Roasted Acorn Squash

This is a very yummy, simple way to eat squash, you can cook many various squashes this way. I'm using Acorn because they were on sale at the vegetable and looked fabulous. For me a half of a acorn squash is a serving. This squash is great and provides nutrients such as Vitamin A Vitamin C, Potassium, dietary fiber, manganese, folate, Vitamin B complex, omega 3 fatty acids, copper and tryptophan.

Heres what you'll need:

• 1 acorn squash
• 2 tbs butter, I'm using margarine due to my son's dairy intolerance
• 1/4 cup pack brown sugar
• 1tsp nutmeg
• 1tbs cinnamon
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Now lets get to makin' some aquash!

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
2. cut your squash in half and scrape out seeds and strings. It should look something like this.

1. Once you have it nice and clean, place them flesh side down in a shallow baking dish and put enough water to fill it 1/4 of an inch, like so.
   
2. Roast for 30 mins. until soft.

when squash is tender flip it over and coat the flesh with butter. Then mix the brown sugar, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon together.it should look like this.Broil in the oven on a low broil until sugar mixture is caramelized, and its done!

Pan Seared Pork Tenderloin ...With Pan Gravy If Ya' Want It.

When lots of ya'll think of pork, you think of fatty or somethin' that's not healthy. I'm here to let you know that pork tenderloin is probably one of the leanest cuts of meats you can buy. When cooked properly, it's good eatin'!

Here is what you will need.

• 1 package of pork tenderloin that will meet you needs (it is typical that a package of tenderloin contains 2 cuts of meat, I happen to have a package that only has one), I have here a little over a pound and that is good for 4 people.
• Good olive oil
• fresh herbs chopped, I used thyme and rosemary cause that's what I had around.
• 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic minced
• poultry seasoning
  
• fresh cracked pepper
• 1 1/2 cups of low sodium fat free chicken/beef stock or broth
• 1 tbl of corn starch

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees get a oven safe pan big enough for both tenderloins without overcrowding the pan. I usually use a cast iron skillet, but any oven safe skillet will do.
2. rinse meat and pat dry and season well with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Here is a tip, make sure your meat is at room temp. this allows for even cooking throughout the meat

1. coat the pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and spread around with a paper towel. Heat pan to med high heat. Sear meat on all sides until golden brown. ( If you have 2 tenderloins, sear the bigger one first and for a bit longer, that way both cuts will finish at the same time when transferred to the oven)
2. Transfer meat to preheated oven and roast until the internal temp. is at 150 degrees
3. place meat on a cutting board and don't you touch it for no less than 10 mins! This will finish cooking the meat and seal in the juices.

While the meat is resting its time to make the pan gravy. Mmmm mmmm mmmm thats good stuff! Lets work it out. I didn't have photos for this part, but I'll make sure to put up plenty of sauce and gravy examples in the future.

1. With the same pan we roasted the pork tenderloin in add 1tsp. of olive oil and heat the pan to a med. heat.
2. add minced garlic and cook until aromatic and be careful not to burn it or it will taste bitter!
3. add your chicken stock to deglaze the pan, make sure to scrape up all the good bits that the pork left behind, this is whats going to give the gravy it's flavor. Bring this to a light simmer.
   
4. now in a small cup add 1 tbs of corn starch and to that add 3 tbs. of cold water, mix to make a slurry add to the sauce to thicken.
5. chop up a small bunch of thyme and rosemary or your favorite fresh herb and add to the gravy after it thickens.
6. taste, and add desired amount f salt and fresh pepper as desired.

Once your sauce is finished, your meat should be well rested. Cut the tenderloin against the grain on a bias, and spoon the desired amount of gravy over.

And that's that! This is so simple to make and very delicious. Bien Provecho!

My Inspirations

I was inspired to create this blog by my husband and my very dear friend The BazMann. These two wonderful men are both great at what they do, but are lost when it comes to the kitchen. I wanted to show them that cooking can be easy, healthy and purty' darn tasty!

After becoming a Momma I realized that my son too, needed to eat well and there is no need to buy baby food. Its very simple to make at home and is better for your little one. You know exactly whats going into your baby and you have complete control. My little guy has an allergy to dairy and soy and as a breastfeeding Momma, I had to compensate my diet for his needs. I hope that this blog is able to help all you Mommas out there that need some sort of information in this area.

Everyone wants to save money too! Lets face it, we all spend a lot of money on food. How many of us out there when making a dish, will go to the store to buy items just for that dish? Or you go to the grocery and just fill up a cart not knowing what it is you want to eat? We all do it, but during times like this it can put dents in our pockets and in the long run its just plain ol' wasteful. I hope that my money and time saving tips can be of some use!

Now that we have all this out of the way, I hope you enjoy this blog as it continues to grow and expand. I thank all you out there who are taking the time to check it out. Happy eating ya'll and as they say in Mexico bien provecho!