Squash season!!!

About two years ago I discovered that fruit and vegetables contain very few calories while packing in the vitamins and minerals. I was able to lose weight simply by incorporating more vegetables into my diet; they filled me up but reduced the amount of calories I consumed in a meal; the fat nearly melted off my body.

Today I am still experimenting with different fruits and vegetables in my meals. This fall I decided to search out the secrets of squash. They are in season right now and one of the many fruits I am not very familiar with. I've discovered so many types! Acorn, golden acorn, swan white acorn, butternut, crooked neck, spaghetti, etc.

The other day I made a butternut squash soup that was great but not what I expected; I wanted something savory and this came out very sweet. I've baked a couple squash with butter, brown sugar, and nutmeg; once I stuffed the squash with pears coated in brown sugar. Krysti made pumpkin bread that was to die for. Delicious! Oh, and I discovered baking the seeds (like you would do pumpkin seeds) to make a wonderful snack.

My favorite discovery so far is adding squash to pasta. No, I don't mean eating spaghetti squash, although that sounds like a great idea too. What I've done (twice now, and LOVED) is saute squash, garlic, and shallots in olive oil or butter. Once the squash is tender, I add cooked pasta, toss them together, and serve. My mom can't have pasta so, as I was telling her of my experiments, I suggested she try it over rice or quinoa.

I'm not limited to just the squash, garlic, and shallots, though. I love to add bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms, parsley, and chicken in the mix. What a delicious dinner! Yum, I can't wait for lunch!!

Parsley Pasta

I wasn't really sure what to call this one but it's super delicious. It's one of my favorite dishes and I have it freqently.

I'm going to write it out as a single serving so if you're feeding more than just yourself, be sure to double, triple, whatever the amounts so you're not starving anyone.

I start by putting a pot of water on to boil for the noodles and putting a fry pan on for the meat and vegetables. Then I get all the ingredients together. I use:

crushed red peppers, rosemary, basil, and salt. You could try other herbs as well such as oregano, thyme, sage, etc - whatever sounds good, really.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped onions (I like lots of onions)
1/4 cup bell pepper
1 portabella mushroom
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/4 lb extra lean ground beef (you can try any meat or no meat at all if prefered)
1 serving Trader Joe's multigrain w flax spaghetti noodles

Make sure the onions, garlic, bell peppers, and mushroom are chopped. You can chop the parsley or just cut off the stems.

I add the olive oil to the pre-heated pan then add the herbs and spices in whatever amounts I feel like using - about a 1/4 tsp of each. I let everything heat up and make that olive oil tasty. Then I add the garlic, onions, and bell pepper and let them saute for awhile. If the water's boiling, go ahead and add the noodles.

Once everything in the pan is hot I add the ground beef and salt and get it cooking. When it is cooked I add the chopped mushroom, mix it around with the meat and oil for awhile, drain the cooked noodles, dump them on top of the veggies and meat, then add the parsley. Once everything is hot, it's ready.

Enjoy!