On Sunday, we made dinner for a friend. She’s a vegetarian, and we wanted to make something hearty, filling and nutritious. After searching for a few stuffed squash recipes, and hitting up the grocery store, I picked up a butternut squash. Originally I wanted a acorn squash, but most of the stores were wiped out from Thanksgiving.
We chose ingredients that were healthy and worked well together. This recipe is naturally vegan and Gluten free. There is an option to top the squash with poached eggs, if you want a little more protein.
This recipe is a little more work than my usual fare, but it’s really tasty and makes A LOT. To save time I used one of the bags of Mirepoix (pronounced meer pwah)I had prepped and froze last week. If you don’t do prep cooking, check your local grocery store freezer case for frozen mirepoix.
I get all of my spices from Penzey’s. They have 67 stores across the country, and you can order from their website too. They frequently have coupon codes for free samples or shipping when you place an order- It’s worth a google search!
You can serve this as a main dish or a side.
Stuffed Squash
Ingredients:
- 1 large butternut squash
- 1 T. Olive Oil
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 T. Butter
- 2 small Granny Smith Apples, cored and chopped
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 2 cups onion, diced (I used a sweet onion)
- 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (15 ounce can approx.)
- 1 ounce pouch of Juicy Gems dried pomegranate arils
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 tsp. French Tarragon
- 1 tsp. Rubbed Sage
- 1 tsp. French Thyme
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 T. Air Dried Shallots
Directions:
- Cut Squash in half, remove seeds/membrane. Brush with oil, salt and pepper.
- Bake at 425 for 30-45 minutes, until squash is fork tender.
- While squash is cooking, In a large pan, melt butter, and saute fruit, veggies, and spices/herbs. Cook over low heat for about 20-30 minutes. Add garbanzo beans, arils, and broth. Cook for another 20-30 minutes or so, or until broth is mostly absorbed and garbanzos are tender.
- As the stuffing cooks, once the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out about 1/3 of the squash. You want to create a cavity for the stuffing. Set the “guts” aside- You can chop it up and add it to the stuffing, or serve it on the side (I just ate it with butter while the stuffed squash cooked).
- Place the squash halves on a baking sheet, and fill the cavities with the veggie stuffing. Top with more salt and pepper, as needed.
- Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Serves 4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a side dish. For added protein when served as a main dish, top each portion with a poached egg. Not sure how to poach an egg? Alton Brown has a great tutorial here.
Talk Back: What is your go-to Vegetarian dish?
Prior to being a blogger, I made costumes. All kinds of costumes from Jedi Robes to A Prince Charming Costume for someone’s wedding. One skill that I am adamant about everyone having is the skill of sewing. You don’t need to be able to stitch a wedding dress, but sewing on a button, fixing a fallen hem, and repairing a seam rip are all simple and good, money-saving skills that everyone should be able to learn.
To get started, you’ll need a sewing kit. I have one like 
I picked up a package of Denim Iron on patches at Joann’s- I used a 50% off coupon, so they were only $2.14 with tax! And I still have half a package left, so I can repair another pair of jeans too!
1-Find the hole, and make sure that the patch(es) are cut to the right size. You want to cover the hole completely, and the surrounding area, so the patch has some stable fabric to fuse to.
3-Once the clothing/patch has cooled, you can stitch around the edge to make it extra secure, however, in this case I did not. I would do that for the knees of kiddo pants or other high wear areas.
I know I’m early, but it’s worth bookmarking… Kids Free October is back for the 8th year!
Looking for more ways to saving money on your power bill without doing crazy stuff like turning off your water heater when you aren’t home and unplugging everything (including your fridge) during the day? Ok, so I’ve been watching episodes of Extreme Cheapskates on Netflix (and it’s scary what people will do to save a few bucks), but I did find out about a great legit program that can help San Diego, CA area residents!
Back to school approaches! For us, school starts on August 23rd. For some families, back to school is a hard time because the cost of backpacks, school supplies, new clothes and shoes can really add up.
On August 11th from 5-9pm 
Donations of items such as: backpacks, #2 pencils, paper, pens, glue sticks, rulers, pencil sharpeners, white glue, notebooks, scientific calculators, crayons, safety scissors are requested. Most of these items can be picked up at Target, Walmart, Office Depot, or 99 Cents Only fairly cheap.
About a week ago, she saw the purse cakes at Baskin-Robbins. She asked for one, but she doesn’t really like ice cream.
In addition, I also made cupcakes! Henry helped make the cupcakes, and Margaret helped decorate them. I figured the cake wouldn’t be enough for the hungry little faces I was going to feed.
First off, you need a good bag! I like the All Purpose Utility bags, 
3. Fun Toys. Henry enjoys playing frisbee in the pool, so we’ve got a couple. Margaret likes trying to swim after an inflatable ball, so we’ve got a few of those. They both love the
The pool has two interactive features: a water fountain and two tipping baskets which will splash guests in the pool from above.
And if you are looking for a deal on Legoland Tickets, Don’t forget to check your local Denny’s location for a Kid’s Go Free Coupons! I found 
