Spaghetti Squash Hash Browns

This recipe for Spaghetti Squash Hash Browns was super easy and pretty good. Opinions were mixed though: Owen and I were the only ones that liked it, Paige negotiated how many bites she had to take, and Pat ate it but recommended it not get made again). The title of the recipe is pretty misleading, I didn't think it tasted like hash browns at all but more like an omelet. The mixture was supposed to get browned in the pan but mine started sticking to the pan instead so I pulled it off. Maybe it would have been more hash-browny if it had! It would have been really good with the chives that were supposed to go in too but I couldn't get to the store today so that didn't happen.

Butternut Squash

I still have a lot of squash to use up but I'm trying to space it out so no one here notices...

The first recipe is Chai Butternut Squash Bread. I halved the sugar because I knew I wanted to add chocolate chips and I thought it had a really good flavor. It's a very soft bread though because of the yogurt, butternut squash and the applesauce I substituted for some of the oil.

Next up is Farfalle with Butternut Squash and Sausage. We've had this before (proof on the other blog!) but it's been about a year so nobody remembered it. The kids acted scared of the squash but they liked the flavor of everything else. Pat labeled it "a keeper."

We're Back!

This month's theme is Fall food! Squash, apples, pears or whatever your interpretation might be!

This is a picture of some of the squash I need to use along with a special message from Paige!

Last Month

This is my recipe for last month! I never got around to making what I had intended so I did this. I had some leftover barley (my new favorite thing?) so I combined that with mixed veggies, onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese and a bit of Worcestershire sauce and the black eyed peas. Most of us thought it was good but not great. Owen finished one bowl and said, "more!" So he liked it most:)

The pan/stove combo, frothing, + xtra credit!

I dislike doing dishes so I normally do this in the microwave even though I know scrambled egg(s) taste so much better when you make them on the stove. 

 I too have a frothing device (but I use this and Mr. Coffee quite frequently)

 

Occasionally, I make other stuff: pizza (on a pizza stone, also used somewhat not infrequently) and orzo pasta salad with feta, tomato's & zucchini. Yum!

Chillaxing with Chai

Did I cheat by making this month a tool instead of a food? I feel like somebody else tried to do that once and I said "no, you can't do that." And here I am doing it. Sorry if that happened. This blog doesn't really have rules. Anyways-milk frother! I used this once after I got it for Christmas but I didn't quite understand what step in the Chai process to use the frother so it wasn't that great and I blamed it on the frother. It was me. I took two seconds to look up a Chai recipe this morning though and now I've got it!

Boil 1/4 cup of water and steep chai leaves for 4ish minutes. Warm 3/4 cup of milk and froth it. Add tea and some sweetener (I used honey!). Sprinkle some cinnamon on it to pretend you're fancy. Or if you're pretending to be even fancier-maybe some nutmeg?

Kitchen Tools!

I'm mixing it up this month! Find a kitchen tool that you don't use very often and make something with it!
I haven't done last month's yet but I've known what I was going to make since Mom and Dad told me the ingredient (it's actually the same thing they made but haven't posted...)! It's on my list of things to do!

Black-Eyed Peas Entries!

These were both made in January. We swear.

Here we have Texas caviar. Kim made this at a birthday party for one of the kids once. It was awesome. Making it for black-eyed peas month was a no-brainer.

This is a white bean and kale stew we've made before. It has fennel and potatoes and quinoa and stuff. We used black-eyed peas instead of white beans. It went quick.

It's an honor to have been chosen!

Black-Eyed Peas

Mom and Dad's choice for January!

Sorry...

This is such a lame post but I wanted to put up my pepper entry while still in December! I had some pasta and celery to use up along with my green pepper so we had a pasta salad night. We've definitely done this before because it's easy to please everyone since they get to choose what goes in. Unfortunately I'm the only one who chose the green pepper!

December pick - Peppers

That's right - pick a pepper (or some), and use them :)
I would say that fresh ground black pepper doesn't count, but hey, it's a busy month so do what you must!

My salmon contribution

I used entirely frozen salmon (Gordons.) lol. When all else fails, bake it and put it on a big salad. 

November Salmon!

I did not take a picture of my November contribution and I didn't even actually make it in November but I did make something with the specific intention of using it for that month so I am going to acknowledge it here. I put some balsamic dressing on some partially frozen salmon and baked it. When it was supposed to be ready it was not cooked because it had been PARTIALLY FROZEN when I put it in. I cut it into a bunch of pieces, stuck it back in until it was cooked and then threw it on a bowl of greens and ate it. The kids tasted it and agreed that it tasted like "nothing." I thought it was good!

Anything but soup.

Sorry the month is half over and I haven't posted anything! Last month was so busy I never felt like cooking and I have been sick for most of November so far, so cooking is mostly limited to heating up soup. I'm so sick of soup at this point that I say you can do whatever you like as long as it's not soup.

Black bean, Rice and Pepper Salad

Soo...I made this weeks ago and didn't get around to posting.  Sauteed red and yellow peppers, onion, scallion, cilantro, broth, Chili Dressing...really good, but it made a ton! This was a recipe that I had written down from forever ago, so I have no idea where I got it.

Black Bean Pumpkin Chili

I'm late! But so are the rest of you so...I don't feel so bad:) I kept trying to find a good time to make this chili and it just wasn't happening so we had it November 1! Part of what was holding me back was that I wanted to use dried beans instead of canned and there is a lot of conflicting information about how this should be handled! I finally settled for soaking overnight, boiling for 10 minutes, rinsing and then putting in the slow cooker with the rest of the chili ingredients. This recipe was really good (pretty standard except for the addition of pumpkin!) but I think next time it could use some extra chili powder. 

October Pick!

I'm choosing black beans!

Garlic Cauliflower Breadsticks

So I tried to avoid these for awhile. I was a skeptic when it started appearing on Pinterest and then I saw this picture and decided if it looked that good how bad could it be? It's not bad at all actually, it's fantastic. The recipe didn't actually make very much so next time I will double it, Pat took one bite and said, "How hard was this to make? Can you make some more?" So basically, you steam cauliflower, throw it in the food processor for a bit, mix it with some cheese, egg and spices and turn it into the "crust." Bake it then throw the toppings on and bake again and you have something amazing. We dipped ours in marinara sauce. (Changes- I made the crust with slightly less cheese but was afraid to change it too much because I wasn't sure how it would hold together. I changed the topping considerably-very light spreading of garlic butter, and a little over half the amount of cheese it suggested.

Cauliflower 2 1/2 ways.

This is Steak with Mushroom Sauce and Cauliflower Puree from real simple magazine.  I've been meaning to try mashed cauliflower for awhile so this seemed like a good idea.  Gardein home style beefless tips, not the greatest, but a tasty dish overall!

Cauliflower soup with toasted garlic
Another Real Simple recipe.
(Am I getting my money's worth of this free subscription or what?)  The highlight of this meal was the addition of little tomato & cheese sliders I made with the leftover bagel bites I had from lunch. They have walnut pesto spread on them which is my new favorite thing.  Seriously, I just made another batch last night. *I used nutritional yeast flakes instead of Romano cheese. Mom said she wanted the recipe, so here you go!

The other 1/2 is another attempt at a mash/puree (in the recipe above I thought it was a bit bland and watery.) I made this just like mashed potatoes and added lemon pepper seasoning and it was great!  The rest of my dinner was my 'go-to' big salad (topped with whatever) if you were wondering.