You can probably guess what happened next.
In the process of unclogging the sink, the pipes had to be removed. Because the
The bathtub now doubles as the kitchen sink. :/ At least I have a husband who doesn't mind doing dishes!!
Yesterday I spent some time meal planning. With the boys in school and me starting college courses again this fall, I need to have a little organization amid the chaos. I started with the idea that I'd plan for two weeks ahead, and then this happened:
I really didn't mean to get that far ahead. It took me maybe 10 minutes to get 2 weeks down and the meal ideas kept coming (with some help from Eat At Home Cooks and 100 Days of Real Food) and when I got home I realized I only needed 5 more meals to finish out the month (two crock pot, three regular meals and two nights of leftovers) so I just plopped them down. My plan is to just add a meal to the bottom of the list every days so I can keep the plan going in perpetuity. We'll see how well that works. And for how long!
Tonight was squash chili with rice---my idea. It was SO easy and so good!! The boys loved it and I had tons leftover, so this will be lunches for the kids and dinner for me tomorrow night before I leave for Institute. It helps that I have amazing neighbors who gifted us a couple of squashes. Yum.
I also have this neat tool I bought through a friend's Pampered Chef party. I freaking love that company...so many good kitchen tools!!
It's labelled as a seed scooper for cantaloupe and such, but I figured it would work the same on squash. I think it's going to make pumpkin carving that much easier this Halloween!!
If you've never cooked squash before, it's literally as easy as slicing it in half with a sharp chef's knife and putting it in an inch or two of water in a jelly roll pan (or cake pan if you're like me and have somehow managed to never purchase a jelly roll pan) and popping it in the oven.
I was given two of these bad boys. The other one (not pictured) was a little smaller than this one and cooked up in about 45 minutes. The other one took longer, probably an hour. I just kept coming back every so often until the fork I poked into it went through the skin without much effort.
Then I laughed maniacally and scraped out the innards with my scraper tool. Yup, pumpkin carving will be easier.
After I scraped both sides, I mashed up the squash with my fingers a bit to loosen up the fibers and then just chucked it into my pot of chili. You can use canned chili I suppose, but homemade is so much tastier and better for you. It really takes no time at all. I had canned beans, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes on standby, so that made it faster. Next time I'd like to do it more from scratch. Maybe not the sauce since I didn't have a bumper crop of tomatoes due to the drought and not watering them enough. Next year.
Anyway, the kids loved it and it was a mellow enough flavor that I can imagine anyone who likes chili would enjoy it just fine. In my opinion you couldn't really taste the squash. I also didn't add quite enough spice which maybe explains how the kids devoured it so fast once it had cooled down! It was a wonderful dish to welcome fall to the Palouse. I was sick of the disgusting summer heat. Farmer's Almanac says we're supposed to have a nasty winter...after the smoke-filled summer, I'll take it and enjoy it, just so long as it doesn't impact my drive into work TOO much....
Next time on the blog: Joey will be fixing the sink. There will be some pictures of that, I'm sure!
Squash Chili
Serves 10 (?)
Prep time: 60 - 90 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
1 medium squash (acorn, etc)
1 pound ground beef
1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp basil
1/8 tsp powdered chipotle chili pepper (or to taste)
3 or more cloves of garlic (dependant on size and how much you love garlic!)
1 tsp cumin
2 10-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 10-oz can tomato sauce
1 10-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 - 1/2 cup beef broth
Enough rice to feed your family (plus leftovers for another meal!)
Preheat oven to 350. Slice squash in half and remove seeds. Place in a pan with about 1.5" of water. Bake until tender, about an hour or longer depending on how big your squash is. Start your rice about nowish. While the squash is cooking, brown the ground beef and add spices. Add remaining ingredients and simmer. Once the squash is fork tender, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove the skin and mash a bit with your fingers. Add to the chili. Simmer on low for an hour, or however long it takes for your rice to cook. Allow to cool slightly and then serve over the rice.
