Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is a clean eating recipe, inspired by a recipe I read from a Clean Eating magazine.

I never was a squash fan before.  

But the sausage stuffing in this recipe makes the squash not only edible, but delicious.  

I was amazed that my whole family enjoyed it.  Plus, they look so pretty too!

This recipe will make enough to feed a large family or to freeze half of the stuffing for later!

2 acorn squash (for small family and freezing the rest of the stuffing, otherwise use 4 squash)
1 cup diced red onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
4 roasted red peppers, drained and diced (found in a jar near the pickles/olive section)
6 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 tsp dried oregano or Italian seasoning
1 lb mild Italian turkey sausage, removed from casing (that skin like stuff)
2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Remove stem of squash.  Wash squash and cut in half from stem down.  Scrape and discard seeds.  On a microwavable plate, place squash face side down and microwave for 10 minutes.  Then flip them over (using hot pads) and cook another 5 minutes until tender when poked with a fork.

While squash is cooking, add approx 2 tbsp oil in a large skillet.  Add onion, celery, garlic, red peppers, and sausage to skillet.  Saute until vegetables are tender and sausage fully cooked.

Add remaining ingredients (bread crumbs, parsley, seasoning, and chicken stock) and cook until bread crumbs are fluffy and moist.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Stuff squash and serve!

Wendy's Chili

This is a great chili recipe that I've been making for over 4 years. I found it off Top Secret Recipes, back when they would give away a free recipe of the week. It actually tastes better than the restaurants version too!

We love to serve it with fresh cornbread and top it off with cheese, of course! We find that the cornbread helps the chili not be as spicy for the girls, and we give them milk with their dinner to help cut out any remaining burn. It's slightly hotter than a mild chili recipe, but kids just don't have that high of a tolerance as adults do.

Wendy’s Chili

1 lb ground beef (I use ground turkey)
29 oz can tomato sauce
29 oz can kidney beans (with liquid)
29 oz can pinto beans (with liquid)
1 med. onion, diced
½ cup diced green chilies
2-3 stalks celery, diced
3 medium tomatoes, chopped (I peel them, but it isn’t necessary to do so unless you hate the skins or you can use 1 can diced tomatoes)
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 tsp chili powder (or to desired spiciness)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
2-3 cups water (to desired thickness)

1. Brown the meat with the onion in a skillet. Using a colander, drain fat and rinse with water. (This will remove excess fat).

2. In a large pot (8 quart), combine meat and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. If you are in a rush, then bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour.

*Leftovers can be frozen! Let cool first before freezing or storing in the fridge.

Mad for Meatloaf

Trevor will argue with anyone that doesn't think this is the best meatloaf recipe out there. Last week he kept closing his eyes with every bite saying,"Mmm" and "Oh Babe! This is SO GOOD!" And Raelyn ate more than me!

Meatloaf

2 cups Italian style breadcrumbs (or plain)
½ onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 lb. lean ground turkey
¼ cup ketchup
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1-2 glugs Worcestershire sauce
1 cup salsa (mild or hot, depending how hot you can handle)
1 chopped red bell pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 9x13” pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add all ingredients together and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Put into the prepared 9x13 baking dish. Smooth mixture down until evenly distributed.

Bake uncovered for 45-55 minutes, or until done.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

This recipe is from Jen's Blog (Trev's cousin), and she got it from here.

It is so good that I was "Mmmm-ing" off and on throughout our meal

and couldn't wait to eat the leftovers the next day.

Asian Lettuce Wraps


2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Cup finely chopped onion
1 lb ground turkey or chicken
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 (12 oz) bag of broccoli cole slaw
1 small can drained water chestnuts - optional (I left them out)
1/2 Cup Yoshida’s Teriyaki Sauce - (couldn't find this brand and used Soy Vay Island Teriyaki -super yummy!)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
About 15 lettuce leaves (iceberg or butter lettuce)


1. Place oil into a large skillet or pan over medium heat. When hot, add onion and cook for 5 minutes to soften. Add ground meat, salt, pepper and garlic salt. Brown and crumble until cooked through. Place in colander to drain and rinse fat off with water. (still tastes the same, just less fat!)


2. Return turkey to pan, stir in broccoli slaw, water chestnuts, teriyaki sauce and sesame oil. Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until broccoli slaw is softened. Reduce heat to low until ready to serve. Serve large spoonfuls inside lettuce leaves.

Spinach Lasagna

1½ lb ground turkey
1 jar spagetti sauce (28oz jar)
1 can tomato sauce (8oz can)
1 tub cottage cheese or ricotta (24oz)
1 pkg (no boil) oven ready lasagna noodles (8oz)
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
1 bag baby spinach
4 cups shredded mozarella cheese
2 tsp crushed chili flakes*

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large skillet, cook meat until brown. Drain into a strainer and rinse with water (this removes excess fat). Return to skillet and stir in spaghetti and tomato sauce.

In a small bowl, combine egg, cottage cheese, spinach, basil, oregano, and chili flakes. In a 13x9x2inch baking dish, spread just enough meat sauce enough to cover the bottom of pan. Place 3 pieces of uncooked pasta on top, making sure pieces do not over lap or touch sides of pan. Spread ¾ cup cottage cheese mixture over pasta, covering pasta completely. Spread 1 cup meat sauce onto cottage cheese. Repeat layers of noodles and cottage cheese and meat sauce until you’ve used up ingredients. Sprinkle with mozarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. 10-12 servings.

*We love this spicy version, but if you can’t handle the burn…omit the chili flakes and it still tastes great.

**Note - I usually triple or quadruple the recipe so that I can freeze them! It only takes me an extra 20 minutes to do which saves me a ton of TIME in the long run!

Just buy 3-4 foil lasagna pans and assemble as usual EXCEPT do not add the cheese. Cover with foil and freeze. Before baking frozen lasagna, make sure it has thawed out (otherwise it'll take forever to bake). Before placing thawed lasagna into oven, add 2 cups or more of additional spagetti sauce to prevent it from being too dry after baking. Add the cheese on top, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour or so on 400F.

Tamale Pie

We could have this dish at least once a week,

it's THAT GOOD

recipe from Joan Arrington (from Apache Park Ward)

1 lb. hamburger
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced
16 oz. can diced tomatoes
6 oz. can tomato paste
12 oz. can corn, drained
1 can sliced olives (optional)
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2-3 tsp. chili powder
Dash of pepper
1 ½ c. sharp American cheese, grated
3 c. cold milk

1 c. yellow corn meal
1 tsp. salt


Brown the first four ingredients together. Drain the fat and add tomatoes, tomato paste, corn, olives, sugar, salt, chili powder, and pepper. Simmer heated through. Add cheese and stir until melted. Pour into 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Make corn meal topping by heating milk to a boil. Remove from heat. Add salt and quickly stir in corn meal with a whisk (use a silicone coated whisk if you have non-stick pans). Mix completely. Spread over top of meat mixture. Bake at 400* for 30 minutes.

*For Kid Friendly, just use 1 tsp of Chili powder or omit it entirely. We just add Cholula hot sauce to the adults' plates and it's so GOOD!

In the photo, I ran out of green bell pepper so I improvised with zucchini instead. Tasted Great!