Acorn Squash, Sausage, and Spinach Pasta Bake

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a blog called A Household Almanac. It's a beautiful website, and one of the recipes inspired me to adapt this one. It turned out very well, a perfect fall-day meal.

Acorn Squash, Sausage, and Spinach Pasta Bake 

inspired by the Rachel Schultz Household Almanac

 

1/2 large Acorn Squash

1 pound Sausage

1 cup Spinach

1 Onion, diced

3/4 box/bag  of medium Shell pasta

1 cup Ricotta

1 tbsp. Garlic

2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar

Ground Sage

Oregano

Basil

Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Cook acorn squash in a covered pot with steamer. Cook until fork-tender. Allow to cool and scoop out squash.

Sauté sausage and onion in a skillet. When sausage is mostly browned, add spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted and remove from heat. Add squash, ricotta, garlic, vinegar, and spices. Stir well, then combine with pasta.

Grease large baking pan and pour in pasta mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top begins to brown.

Two Baby Shower Cupcakes: Pumpkin and Chocolate Zucchini

This weekend I made decorations and cupcakes for my friend's baby shower. They turned out so well! I've made these cupcakes before, so these are officially tried-and-true recipes. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

(makes 10 cupcakes)

1 cup Flour

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Dash of Cloves

1 cup Pumpkin puree

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup White Sugar

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

2 large Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet. Stir well.

Fill cupcake cups ¾-almost all the way full. Bake 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees, or until inserted knife comes out clean.

Allow to fully cool and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

(makes 16 cupcakes)

2 ¼ cups Flour

1 ½ tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 ½ sticks Butter

1 ¼ cup Brown Sugar

3 large Eggs

3/4 cup Milk

3 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 cup grated Zucchini

1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil

1 Tbsp. Butter

3 squares Baking Chocolate

1/4 cup Cocoa Powder

2 Tbsp. White Sugar

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet. Stir well.

Grate zucchini and set aside. In a small microwavable bowl, combine coconut oil, butter, chocolate squares. Microwave until chocolate is melted. Add zucchini and cocoa powder.

Fill cupcake cups ¾-almost all the way full. Bake 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees, or until inserted knife comes out clean.

Allow to fully cool and frost with Chocolate Frosting.

Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potato and Thyme

This is my first soup of the 2014 Fall season. I've never made a Split Pea soup before, so I thought I'd give it a try. It turned out very well.

Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potato and Thyme

3/4-1 cup low sodium Bacon (or Turkey Bacon), cooked and diced

Oil

1/2 Onion, diced

Garlic

1/2 medium Sweet Potato, diced

1 medium Potato, peeled and diced

1 smaller Leek, diced

1 cup dried Split Peas, washed and looked over

Thyme

Black pepper

1/4  tsp. Turmeric

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

4 cups or 1 carton low sodium Chicken Broth

1 cup dried Split Peas, washed and looked over

Cook the bacon as desired (in oven or on stove-top), until crisp. Set aside on a paper towel.

In a large pot, sauté onions, leek, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and garlic with oil. Season with Black pepper, tumeric, and thyme. Cook until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, lemon juice, and split peas. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a simmer. Cook until the split peas are done, about 1 hour. About half way through, add diced bacon.

Banana Chai Cake

This year for my birthday I decided to make a more breakfasty-cake so that I could take bring it for my church's breakfast potluck. I ended up dividing the batter between two different baking dishes, one small round one so I could frost the cake pictured below, and a larger round dish that I took to the potluck. They both turned out very well! 

Banana Chai Cake

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2  tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup whole milk or heavy cream
2 tea bags of your favorite chai

3 medium (over-ripe) bananas
1/2 cup (1 stick)  butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

 

Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 package cream cheese

1 ½ - 2 cups powdered sugar

A dash of each chai spices:

ground cloves
cinnamon
ground ginger
allspice
nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. In a medium mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices together. Set aside.
2. Pour milk into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, add chai tea bags. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for 20-30 minutes, discarding the used chai. Then in a small bowl, mash bananas with chai milk. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar, about 2 minutes. Mix in eggs, one at a time.
4. Stir in the vanilla and banana mixture, until just combined.
5. Add in flour mixture and stir together until fully combined.
6. Grease an 8″x8″ baking dish or multiple dishes of any size. Pour in banana cake mixture.
7. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread.
8. Allow bread to cool in pan for about 20 minutes before removing and allowing bread to cool completely.

9. Once cooled, frost cake as desired.

A Return to Soup!

It's been a while since I made soup. I may have gone over-board last winter, so I've toned it down a bit. But this weekend was snowy and gray, so I plopped down in front of Pinterest to find inspiration for a new recipe. This is what I came up with. And it is very yummy.

Potato Leek Soup with Beef and Arugula

Stew beef, cubed in small pieces
Olive Oil
Leeks, diced
Garlic
Black Pepper
Yellow Potatoes, cubed in bite-sized pieces
1 carton Chicken broth
1 cup water
Tarragon
Bay Leaves

Arugula, finely diced in a food processor
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp. White Vinegar

Cut beef and sear in a large soup pot. Once browned, add olive oil and leeks. Cook until leeks begin to brown. Add potatoes, broth, water, and spices. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. Dice arugula in a food processor. Add to pot with lemon juice and vinegar. Simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

Serve with parmesan cheese.