So this isn’t pumpkin…but it’s close!

We’ve been enjoying lots of butternut squash lately, after buying some at Kroger, then more at Aldi the next week for just $.59 each!

We’ve had this…a beef stew with butternut (recipe coming Monday on One Dish Dinners!)…and I made the same beef stew mix for the guys to enjoy while I’m out of town this week.

(And sorry about the lighting…it was already dark. And dark outside kitchen light does not bode well when photographing food! This is a peek inside the slow cooker, minutes after I took off the lid to serve dinner.)

(And I should add…I had grandiose plans for all the acorn squash that I had growing my little garden. That is, until the squirrels ate them. Sigh.)

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If you’d like to learn more about Square Foot Gardening, please check out the Square Foot Gardening books by Mel Bartholemew.

Do you have a recipe that uses Butternut, Acorn Squash or Pumpkin that you’d like to share this week?! Link ‘er up!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Maple Pecan Topping

OK. So we all know that the squash in my garden were a big fat fail this year. I’ve come to grips with the situation, in large part because of the fabulous prices at the farmer’s market for squash this fall.  (You might remember Gigantor Squash.)

Well, I picked up a smaller squash from the farmer’s market on Thursday (more on that trip on Monday), in large part because I needed a squash to prepare a recipe for this Grow. Eat. $ave. post. You know, since I didn’t have on actually growing in the garden.

Grow.

Eat.

$ave.

While I may not have saved on squash this summer, I did contribute in a positive way to our local farmer’s and local community!

Enough rambling. Onto the important stuff.

Like some resources.

Butternut Squash Recipes

• How to Bake Butternut Squash
• Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
• Maple Roasted Butternut Squash

Acorn Squash Recipes

• How to Cook an Acorn Squash
• Honey Roasted Acorn Squash
• Apricot Acorn Squash

Pumpkin Recipes

• Pumpkin Coconut Bread
• Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon-Pecan Streusel
• Gingered Pumpkin Soup

And the recipe for the scrumpti-liciousness that you see above.

(Yep. I just said scrumpti-liciousness.)

Cut off top and bottom. Scrape out seeds. (Roast them if you want.) Peel and dice.

Place the diced squash into a greased glass baking dish (8×8 was big enough for my squash), toss with 2 Tbsp maple syrup. Roast.

400 degrees. 40-45 minutes.

When it’s done, transfer to a serving bowl.

While squash is roasting, run a knife through 1 cup of pecans.

Melt 2 Tbsp butter or (dairy-free) margarine.

Once almost melted, add the maple syrup.

Whisk. Let bubble.

Then add cinnamon.

Whisk into a gooey brown goodness.

Stir in the chopped pecans.  Let simmer for 3-5 minutes.  We’re after goo-einess (would someone please spell that for me!?) here.

Goo-ey-ness.

Gooey-ness.

Gooe-iness.

Transfer the gooey pecans to a piece of wax or parchment paper.  Let cool and get crunchy.

This is the part when we all started snacking.

I had a taste. Then another. Then another.

Ryan came to the counter and asked for a bowl-ful of the gooey-ness. (There’s that word again!)

Steve came in after work and grabbed a small-ish handful.

And Ryan had the last bit after I topped the squash.

I ran a knife through the gooey pecans again, before adding them to the top of the roasted butternut squash.

Bookmark this one. Print it.

Add it to your “Thanksgiving Side Dish” file. Mmmm.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Maple Pecan Topping

Ingredients

• 1 2 lb.-ish butternut squash
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter or (dairy free) margarine
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease the bottom of a glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Peel, seed and dice the squash.  Place the squash in the greased baking dish and toss with 2 Tbsp maple syrup.
3. Roast in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until all squash pieces are fork tender.
4. While the squash is roasting, prepare the maple pecan topping.  Run a knife through the pecans. Or use chopped pecans.
5. Melt the butter or margarine in a small skillet.  Stir in the maple syrup, then stir in the cinnamon.  Add the chopped pecans and let simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Until ooey-gooey.
6. Place the Maple Pecans onto a piece of wax or parchment paper and let cool for 10 minutes, or more.  Chop lightly if needed before adding to the roasted squash.
7. Serve Roasted Butternut Squash with Maple Pecan Topping as a side dish.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

If you’d like to learn more about Square Foot Gardening, please check out the Square Foot Gardening books by Mel Bartholemew.

Have a favorite winter squash (acorn, spaghetti, butternut) squash recipe to share?! Feel free to leave a link below or in the comments

Remember that giant butternut squash I bought at the farmer’s market a month ago?! For just $3.50!

Well, I finally got around to cutting it up…feel free to watch

Steam-bake it. Then puree the flesh. Here are a few things you can do with the butternut squash puree.

• Make homemade baby food.
• Hide in the cheese sauce of homemade mac and cheese.
• Use in Cinnamon Butternut Squash Muffins.
• Make “pumpkin pie” replacing the pumpkin with pureed squash. If doing this, drain some of the water off the squash before pureeing so that your “pumpkin” isn’t too runny. Runny “pumpkin” pie, not so much! (Not a bad idea considering the recent Pumpkin Shortage!)

Peel, Dice and then freeze. Butternut Squash can be frozen “raw.” Dice into larger chunks and smaller pieces.

• Add the smaller pieces to risotto, rice pilaf, brown rice, orzo, quinoa.
• Roast the larger frozen, raw butternut squash pieces – Maple Roasted Butternut Squash – or use the larger chunks in soups, stews or slow cooker recipes.

Got any favorite butternut squash recipes to share?!?

I made this recipe what seems like EONS ago…but it really wasn’t that long ago!  But at the same time, it’s been too long.

Y’all know what I mean.  These kiddos of mine have turned up the dial on “time”…to warp speed.  (It’s all happening too fast…they are growing up way to fast.)

Again. I digress!

Anyhoo.

Made this using some fresh “holiday” (meaning discounted price) cranberries from the  holidays…and the pork chops that I cut from the $1.89/lb pork loin last week.  Pair it with some $.49/lb butternut squash from the freezer and $.99/lb asparagus, and I have no doubt that it comes in under $5!

Recipe can be found in The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.

(Girls gotta sell her cookbooks, right?!?)

UPDATE: For those of you feeling duped or manipulated, don’t! It is not my intention. I have agreements with my publishing house that I must uphold. I made this meal from the cookbook, and shared what I made. As both a blogger and an author, I will forever be using the site to promote my cookbook (the cookbook that I spent HOURS working on, for YOU!). Now look forward to the next FREE recipe!

I found in the freezer…6 eye of round steaks…that I bought back in early September.  The beautiful part is that I bought 6 eye of round steaks for just over $2!  They came in 2 packages, each with 3 steaks and each just over $2.  I used a $2 coupon for Private Selection beef from a Kroger mailer.

Can’t beat 6 eye of round steaks for just over $2!!!

I stopped by one of my favorite recipe sites, Elise’s Simply Recipes.  I knew she would have a recipe for eye of round steaks, and she did!  A Swiss Steak Recipe…that I modified based on what I had in the pantry, a can of mushrooms!

HELLO. Mushroom Swiss Steak. It’s nice to meet you!

You might be my new favorite meal!!!

Ingredients
1 onion, sliced ($.30)
4 garlic cloves ($.15)
6 eye of round steaks ($2.31)
1 4 oz. can of sliced mushrooms, drained ($.49) From Walgreens, on sale and with coupon
1 6 oz. can of tomato paste ($.19) After coupon
1 tsp tarragon ($.20)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 butternut squash ($1.13) Cooked and frozen when on sale for $.49/lb
Butter and brown sugar ($.20)
Mashed Potatoes ($.50) Leftover and frozen from the holidays

Directions

1. Slice onions. Peel and crush garlic.

2. Brown steaks in large skillet in a little bit of canola oil.

3. Turn and brown the other side of the steaks.

4. Add crushed garlic and sliced onions.

5. Saute with the steaks for 4-5 minutes, or until onions become transparent.

6. Add drained mushrooms and mix in.

7. In a small bowl, combine tomato paste with 2 cans worth of water.

8. Pour tomato sauce over the steaks, onions and mushrooms.  Combine well. Stir in tarragon, salt and pepper.

9. Once it starts to splatter, reduce heat to medium-low.

10. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until steak has cooked through.

11. Cook butternut squash and mashed potatoes. (Or thaw and reheat.)

12. Serve Mushroom Swiss Steak with Butternut Squash and Mashed Potatoes.

Cost $5.47

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So this meal was pretty good.  Came out a little on the bitter side, so I just sprinkled a little sugar over the cranberries on everyone’s plate and we were all happy!

So…you could add a little extra sweetener in before you bake it, or you could do as I did.

It really was tasty…after it was properly sweetened.

And boy am I glad that I froze some fresh produce from the fall and the holidays…because good prices on produce are SCARCE these days!!!

(Below is the recipe as I made it!)

Ingredients
3 cups cooked brown rice ($.40)  (or 1 cup raw brown rice)
About 1/2 cup of apple juice ($.15)
3 large chicken breasts ($2.54)
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder ($.03)
1 bag cranberries ($1.25) Bought on sale over holidays and froze
2 Tbsp sugar, sprinkled over the cranberries ($.10) Increase for a sweet sauce
Dashes of cinnamon and ground ginger, enough to lightly coat the cranberries ($.05)
2 cups cooked butternut squash, warmed ($.50) About half a butternut squash, bought when on sale for $.49/lb.

Directions

(Cook 1 cup raw brown rice according to package instructions.)

1. Place cooked brown rice into a 9×13 glass baking dish.  (This is a great way to use frozen rice from a big batch.  Rice doesn’t keep it’s consistency after being frozen, but baking it with some juice and cranberries, I didn’t notice the “mush” so much!)  Pour apple juice into the baking dish with the rice.

2. Nestle the chicken breasts into the baking dish.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

3. Top with thawed cranberries.

4. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and ground ginger.

5. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until chicken has cooked through. Cooking time may vary depending on thickness of chicken.

6. Once baked, sweeten if need be.  Or don’t if you like tart cranberries.  Toss some cranberries with some rice.

7. Serve Cranberry Chicken and Rice with Baked Butternut Squash.

Cost $5.02

I have really enjoyed experimenting with butternut squash recipes this year!

This one is a keeper!  A fantabulous side dish!

Ingredients
1 large butternut squash (about 2-3 pounds) ($1.50)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil ($.10)
1/4 cup maple syrup (free – $1)
Few dashes each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice ($.15)

Directions

1. Chop off the stem and bottom of the squash.  Using a vegetable peeler, peel off remaining skin.

2. Cut the squash in half crosswise just above where it gets larger, or where the seeds live.

3. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds.

4. Dice the whole squash into 1/2 inch cubes.

5. Place squash into an 8×8-inch glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with olive oil and maple syrup.  Toss.

6. Add a few dashes each of ground cinnamon, ground ginger and allspice.  Toss.

7. Bake uncovered at 400° for 30-35 minutes.

8. Serve Maple Roasted Butternut Squash with your Thanksgiving Feast. 

Serves 8.

Cost $1.75-$2.75

I use olive oil.  A lot of it.

It’s my preferred choice of “oil” for cooking.  So it’s a definite BONUS when there are extra savings available for olive oil. 

Filippio Berio is offering a $1 off coupon…Register for the Filippio Berio newsletter and you can print a $1 off coupon! Filippio Berio is also a member of the Upromise team, so they will automatically deposit a percentage of your Filippo Berio purchases into your Upromise account. 

SWEET!!!

Now on to the sweet caramelized onions…

Ingredients
1 package chicken breasts (about 1.3 lbs) ($2.33)
1/3 cup olive oil ($.40)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar ($.20) I used a balsamic white wine vinegar…which explains why my chicken isn’t dark in the photo. A dark balsamic vinegar will turn the chicken brown!
Salt and pepper
1 medium butternut squash ($1.03) STILL on sale for $.49/lb!
2 Tbsp maple syrup (free)
1 medium onion ($.30)
1 tsp olive oil ($.03)
1 tsp sugar ($.01)
1/2 bag romaine lettuce ($.25) Bought on sale with store mailer coupon for $.50!
1 small apple ($.25)
Salad dressing ($.25)

Directions
1. Place chicken breasts into glass baking dish. In small bowl, whisk olive oil and balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken breasts. Cover with plastic wrap. Marinate at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. I started these guys marinating right after breakfast…and mmm! The longer the marinating time, the better!
2. Remove plastic wrap and bake chicken at 350 for 45-55 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center.
3. Bake butternut squash. When finished, scrape out flesh into bowl and stir in 2 Tbsp maple syrup for some extra sweetness!
4. Caramelize the onions.

Add onion slices to skillet with 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp sugar.  Cook over medium high heat for 20-25 minutes, or until turn golden brown.  Stir often! I did not do this, but thought of it while eating.  I should have/suggest that you add a dash of balsamic vinegar as the onions are nearing the end of their caramelization!
5. Chop apples and toss over lettuce with dressing.
6. Serve Balsamic Chicken with Caramelized Onions, Maple Sweetened Squash and Salad.

Cost $5.05

1. Scoop seeds from squash or pumpkin. Remove as much of the flesh attached to the seeds as you can. If there’s a little left, that’s OK!

2. Spread seeds out on cookie sheet or in shallow metal baking pan in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with chili powder and garlic salt. Eyeball it! (Amounts will vary depending on how many seeds you are roasting)

3. Roast in 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and “stir the seeds around”, flipping, stirring, rotating. Just move them a bit and return them to “single layer status.” Roast for another 5-8 minutes, or until most are crispy and have browned a bit. Let cool a bit before eating!

A delicious and healthy treat!

What other spices or sweetness do you like to add when roasting your pumpkin seeds and squash seeds?

BEFORE

AFTER

I’m often asked…well, how much do your kids eat?  How much do you give them?

How about a “visual” answer to that question.  Above is my 2 year old’s plate.  Before and After.

He nearly polished off the chicken, almost all of the peas and squash, and ate at least half of his rice…before declaring himself, “fuh,” and asking to be excused.

Tonight’s dinner comes from the freezer. Remember those farm fresh chicken breasts for $1.79/lb from a few weeks ago…well, before I froze the chicken, I added about 1 cup of Italian dressing (that I recently got on sale with a coupon for $.49) into the freezer baggie with the chicken. I took the chicken out last night and put it into the fridge…where it has been thawing and marinating all day!

Plus, that butternut squash from last night’s meal was MUCH larger than I thought! We only ate half of it last night, so we’ll finish the rest tonight. If there is any leftover after tonight, then I’ll use it to make more of these delicious squash muffins!

A simple and nutritious dinner…

Ingredients
4 small or 3 large (about 1.2 lbs.) chicken breasts ($2.14)
1 cup Italian dressing ($.25)
1 cup brown rice, uncooked ($.40)
1 half (about 1 lb.) of LARGE butternut squash ($.57) Leftovers
2 cups frozen peas ($1)
Plus some BBQ sauce for the kid’s chicken ($.10)

My “never pay more than” price for 16 oz. bag of frozen veggies is $1!  Stock up when these go on sale!!!

Directions
1. Marinate chicken breasts in Italian dressing in a 9×13-inch glass baking dish for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Bake marinated chicken breasts at 350 for 45-55 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.
3. Cook brown rice according to package directions.  Takes about 45-50 minutes for “raw” brown rice to cook!
4. Reheat or cook butternut squash.
5. Cook frozen peas as directed on package instructions.
6. Serve Baked Italian Chicken with Brown Rice, Butternut Squash, and Peas.

Cost $4.4

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