Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Rigatoni and Sausage

I only used one acorn squash for Scott and I, but made all the filling. We still had left over filling which will be good for dinner itself another night this week. It looks daunting, but it is really easy. I didn't have everything to make the homemade tomato sauce so I used a can. Scott loved it, which is rare, since it is a vegetable!

Baked Acorn Squash Filled with Rigatoni and Sausage

Ingredients

• 4 medium acorn squash, halved and cleaned
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 cup sliced red onion
• 4 cups basic tomato sauce, recipe follows
• 1/2 pound rigatoni pasta, cooked until tender, tossed in olive oil and cooled
• 1/2 pound mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet, flesh side up and add 1/2 cup water to the pan. Cover with alluminum foil and bake until tender, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

In a large saute pan, over medium heat, brown the sausage and onions, about 6 to 8 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, toss the sausage and onions with the tomato sauce, pasta, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Spoon the pasta mixture into the cavity of each squash. Place the filled squashes on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake until the squash is heated through and the cheese melts, about 20 minutes.

Place the filled squash in the center of each plate. Garnish with parsley and serve.

TOMATO SAUCE:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 1/2 cups chopped, peeled tomatoes with juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• Black pepper
• Pinch sugar

Heat oil in a large skillet and saute onions, garlic, salt, and white pepper 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and basil; cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Stir in stock and 18 turns black pepper; simmer 2 minutes. Season with sugar if acidic and cook 1 minute.

Brandi's Slow Cooker Lasagna

I love making lasagna, but I don't that often because it takes so long to bake. I made this recipe up for the slow cooker. It was amazing! You can add whatever meat or veggies you want.

Brandi's Slow Cooker Lasagna

1 box no boil lasagna noodles
1 lb. ground chicken
1 lb. ground italian sausage
2 cans tomato sauce (26 oz. each)
2 cans diced tomatoes
carrots diced
green peppers diced
spinach (optional)
16 oz. ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, and any other seasoning you like

Cook ground turkey and italian sausage with seasonings of your choice. Meanwhile mix tomato sauce, tomatoes, seasonings, carrots, green peppers, and spinach. In a separate bowl mix together the cheeses. Pour some sauce in bottom of slow cooker. Top with noodles, meat, cheese, sauce. Repeat layers three times ending with sauce on top to ensure all noodles are cooked. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. This is great to freeze and for left overs.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Jaime Neely made this for me after I had Zach and it is fabulous.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

2 lbs hamburger
2 pkgs taco seasoning
8 oz cream cheese
1 box of large pasta shells
1 bottle of salsa
1 bag of Doritos
shredded Mexican cheese

- Cook shells according to the directions on the box
- Brown hamburger
- Add taco seasoning and cream cheese to hamburger
- Pour some of the salsa on the bottom of a 13x9 pan
- Fill shells with taco meat then line them in the pan
- Sprinkle cheese on top
- Then crushed Doritos
- Then dollops of salsa over the top
- Bake at 350º covered for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese melts

Portuguese Sweet Bread

This is one of my all time favorite foods that I can only get when I go home so I finally learned how to make it.

Portuguese Sweet Bread

12 eggs (room temperature) plus 1 for egg wash
4 cups sugar
3 yeast packets
2 Tbs Sugar
½ cup warm water (100º-110º)
1 Tbs salt
5.5 lb sifted flour
½ lb butter
½ lb shortening (19 Tbs)
3 cups milk
1 cup water

- Mix yeast with warm water and 2 Tbs of sugar to bloom
- On the stove melt shortening and butter
- On the stove heat milk and water to scalding
- Combine eggs and sugar with a mixer
- Mix half the flour into the eggs and sugar
- Gradually add butter, milk, yeast and salt
- Alternate flour, butter and milk
- Knead dough until hands start to get clean, and the dough sticks together and pulls away from the bowl
- Sprinkle a large bowl with flour and the top of the dough
- Cover with plastic wrap, put in a warm spot and cover with a blanket
- Let rise for 4 hours or until atleast doubled
- Knead again
- Grease loaf pans
- Separate dough into loaves, each loaf should have about enough dough to fill a cereal bowl
- Let rise again in a war, spot for 1-2 hours in the loaf pans
- Preheat oven to 250º
- Brush loaves with 1 slightly beaten egg
- Bake loaves for 30 minutes
- Increase temperature to 300º and bake until golden



Notes: I make a half batch using about 9 or 10 cups of flour. I used my mixer to knead the dough most of the way and then continued to do it on the counter with my hands. For my warm spot I turned the oven on and set my bowl/pan by the oven to heat the dough and make it rise. I also had to raise the oven temp to 325º to get a golden color on the bread. You may just want to skip the 300º and go straight to 325º for about 10 minutes so it doesn’t dry out too much.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had.

Laura’s Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup margarine (2 sticks)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp salt
4 ½ cups flour
1 bag chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350º
- Cream sugar, oil and margarine
- Add eggs and vanilla
- Combine with baking soda, cream of tarter, salt, and flour. Mix well.
- Add chocolate chips
- Bake at 350º for 12-15 minutes