Baked Whole Butternut Squash - Who Knew?

I live on the lakeshore in beautiful Grand Haven, Michigan.  The summers here are so lovely, with the beach and the water and the tourists, live music, festivals...

...but the winters are NO joke.  "Harsh" is an understatement. Historically, I turn to "comfort food," which translates to anything warm and cheesy, warm and sugary, or warm and carby.  
I've been working hard on a healthier lifestyle and have long been a vegetarian.  When the weather changed from tropical to TORRID...I began to crave my delicious comfort food, and had to find an alternative.  I love squash!  :)

I found this GIANT butternut last week and was dreading trying to split it.  I figured, hey..why not?  SO I took a leap of faith and did something DARING......I cooked it whole!  (I know, crazy.)

This was the easiest thing EVER. I did not prepare the squash in any way at all.   I laid it on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet, set the oven to 375 and waited, hoping it wouldn't burn my house down or explode.  Neither happened, but in about a half hour, my house smelled just heavenly.

I cooked this for about ah hour and a half...I knew it was finished when I could poke a fork in the thickest spot with no resistance. When it cam out, I noticed, to my DELIGHT, that the skin had pulled form the meat and it...omggg it caramelized!

I impatiently let it cool a little and split it open...ohhhhh, hello, lover.

I scooped the seeds and removed the skin, which was so easy.  Zero waste.

And .....here's my yield.

That's a LOT.  Because I didn't split or prick the squash, the inside steamed perfectly in its own juices.  The caramelization of the skin gave it a wonderful, rich flavor  It was perfect and now this my go-to technique for squash!   This is loaded with nutrients and was good enough to eat plain, no butter, salt, nothing. I've always been reluctant to buy/cook butternuts because I have an awful time splitting them and I hated peeling them. 

I ate almost all of it *haha*..and froze some for later.  Later..tomorrow. :)



Enjoy!

Delicious Butter Baked and Broiled Cabbage Slabs.

OH my heavens.

I'm a vegetarian.  I don't know how or why this even happened, but over the course of a year, maybe two, I found myself really loving a meatless lifestyle.  I do love animals, but I'm not going to throw ketchup on your furs, I'm just feeling a lot better going veggie. AND I get to eat dishes like THESE for BREAKFAST!

SO here's how its done..and there's nothing complicated about this at ALL so please tweak my recipe to your liking.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Your cabbage:  I cut mine into 1/2 inch slabs. I like my cabbage "al dente"..not slimy and flaccid. (giggle)

Prepare your cookie sheet by brushing it with some olive oil.  give it a good coat.

Now. lay down your cabbage slabs and just smear the heck out of them with REAL, salted BUTTER.  OH yeah, baby....I said it.  BUTTER.  It's good for you.  Get that butter all over the place.  Grind some sea salt and some fresh peppercorns on top of that.  OH MY GOSH.

NOW we COOK!

Put. It. In. The. Oven.  Now set your timer for 20 minutes, but check at about 15 minutes.  When the bottoms are becoming brown and the cabbage is turning translucent, flip 'em...let them bake for 15 more minutes.

Now turn your oven to broil and give them a nice brown.  The tops will caramelize with the butter and THAT'S what we're looking for.  My oven took about 7 minutes, yours might take more or less time, so keep your eye on it.

Here's what we want to see:

LAWD ALMIGHTY.

You're almost done.  You can eat this as is and its delicious.  If you're a carnivore, add some bacon bits.  I love to serve mine with some good marinara, and a sprinkling of parmesan....whatever you decide, I promise, that caramelized cabbage, butter and salt and pepper is absolutely to die for. 

Here's mine, seconds before I devoured it. (at 10am)  haha!  Enjoy! 

Tell me how you tweaked this to you or your family's liking in my comment section!  

Thanks for visiting!

Karen

Rainbow Cupcakes!

Rainbow cupcakes!  These are fun and easy to make if you follow a couple of helpful hints!  REALLY!  They look like a mess, but trust me, if I can do this so can anyone!

First: Use a white cake mix, any type will do, but be sure to not add the egg yolks, egg whites only, we're going for bright, vibrant color here.

Second:  

Have on hand 6 small (sandwich size) Ziplock bags..you will mix your batter and colors in these.

OK....Mix your batter according to the directions on the box.  (these are far from gourmet..if you prefer a homemade from scratch recipe, wellthen rock and roll.)...the kids were fine with the box recipe.

Divide, (we just eyeballed it)...your batter into 6 somewhat equal parts and put them into your Ziplock bags. 

Here's your color recipe:

RAINBOW COLOR	DROPS OF FOOD COLORING
Purple	9 red and 6 blue drops
Blue	12 drops
Green	12 drops
Yellow	12 drops
Orange	12 yellow and 4 red drops
Red	18 drops

Add to each ziplock bag and squish with your hands....don't worry, this doesn't effect the batter at all,  I was worried, but it didn't.

Using your scissors, cut a wee corner out of each Ziplock bag.

Squeeze just enough batter to cover the bottoms of your lined cupcake pan....keep adding layers until you have used each color, in rainbow order....be careful not to overfill your cupcakes, as I did a few times...be very gentle here, don't disturb the batter at allll...you will end up with mud cupcakes, not rainbow cupcakes, and that would be tragic.

Bake according to package directions....voila. 

Frost with your choice of frosting, we chose vanilla with sprinkles and they turned out darling.

Have fun with this!  We sure did,  We'll be making these again for sure!

Namaste.

Karen

From the YUMMY files....

OOH my stars.  This is a recipe that not only looks amazing, but tastes wonderful as well.  I tested this recipe that I found over at Taste of Home (my number one go-to for wonderful recipes)

This was easy to put together, with ingredients that are readily available in my pantry most of the time.  I am thinking, maybe next time I'll add a cream cheese filling as well, just to make these MORE sinful!

The bars in the photo were made with a 9x13 pan and they're thick!  

Tip: don't omit the almond extract, even add a dash more!  And be sure to add the glaze, it adds just the right amount of sweetness!

Here's your recipe :)


50

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cans (21 ounces each) cherry pie filling
• GLAZE:
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the extracts. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture just until combined.
• Spread 3 cups batter into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Spread with pie filling. Drop the remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over filling.  You may use a 9 x 13 inch pan, just add 10 minutes or so to the baking time.
• Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Combine the glaze ingredients; drizzle over bars. Yield: 5 dozen

Little Carved Carrot Hearts

We do not vaccinate.  

SO...with that, we count on fresh air, lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of sleep, copious amounts of clean, cold water, and carved carrot hearts.

Today, I made a delicious turkey and vegetable soup, with chickpeas, kale, corn, celery, garlic, onion, and...lots of little carved carrot hearts.

Not only is this just the cutest thing ever, it's well known to have great power to keep illness at bay, I swear!

We've made it through this cold/flu season without incident (so far)....knock on wood! :)

I'm sure it's the carrots.

These are rather self explanatory to make....simple, even.  Cut a "v" shape in the top, then use your peeler to shape the rest.  Easy peasy...it's the love that goes into this extra step that keeps illness at bay.

Enjoy!

Paleo Friendly Baked Eggs in Avacado Halves

These are heavenly.  

While baking, the shells of the avocados take on a smokey flavor and enhance the entire dish.  JUST delicious.

So here's how:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Halve your avocado, sprinkle inside with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, some cracked sea salt and some thyme.

Crack your (preferably organic) egg, discarding about half of the white, into the cavities.

Sprinkle top with a tad more extra virgin olive oil, more thyme, and a bit more sea salt.

Bake for about 10 minutes, checking your eggs every few minutes after that, and when they are done to your liking, remove from the oven.

Here's the hard part:  Let them cool a bit so that the flavors can continue to meld just a little.

Then, enjoy.  I like to have a piece of fruit alongside, these are savory and salty and smoky and just amazing!  

I hope you love these as much as I do.  Zero preservatives, zero high fructose corn syrup, no artificial anything, just simple, delicious, whole foods.
ava

Super Quick and Easy Sunday Breakfast Casserole

My family just adores this meal.  

We're in the process of moving ACROSS THE STATE....so my cooking adventures have been a bit pitiful lately.

I always make a huge Sunday breakfast for my kiddos and husband, and they look forward to it...so I felt very guilty when they wandered about last Sunday looking sadly at the empty breakfast table (they're just spoiled.)

I remembered this, and, luckily, I had all of the ingredients on hand.  This can be made in so many variations, so use your imagination.

Here's how I made this one:

You will need:

-cooking spray

-one can of ready-made croissant rolls

-6 eggs

-2 cups of shredded cheese

-shaved ham

-fresh asparagus (blanched)

-salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray

roll out croissant rolls

beat eggs with cheese, pour on top of croissant rolls

top with shaved ham (you could also use crumbled, cooked sausage, bacon pieces, etc..)

add asparagus, salt and pepper to taste.

Cook for 30 minuts or until cheese browns and casserole is bubbly.

Serve with fresh fruit, toast and jam and some juice and coffee and you are A SUNDAY MORNING HERO!

:)

Enjoy! 

Coming up:  My cabinet is done!  Pics to come!  

Have a lovely Thursday!

Mason Jar Salads!

SO....this is the beginning of week 3 on Weight Watchers and I am enjoying big success!  6lbs gone so far and I can already feel a big difference.  Here's something that has saved me AND encouraged my husband (Mr. Honey Bun and Mountain Dew), and my kids (no tag names needed), to eat healthier without even realizing.

So, here is our take on Mason Jar Meals, specifically Mason Jar Salads

Our first step:  Hunting and Gathering.  We have a lovely farm market here in Lansing, however, Lansing happens to be in MICHIGAN, therefore, fresh, locally produced foods are scarce, so please sub your own local, preferably organic produce if possible.

Our next step:  cleaning, cutting, chopping.  (and sampling)  We also boiled up some quinoa and some whole wheat rotini pasta.

Then, assembly.

Here are a few tips:

1. Dressing on the bottom, lettuce on the top.  If the two are touching the lettuce will turn to slime.

2. So, dressing goes in first.  On top of your dressing, use a rather "hearty" vegetable, such as shredded cabbage, pea pods, or julienne carrot matchsticks.  They can withstand the acidity of the dressing, and actually get better!

3. Pack it in.  Use a nice variety of colorful vegetables!  Make it fun and involve the kids.

Here are some of our recipes:

Poppyseed: Layer, in this order:

-poppyseed dressing

-carrot shreds

-green peas

-pineapple

-blueberries

-raspberries

-lettuce

Asian:

-light asian ginger dressing

-peapods

-carrot shreds

-cabbage shreds

-water chestnuts

-green peas

-bean sprouts

-quinoa

-toasted sesame seeds

-lettuce

Seafood

(I make a light dressing with light mayo, skim milk, s and p, and parmesan

-dressing

-cabbage shreds

-cherry tomatoes (halved)

-black olives

-celery

-drained canned crab / drained canned salad shrimp

-lettuce

Caesar:

-light Caesar dressing

-carrot shreds

-diced grilled chicken

-celery

-cukes

-lettuce

-parmesan

(add croutons later) ...they get mooshy in the jar.

Here's what you will have when you're done.  Aren't they gorgeous?  

...and here's a closeup:

We also made rainbow fruit salads....layered in this order:

-blueberries

-honeydew

-cantaloupe

-pineapple

-strawberries

-raspberries

(we HAD kiwi, but forgot to add!)

Now, don't forget to label the lids!  We use a Sharpie.  The Sharpie ink can be removed easily with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for your next use.

Annnnnnnd....I could never finish this post without a photo of my lovely assistant and head kid in charge of nom nom nom noms.........she eats these every day!