Spaghetti squash that will change your life!

1 spaghetti squash mine was medium sized. Prick with knife and roast on 350 for about an hour ( I bumped mine up to 450 for about 20 minutes then back to 350 for another 20 because I was starving ;) )

You can either cut your Brussel sprouts in half and throw them on baking sheet with squash for about the last 30 minutes ( drizzle with olive oil) or sauté them with the onions (if sautéing cut in quarters)

Once squash is done cut in half discard seeds and scrape the noodle like flesh out. In pan with olive oil (or about 2 tbsp butter) sauté 1 vidala onion until soft (if sautéing sprouts do those now too) add 1 large clove garlic minced and about 5 baby portabella mushrooms sliced. ( you'll need to add those last since the garlic will burn and the mushrooms will get soggy). Toss the squash in with a pad of butter, salt and pepper add Parmesan cheese and serve, I'm not kidding it is to die for.


If the computer wasn't broken I'd upload a pic :(

Brussel Sprouts and Quinoa

Don't let the title scare you. These aren't the brussel sprouts you ate as a child all mushy and boiled, these are fresh yummy goodness.

Quinoa, bacon, onion (one half of a small sweet onion) 3 Garlic cloves, salt, pepper, dill, brussel sprouts.

Prepare your Quinoa according to the directions (this stuff is bland it takes on whatever flavor you add) So I used water but added a bit of garlic and onion powder, olive oil and salt.

Dice up some bacon I used 3 strips and put it in your pan

Cook it and remove to a paper towel to drain - leave the grease in the pan (you could forego the grease and use olive oil but I like the bacon flavor, I probably had about 1- 1 1/2 TBS rendered from the bacon)

Cut about 5 brussel sprouts in half, give your onion and garlic a rough chop.

In your bacon grease or olive oil saute your onion and brussel sprouts, season with salt and pepper, once they begin to soften a bit add your garlic (remember garlic burns quickly) I added one pad of butter at this point. Once your veggies are done add some dill (to your liking, I wanted to do parsley but was out so I grabbed dill, turns out it was awesome!) Add your precooked quinoa and taste to see if it needs any more seasoning. I personally think Quinoa can be dry, so, at this point you can add a bit of chicken stock to the pan so it isn't so dry, I didn't have chicken stock on hand so I decided that I would dollop some sour cream on top and top with a tad more dill. I am a strange bird, or so I have been told, but I tell you the sour cream on it was awesome.

It would also be good if you topped with cheese, but if you are the plain Quinoa type no topping is needed ;)

Meatloaf Muffins.

Meatloaf: An inexpensive versatile meal that is sure to please. I read a lot of Old cookbooks, My great aunt sent me a huge pile of them. Many of them come with instructions on how to be a "perfect housewife". I am positive that meatloaf served with canned fruit cocktail and a green (beans or salad) at least 2 times a week in the 50's. Any way. Here is what I did. Remember, I hate to measure and my family is strange.

1lb lean ground beef (I actually only had 80/20 here which worked great but I suppose you could go much leaner or even use Bison)
1 Carrot
1/2 of an onion
1 Large Garlic Clove
About 1 TBSP Oregano
2 good pinches of celery seed (or if you have celery on hand add it instead, (I would say 1 stalk would be sufficient)
3/4-1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 cup ketchup and 1/2 cup ketchup mixed with 1 1/2 TBSP of Worcestershire sauce)
Salt and pepper to taste

(Funny note, no one says Worcestershire sauce right, except for My husbands Cousin who is of course from London. Except he calls it sauce, apparently it is automatically known that when you ask for sauce that is what is given)

Preheat oven to 350

So Because my family is stranger than strange I grate all vegetables so that they have no idea of the contents of what they eat, sad but oh so true.
With a cheese grater (largest holes) Grate your onion (and celery if you are using stalks instead of seed)
With the small holes grate the carrots and garlic

In a skillet with a small amount of butter (or olive oil) saute the veggies until they are completely tender.

While those are cooking get your meat ready Add your meat, egg, 1/4 cup ketchup, salt, pepper, oregano, celery seed (if using) and bread crumbs.

Add your sauteed veggies (it is best if you let them cool so you don't cook the egg or meat and you don't want to burn your hands ;) Live and learn baby, live and learn)

Mix together well but do not over mix, the more you handle it the greasier the meat will become.

Grease your muffin tin I got 8 muffins out of this. Make small balls and press them gently into the cups of your tin. Top each one with a generous amount of the ketchup/Worcestershire sauce mix.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350
I topped 3 of mine with a colby/jack cheese (after they were done I cut the oven off and popped it back in until cheese had melted) and I wish I had topped them all!