Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is not technically a recipe, and I don't have a photo because it was just thrown together when I noticed squash was on sale. But Milo insisted, "Mom, put this on your list so you will remember to make it again." I have to admit, it was pretty good, inexpensive, relatively healthy, and if you have an hour to wait for the oven, only took about 5-10 minutes of actual work.

Easy Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 acorn squash (to serve 4 people)

1 box Near East rice pilaf of your choice (wild rice would be nice - I chose the classic)

a little extra water and rice (about 4 T/2 T)

bread crumbs

grated Parmesan cheese

olive oil, salt, pepper

Heat oven to 350. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out seeds. (the "pretty way" across the middle). They will need to be able to sit cut-side up, so trim off stem if needed. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Put cut side down on a baking sheet and cook for about 45 minutes until super-soft.

About 20 minutes into the baking, cook the rice pilaf. Follow package directions, but I added a little extra water and extra rice to make sure I had enough to fill all 4 squash halves. (it also cuts down on the saltiness.)

When squash is soft, remove from oven and flip over in pan. Fill with the rice pilaf. Mix some of the bread crumbs and some parmesan cheese (about 4 to 1 ratio?) and sprinkle on top. You could also add some paprika for color. 

Return the squash to the oven to brown the bread crumbs, about 10-15 minutes (keep an eye on them.) If you have a broiler that is adjustable you can use a low broiler setting to gently brown the top.

Serve 1 squash half per person. This is a pretty substantial serving, not a side dish - it was a "one dish" meal for us that night. It would be good with ham or sausage on the side, but doesn't really need it.

Sweet Allergen-free Treat

OK, this isn't a recipe, just an idea and not even one I came up with originally. I actually (a) wanted to show off this photo and (b) haven't been doing much cooking lately, except Christmas cookies. 

My first grader celebrated his 7th birthday the day before Thanksgiving break, and his classroom has quite a few allergies, and he loved the idea of these fruit kebabs with miniature marshmallows. I found the long (4") fruit skewers at Party City. The cocktail umbrellas I had on hand. A peeled clementine is holding one up in the center. I made one tray up to be pretty, and took the rest of the fruit and marshmallows to school for the kids to make their own. So, healthy sweet treat, kids could pick what they wanted on their skewers, and fun little easy activity. Anyone surprised that I saw several skewers of marshmallows only? 

Note: make sure that you remind kids to remove the fruit from their fruit kebabs instead of (oops) eating from the sharp pointy sticks. (everyone was fine!)