Southwestern Stuffed Acorn Squash

My mom first originally made this for Troy and I awhile back. Now believe you me... I was skeptical. I'm not really a squash fan. My husband definitely not a squash fan. But believe it or not we both ended up going back for seconds! I love this because it's a whole meal in itself! Not to mention it's pretty darn healthy for you too!

Southwestern Stuffed Acorn Squash

very slightly adapted from Eating Well

Ingredients:

3 acorn squash, (3/4-1 pound each)

1/2 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 medium red bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbs chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

2 cups chopped cherry tomatoes

1 15oz can black beans rinsed

1/2 tsp salt

Several dashes hot sauce, to taste

1 cup shredded swiss cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray. Cut squash in half horizontally. Scoop and discard seeds. Place the squash cut side down on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until tender, about 45 min.

In the mean time, brown the ground beef in a skillet. Add onion and bell pepper until tender. Stir in garlic, chili powder and cumin. Cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes, beans, salt and hot sauce. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until the tomatoes are broken down. About 10-12 minutes.

When the squash are tender reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Fill the squash halves with the ground beef mixture and top with cheese. Place on the baking sheet and bake until the filling is heated through and the cheese is melted. About 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Jello Pie

I had to make a pie for Thanksgiving this year. I have never made a pie in my entire life. I'm not really a baking person. I prefer cooking. I figured a Jello pie would be fool proof enough for my inexperience. It was fool proof and might I add delicious?


Strawberry Jello Pie
from Baked with Love and Butter

Ingredients:
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbs corn starch
4 tbs strawberry Jello mix
3-4 drops red food coloring

1 graham cracker pie crust (buy it or make it yourself)


Directions:
Add water, sugar, corn starch and food coloring together in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until well mixed. {The mixture will be a milky pink color}. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture becomes thick and clear. Mine didn't thicken and clear up until it started to boil. Once the mixture is thick and clear remove from heat and add Jello. Let it cool a bit. {This is a great time to start slicing your strawberries!}
Add sliced strawberries to pie crust. Once the jello mixture has cooled a bit, pour over strawberries in the pie crust. Put the pie in the refrigerator for a few hours to set up.

Serve and top with homemade whipped cream. Mmmm....