Acorn Squash Stuffed with Turkey Sausage Risotto

These are quick notes before I forget what I've just created (aka, a feast... drool-worthy dinner... I can't wait to have it... hopefully my kids agree...)

Halve 3-4 acorn squash.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Season with salt.
Flip cut side down onto roasting tray.
Set aside.


In 9x13 pan, melt 3 tbsp butter and stir in:

2 c. arborio rice (or, in my case, because I was out: 1 c. arborio, 1 c. steel cut oats)

Add:
4 c. turkey broth
handful of golden raisins
handful of dried cranberries
2 small apples, diced
a dash of onion powder
dash of salt

Bake the risotto at the same time as acorn squash-- about 30 minutes at 400F.  I think I took the squash out at 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile:

brown ground turkey in a skillet
stir in 1 tbsp red wine vinegar (or, in my house, grape juice blend or whatever you have on hand)
*seasoning blend
stir to combine.

*Click on blend above to go to the recipe I used, or use your own seasonings...

When the risotto comes out of the oven, stir in the ground turkey "sausage" and a healthy handful of shredded pecorino romano cheese.  Use this blend to stuff the acorn squash with.  Sprinkle a bit more cheese on top.

Here's the disclaimer:  I don't know what to do from here.  I plan to cover this with aluminum foil and make it hot at dinner time... so maybe 350F for 20-30 minutes? 40?  But if you were making this for dinner, you could just pop it in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or so to finish it off... maybe?

The risotto stuffing is my lunch.. with peas tossed in... and it is DELICIOUS.

Shrimp-Broccoli-Sweet Potato Lasagna

Sauce:

1. Melt 4 tbsp butter in heavy saucepan
2. Add 1/4 c. sliced green onions, 1/4 c. shredded carrots, 1 crushed clove garlic. Saute.
3. To this, add: 1/4 c. (?) flour, 1/4 tsp. mustard powder, 1/4 tsp. crushed thyme
4. Stir in 2 1/2 c. milk (* I had no milk, so I used powdered buttermilk for 1 cup and 12 oz evaporated milk...  creamy goodness...) 
5. Stir until thickened. 
6. Add 1 c. shredded montery-jack-blend cheese 

Build the lasagna: 

• 1-2 cups cooked broccoli 
• frozen, cooked shrimp (2 cups? 3? I don't remember)
• sweet potato puree <--- we had this left over, mixed with shredded onion, from another recipe- close to 3 cups worth 
• shredded cheese (2 cups?)
• 6 lasagna noodles

1. Layer 1/2 cup sauce on bottom
2. stack on 3 lasagna noodles
3. Spread 1/2 the sweet potato puree on the noodles
4. Top with all of the broccoli
5. 1 cup sauce
6. 1/2 the cheese
7. 3 more noodles
8. rest of the sweet potato
9. all of the shrimp
10. more sauce and cheese to top it off
11. I sprinkled parmesan and paprika on top--- 

Bake all of this creamy yum at 350 for 40 minutes, or until bubbly and golden.

I failed to take a picture.  My children devoured it. That should suffice. 

Green Tomato Pie

My oldest son hates tomatoes.  And yet, he requests this pie every summer.  Might have something to do with the syrup of sugary goodness that masks tomatoes as apples and lures him right in!

This recipe is from my grandfather, and is how we "save" any green tomatoes left hanging on vines just at the threat of frost.  Better save them in our bellies than leave them to rot! 

No part of this recipe, save the tomatoes, promises to be healthy.

But I do promise that, if you like apple pie, you'll probably like this, too!

1 1/2 c. sugar

5 tbsp flour

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

3-4 cups thinly sliced green tomatoes

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp margarine/butter/shortening 

pastry for a double-crust pie

Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Add tomatoes and vinegar.  Toss to mix.  Line 9" pie pan with bottom crust.  Add filling and dot with butter.  Top with lattice crust. 

Bake 350 for 1 hour, or until tomatoes are tender. 

"Add more cinnamon and nutmeg if you like things spicy!"-Grandpa Bushy's advice

Applesauce

I have a bag of Macintosh apples dear husband bought last week. I don't particularly like Macintosh for fresh eating. I'm not sure why... they are loved by many, but I don't enjoy them. Not wanting to waste the luxury of winter apples, I thought I'd make a pot of applesauce, lazy-style: scrub apples. Core them. Put them in a pot with a bit of water to simmer soft. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar, and use an immersion blender on the whole lot. That's right... no laborious peeling. Added fiber in the finished sauce. My children don't even notice. Win-win, right?

Wrong. I soaked the apples in a vinegar solution to lift the chemicals and wax from them. They then were scrubbed and scrubbed... and I noticed that the apples still felt smeary. I took the edge of my knife and scraped them.... this picture is the result of scraping 3 apples clean of the buildup on the skins. Ew! I can't imagine getting an entire bag of apples wax-free this way, and scrubbing wasn't working... so back to peeling. Sigh. At least the few I scraped clean got to add their fiber-nutrient goodness to the mix.

Oh, to have a little orchard of mature trees to harvest apples from! Wait... I live in an apple orchard.... I guess it's time to plant some more young trees and prune the old, and see what the hailstorms don't destroy next year!

UPDATE: Saw an idea on Pinterest... adding pumpkin puree to applesauce! SO- the official "recipe" for today is as follows:

14 apples- a mix of Gala, Granny Smith, and Macs
1/2 cup water
Simmer until soft.

Add:
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
2/3 c sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree (frozen from garden this year)

Immersion blender... puree the entire thing.

Bonus: Added nutrition!

The reviews are in:

Mufasa said, "Gracious, this is GOOOOOD!" (Wahoo! He likes it!)
BugBug said, "Mommy, it smells like a giraffe." (Um..............)

I asked Bug, "If it smells like a giraffe, how does it taste?" and he said it was "five thumbs up." So, despite the fact it apparently stinks like exotic livestock, I think your children might like this, too.

Spiced Chevon Burger

This might not be a very "foodie" picture... in fact, it barely shows the meal.  But this spontaneous shot, taken this evening during our dinner outside, captures the reason for my posting:  my son loved it.  He's not usually a "hamburger" kid.  He'll dutifully make an attempt at them, but rarely finishes.  Tonight's burger was a fantastic exception.

The burgers were adapted from Parents magazine, August 2012.  I'll share the recipe as I made it, but note that Garam Masala can be a blend of several things-  mine is cumin, cinnamon, coriander. 

1 lb. ground chevon (or lamb)
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. garlic (I used powder- fresh would be better)
dash of sea salt
black pepper

Mix well and form 4 patties.  Grill!

We topped these off with lettuce, ketchup with the same seasonings added in for extra kick, and put it all on toasted rolls. 

A chat about chevon- because lots of people may say, "what's that?"  or, alternately, "ewwww..."  Chevon is goat meat.  My family raises grass-fed meat goats.  I was a vegetarian for several years, so the meat I feel "best" about eating is meat from animals that I know were raised humanely and are valued far beyond the styrofoam-wrapped mystery in the grocery store.   I know that they are fed abundantly good food... they eat better quality food, ounce for ounce, than I ever will.  The kid group is currently grazing on a specialty blend of forage called "summer feast," known for it's high nutrient density.  While they are gorging themselves on leafy greens, I am struggling to get a single thing out of our hail-destroyed garden.  But eventually, for the kids who will go on to be processed for meat, this better nutrition will result in a better quality meat.  And these burgers were good...  my 6-year-old food critic says so. 

I will never be 100% ok with eating meat, probably, but when I do eat meat from our own animals, I can trust the process and the product, and that feels right- especially when I am feeding my growing sons. 

New Year's Eve Dinner

Here's the menu for this evening's feast:

• Roasted, home-raised chicken (celery inside and butter keep it moist for baking)
• Roasted butternut squash and apples drizzled in honey
• Creamed sweet potato casserole with brown sugar crisp topping- home grown sweet potatoes
• Yeast rolls
• Potato latkes (home grown onions- the potato patch needed a rest after a blight... maybe next year)

Happy New Year!

Loaded Grilled Cheese

Here's an idea for a veggie-boost in a grilled cheese day: 

• sweet potato quesadilla filling (shredded sweet potatoes, onion, cumin, chili powder, garlic sauteed until soft)
• shredded cheddar/jack cheese
• salsa

Make grilled cheese sandwhich, only with the addition of sweet potatoes!  My son loves this, and often dips it in some salsa to boot.  Quesadillas on whole wheat toast- the best of comfort food on a cold winter's day!