2 cans biscuits (8 or 10); 1 jar of pizza sauce; 1lb roll of sausage; 1lb shredded cheddar cheese; 1 onion, diced.  I added 2 small cans of mushrooms and would have added black olives if I had any as well. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 dish.

After dicing up the onion, brown the sausage and onion together.  Throw in any other pizza "toppings" you'd like to have in your pizza bubble (mushrooms, olives, pepperonis, peppers, etc.) Cook them until the sausage is no longer pink.

                                     

With kitchen scissors, cut up the biscuits.  I ended up using 1.5 cans of biscuits because I didn't want any of the biscuits overlapping and not getting cooked properly. (I then attempted to cook the other biscuits, forgot about them, and burned them. Don't worry, Evan laughed and then quoted Yosemite Sam by declaring, "My biscuits is burnin'! My biscuits is burnin'!"

Once the sausage is cooked and you've drained the grease, pour in the pizza sauce and stir it into the mixture, allowing it to warm through.  Once warmed, poor the pizza toppings on top of the biscuits.  Throw it in the oven for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes is up, sprinkle the cheese on top of the dish and cook another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I served ours with steamed broccoli.

This was super yummy.  The biscuits cooked perfectly and didn't get soggy from the pizza toppings.  Next time I will be adding more veggies, but the mushrooms and sausage were really good.  Both my girls like it and ate it and even Evan admitted it was pretty good...for a casserole.   ;)

Enjoy!!