Baked Butternut with Gravy

I must admit, i've been craving and eating some naughtier than usual foods. I made fried green tomatoes last night (recipe to follow in a few days) and elaborated on this recipe the next night be making a big pot of gravy to be sopped up with some leftover whey biscuits. Ridiculous. I have no idea of the health content in this meal, i don't WANT to know. I will continue to go about my day pretending i haven't gained a few pounds before the holidays have even started.......

• 1  butternut, halved and deseeded
• Buddy's Chicken Sausage, chopped
• Handful of serrano peppers, chopped
• Several cloves garlic
• Pinch dried rosemary and basil
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Flour
• Corn starch
• Milk
• Chicken stock

Bake the squash face down and covered with foil on 350 - 400 for as long as it takes to cook. This squash was pretty huge and took closer to an hour than 30 minutes. In the meantime, sautee the garlic and olive oil with the spices and then the sausage. Add a few pinches of flour to this greasy goodness (i really add so little olive oil - mostly for the flavor as this particular brand of olive oil is super delicious - so it's really not all THAT greasy as the sausage is very low fat) and stir well. I added 3 ice cubes of chicken stock and the peppers and covered the pot, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat. I let this simmer a while and then added the milk and the corn starch (pre-mixed with cold water) about 10 minutes before serving. Simmer the milk well, but try not to bring it to a proper boil.

Serve the squash bowl side up with a side of green veggie and slather with delicious gravy! You'd think i lived somewhere cold vs the 80 degrees currently in the forecast...

Have you been indulging in comfort food lately?

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

I could have kept eating and eating and eating last night. And i did.
I had some leftover pasta when i made lasagna the other day which i cut into fettucini noodles and dried out to be another night's dinner. I also had some leftover roasted tomato that didn't make it into the lasagna's sauce. I combined these things, along with leftover veggies in the fridge and freezer and the ricotta i had from making mozzerella to become a most decadent and delicious meal. Here's the jist:

• Fettuccine noodles made with whole wheat flour, salt, dried basil and truffle oil
• Dried noodles took about 5 minutes to cook in salted boiling water
• Delicious sauce
• Roasted tomatoes



All stirred up and saucy-delicious

• Tomatoes, garlic, onions, salt, olive oil roasted at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until caramelized
• Fresh tomatoes - blend the tomatoes together in a blender then put into a pot to begin heating up
• One diced onions
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• Drizzled truffle oil
• Chopped zuccini
• Chopped mushroom
• Diced roasted or fresh hot peppers
• Dried basil and oregano
• Salt and pepper
• Buddy's Natural Chicken Sausage (or any fresh, low fat chicken sausage)
• Fresh ricotta cheese

You could swap in about any veg you wanted to this sauce and could even use canned tomatoes, a staple for dinners around here (but i'm so thankful for some fresh ones this season). I added the squash and mushrooms at two different times to have some that were mushy and some with some shape left.  Note that i have given no amounts on the tomatoes or ricotta. I had about half a pint of roasted tomatoes on hand and added 3 normal sized tomatoes. I think there was about a half cup of ricotta from my mozz making. I tried to make the amount of sauce that would be good for two guilt-fully eating adults. Could have fed two plus a kiddo, or three with a side salad. The only thing that's important on how this sauce was made is to wait until the very end to add the ricotta so that it doesn't boil. Wait until everything is cooked to your liking and turn down the heat to low before stirring in the cheese.

Fresh noodles piled high with delicious!

I have never been able to eat cream sauces due to my inability to eat pasteurized milk. This homemade ricotta was from raw milk and was very moist since i only drained it for an hour or so. Perfect for adding to a sauce and digestable for me. Every last bit was lapped up by finger or tongue! That's how we roll in this house: if the food tastes good, you darn well better lick your plate!