Me and Acorn Squash Down by the Schoolyard

Last night I had an evening rendezvous with a Mr. Acorn Squash, and he fulfilled my needs in three ways, let me tell you...

Remember my query about the acorn squash I needed to use or lose? Oh, I used it. And how!

First, I halved the squash, scooped out the seeds/stringy crap, and threw it in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until tender. Afterwards, I let it cool and then scooped out the flesh.

While the squash was in the oven, I cleaned the seeds, dried them off and tossed them with olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, a little cumin and a pinch of salt. They went onto a foil-lined cookie sheet and into a 350 degree oven after the squash was done. Cooking time was about 15-20 minutes. Once it gets to the 15-minute mark, you really have to watch them. I think I heard a few -POP- in the oven.

My intentions for Mr. Squash were pure, so I set about to bake something sweet. I adapted an omni recipe that I found on recipelink.com for Acorn Squash Bread. Here's what I came up with:

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1 cup turbinado sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (it actually says 1/2 tsp. each of cinnamon AND nutmeg, but since I didn't have nutmeg, I used pumpkin pie spice for both)

1 cup cooked, mashed acorn squash

2 Ener-G "eggs"

1/4 cup Earthbalance "butter," melted

Combine the first seven ingredients and incorporate together in a bowl.

Combine squash, "eggs" and "butter" and mix together. Add the wet mix to the dry mix and stir until blended (or do all of this in a mixer...). Pour mixture into a greased and floured 9"x 5"x 3" loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until your toothpick comes out clean.

Mixer in Action.

Me and My First Loaf Ever!

(That's The Hubs' Tuna Salad in the food processor, ick...)

Zombie Baker Cookie Cutter Approves.

I brought most of the bread to work this morning (it's a good breakfast bread), and the coworkers DEVOURED it.

Since the bread recipe only used one cup of mashed acorn squash, I was in a pickle as to what else I would make using the rest. So I made a pasta sauce!

I kind of winged it...Into the food processor went:

rest of mashed squash

1 clove garlic, torn apart

1/2 container (12oz?) Silken firm tofu

oregano

basil

pinch of S & P

Frank's Red Hot Sauce (I actually put a lot of this in, maybe like a tablespoon?)

about 1/8 cup melted Earthbalance (leftover from cake recipe--waste not, want not)

splash of soy sauce

Whir this all together until it's combined into creamy goodness in your food processor. The longer I kept it on, the creamier it got. Looked kind of like a buttery hollandaise sauce:

I plated the pasta and topped it with the scrumptious, spicy roasted acorn squash seeds. The Hubs doesn't eat squash at all and only eats tofu if it's fried to a crisp, but he tried this and was over the flippin' moon about the combo of the sauce with seeds.

So ended my affair with Mr. Acorn Squash. Perhaps we'll pick it up again soon, but I'm pretty squashed out after last night...

Jes

Chili Bean Dip & Cornbread...Mmmmm...

Hey MoFo'ers!

I've been on a chili kick lately. I wanted chili again last night, but differently. So I food processed my chili leftovers from the Peasant Supper Sunday.

Yes, I used my already cheap leftover chili, added one more $0.68 can of chili beans to the mix, lime juice, some cubes of tofu leftover in the fridge (for texture), more spices, and ate the HECK out of it!

Sounds weird, doesn't it? But after it was heated up and piping hot, this chili bean dip (basically hummus without the tahini, if you will) was sooooooooooooooooo good.

I also made the ever-wonderful Sweet Cornbread Cake to go along with the Chili Bean Dip goodness and had some avocado on the side, for good measure :)

Mixer in Action!

This was The Hubs' portion. For reals, I kid you freakin' not.

Super-Awesome-Yum!

Coming up tomorrow: "Night of the Living Acorn Squash!!" (wait, that sounds gross...). Maybe "Acorn Squash, You Complete Me." (Meh.) Ok, how about "An Acorn Squash Three Way." (dirrrty, but not me.) You'll just have to wait and see. Biggest post eva...

One more thing that I have to tell you...I am so very excited for tomorrow. You know what tomorrow brings? A PACKAGE FULL OF DAIYAAAAA. Yeah. I am still Jonesing like no other. For dinner tomorrow, that wicked awesome Daiya "cheesey" bread recipe I saw earlier this week.

Jes

Peasant Supper Sunday: Chili and Biscuits!

Now, this is truly a go-to cheap-o meal for me: "Easy Peasy Chili."

Basically, it's the epitome of my Peasant Supper Sundays series because it's super cheap, makes leftovers (since The Hubs doesn't eat it, score!), and is really fast to make. Sometimes I really DON'T want to be cooking all day on a Sunday (sometimes I DO, and those are really rewarding Sundays). Yesterday, I was taking the lame route.

All this chili consists of is a can of tomatoes and green chilies ($0.99) mixed with a can of chili beans ($0.68). It definitely needs the addition of spices. I usually add chili powder or cayenne, cumin, S&P, and sometimes even a teensy bit of lime juice and/or raw sugar. Also, I top it with Daiya and green onions, but I was very unfortunately out of both... I might be copping out a smidge by using canned beans and all, but what the hay. It is filling, cheap, and fast, and I was on no mood for major cooking last night!

Paired with this was my first attempt at biscuits in the new and AWESOME Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. It's totally rad.

I went with the Golden Home-style Biscuits recipe from Beverly Lynn Bennett's Vegan Bites because I didn't want a ton of leftovers. It uses whole wheat flour, "buttermilk," baking powder, and safflower oil (I used veg oil). It was really easy to make, but the mixture was too loose and crumbly, so I had to add a little bit of water.

I think the wheat biscuits turned out yummy but would be better maybe with some herbs added to the mix or some Daiya. They were also good for breakfast this morning :)

Thinking about making a new recipe with the leftover chili tonight...should be fun!

What meals do you have as ready stand-bys for busy nights/lazy days?

Jes

Baked Chickpeas, 2 Ways

Hey MoFos,

Hope you're all having a ball with the posting. I know I sure am!

I wanted to take a minute to tell about the importance of experimentation with food. I've had yummy recipes and horrible, gag-inducing recipes (pesto gone WAYYY bad, still have nightmares). And sometimes, when it's 9:00pm one night when you're bored out of your ever-lovin' mind, experimenting with food is what it takes to keep you from repeatedly bashing your face on the coffee table. Right, so...

Last night, I resumed my obsession with chickpeas and made baked them two ways.

Left side: Spicy Chickpeas with Paprika, Cumin, and Cayenne (they ended up needing more of each)

Right side: Nooch-tastic Chickpeas with Garlic Powder, Oregano, and NOOCH.

I made a little foil divider to keep the spicy and "cheesy" sides separate. Like my zombie baker cookie cutter? Nothing to do with this recipe, he was just hanging out on the counter and wanted to pop in to say, "Nunnnmmmgggg..."

I digress.

I baked the chicks at like 400 or 425, I forget (I've slept since then) for about 30 minutes. Just have to keep an eye on them to make sure they get crunchy but don't burn.

One other thing: probably not the best idea to store them in plastic baggies. I brought some to work today, and they were a right mushy mess towards the end of the day when I wanted to nosh on something while driving home from work (I've been getting carsick like every time I drive this week...hmmm...)

In other news...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've DREAMED of this thing for YEARS. Y-E-A-R-SSsssssssss...

Thanks to Robert and Anne, two of my new parents-in-law, it's a reality!

When I took it out of the box tonight, I LITERALLY made the "angelic noise." You know, **"ahhhhhh..."**sparkle**tears in eyes**. Yeah, I totally dorked out.

But who wouldn't????????????

And here it is next to the lovely Giada food processor. My old Black and Decker (old, as in like 4-5 years?) needs a loving, new home. Hello, garage sale!

Got some great ideas coming up...Don't miss it!!

Jes