Stuffed Acorn Squash

I am experimenting much more with cooking than I ever have before.  Especially since I have all the cool cooking gadgets that we received for wedding gifts.  I am getting much more comfortable using spices and such.  This weekend I bought an acorn squash to experiment with and it turned out great!  This is one of my new favorites for sure!  We had ground beef already in the fridge but I would love to try it sometime with ground turkey. And like I said, I am still experimenting with spices so I stayed a little reserved by adding a pinch of a bunch of different spices...maybe it would be even more delicious if I used more?!?!

Stuffed Acorn Squash:

1 acorn squash halved lengthwise & seeded

salt and pepper

1/2 lb. lean ground beef (or ground turkey)

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

shredded cheddar cheese

pinch of celery salt

pinch of sage

pinch of rosemary

3 pinches of chili powder

pinch of cumin

2 cups of cous cous (we used Near East chicken and herb cous cous)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Sprinkle squash with salt and pepper and place in a baking dish flesh side down and wrap with dish with plastic wrap

3. Microwave squash 10-15 minutes

4. Start cooking for cous cous as directed on package

5. While squash is in microwave, cook the beef on medium high adding in the onions and garlic and add the celery salt, sage, rosemary, chili powder, and cumin.

6. Mix cheese to the meat mixture and with some cous cous stuff the sqaush

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes

Enjoy!

Today I took a little trip to Starbuck's with my mom and bought a french press coffee maker with the rest of my gift card from Christmas! I have wanted one of these for a while but have always talked myself out of buying one because we have a coffee maker that does the job just fine. But, I have been so anxious to use one and see if the coffee is in fact better- I hear it makes the coffee taste for flavorful!! Excited to use it!

Way to go bro!

Casey (my brother) was nominated for all sports king this year for golf.  Casey is senior and will go to OU next year.  The whole family went and saw him being introduced during half time of a bball game at north.  He was so cute.  Though he didn't win.  The quarter back and cheer captain one. go figure! 

Healthy and Delicious Meatloaf!

So, I didn't take a picture for this recipe but in the future when I experiment with recipes, I'll take a photo of the finished product!

Tonight Nathan and I made a healthy meatloaf...we were a little skeptical but it was really good!

I would definitely  make this again!

Meat Loaf made healthy and potatoes:

1/4 tsp. canola oil

1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/4 cup each finely diced carrots, red pepper, celery, and onion

Salt and fresh ground pepper

1 lb. 90% lean ground beef

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 large egg

1 cup cooked brown lentils

2 cups packed spinach leaves, steamed, drained, and chopped

Cooking spray

For the potatoes:

6 small yukon hold potatoes, halved

1 TB extra virgin olive oil

1 TB chopped parsley 

Salt and Pepper

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Heat canola oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and all vegetables except spinach  and saute for 4 minutes.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Ina large bowl, break up beef well with your hands.  Stir in cooked veggies, parmesan, brother, and egg.  Add lentils and mix.  Add spinach and mix again then season with salt and pepper.

Coat a 3x8 in loaf pan with cooking spray. Place meat mixture in a pan and push down.  Bake 35 minutes.

To make the Potatoes:

fill a large saucepan with water.  Add potatoes and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cook for 30 minutes or until fork-tender.  Drain well and place i a large bowl. Mash potatoes with a fork.  Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Let meat loaf rest in the pan for 15 minutes before slicing, then serve with potatoes topped with parsley.

Nutrition per serving:

6 oz. meat loaf, 1/3 cup potatoes: 260 calories, 9 g fat, 24 g protein, 240 mg sodium

my first blog!

This is my first blog! I am so excited to join the blogging world because I love looking at blogs! My favorites are 101cookbooks (great healthy recipes) and StyleMePretty (AMAZING wedding blog..everything on this site is beautiful!) and some other fashion/home decor blogs!