Baked squash

Isn't Fall just the best?  I love the crisp weather and yummy comfort foods.  Last week our CSA provided winter squash.  Now add this to the list of things I don't enjoy eating (I recall many a dinner ending with me sitting there, 2 bites of squash on my play, and me refusing to even choke that tiny bit down much to my mom's chagrine). But I was thrilled to see this in our box because squash is good for little ones, and Miss T loves sweet potatoes so I figured she would like this too.  The farmer provided tips for preparing the squash thank goodness!  It was so smooth!  

Directions:

Wash squash thoroughly

Using a sharp knife, cut squash in half length wise

Place cut side down in a glass baking dish in about 1/2"-1" of water.  Cover.

Bake at 400F for 45-60 minutes.  You can tell its done when the shell of the squash is soft.  

Remove the cover and continue baking for 10-15 minutes to caramelize 

Let cool, then either slice or scoop the meat out of the shell.

T ended up not liking the butternut squash we had last week.  It smelled delicious and I was half tempted to eat it myself!  My 7 year old inner child held me back though. A co worker told me to stir it into soups to thicken the broth and add nutrients.  I've got it in my crock pot chicken tortilla soup right now (don't tell my hubby), which also used some of my freezer peppers.  I will let you know how it turns out!  

Freezer Peppers

I love having fresh veggies in the freezer for those long, Minnesota winter months.  There's nothing like a hot bowl of homemade chicken tortilla soup made with fresh veggies that I froze over the winter.  Our CSA gave us a ton of peppers the past couple of weeks, plus some delicious onions.  My original plan was to make salsa using a freezer salsa recipe (wouldn't you love it?  Maybe I'll do a future post....or you can buy my mom's new book with all kinds of freezer recipes!) but somewhere in between ear infections 8 & 9 for my sweet little Miss T and working, plus building a house, I just didn't have the energy. 

 

Instead I cut the tops off the peppers, de-seeded, washed, and cut into 1" squares.  The best method for cutting peppers with minimal seed-spillage is to hold your knife vertically with the point down, and cut around the broad part of the top of the pepper like you were cutting the top of a pumpkin off.  Then I just do a little trimming to ensure all seeds are removed.  The final rinse will get any pesky strays.  I tossed these into my chopper from Tupperware, along with some onion wedges.  Once everything was diced, I spooned 1/2C portions into snack sized ziplock bags and tossed the whole collection into one gallon sized freezer bag.  Can't wait to pull those out this winter!

Pinterest

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Turkey + Spinach Meatballs

Turkey meatballs are Miss T's favorite food.  It's one of my favorites for her as well, because it has a great balance of protein, whole grains, and veggies.  On top of the nutritional benefit, they're pretty simple to make and SUPER easy to pull out of the freezer for a quick dinner or to send to daycare.  I had to make a new batch because the stock was running low, and I decided to see what purees I had leftover that she wouldn't eat anymore.  Right before she decided she didn't want purees, I'd made a big batch of cauliflower and another of spinach.  So to make this quick, I thawed both batches in the microwave, then tossed each one in a separate bowl.  Similar to the last time I made meatballs, I split the pound of ground turkey between the bowls and added a packet of steamed brown rice.  This time I tossed the rice in whole, without creaming it.  It seemed to work well, and I don't think she needed it creamed anyways.  Plus that was one less step (plus one less thing to clean!). 

She really likes the cauliflower + turkey meatballs, but took a little longer to warm up to the spinach ones.  I'm not sure if it was the color or what, because she liked creamed spinach.  But eventually she decided they were fine once I actually got a bite past her compressed lips.  :)

Notes:  This time I baked the batches for about 22 minutes, at 350F.  One thing I'd do differently next time is either using the freezer bag or freezing them flat on a cookie sheet.  Instead I stuck all 60 or so meatballs in a large Ziplock container before putting them in the freezer.  This resulted in one giant mass of frozen meatball.  Each time she wants some, I have to hack them apart.  Not super fun.