the edible perspective » acorn squash

quinoa stuffed acorn squash

Ashley — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:34:42 +0000

Did anyone else have a rough time getting through Monday? I got a lot done, but man was I in slow motion. We headed to Winter Park, CO on Sunday, for a few hours of skiing + snowboarding. Chris has converted to skiing! The nerve! The first time on the mountain, each season, leaves the body quite sore and sometimes in random places. Obviously my legs are a little tight, but my right forearm is sore, and the side of my left calf as well. No idea why!

My point in brining up the snowboarding, was that it added to my slow-mo-Monday feel. My other point in bringing it up, is to talk about my recent workouts. We’ve decided to do away with our gym memberships. This past winter/spring I really amped up my weight lifting, and the free weights at home just weren’t enough. I was at the gym 4+ days a week, and supplementing with walks or bike rides in our neighborhood and swimming 1x per week.

When I decided to amp up the weight lifting, I was craving a change a pace in my workouts. I was on a cardio kick for too long, with bike rides, swims, and only light lifting. I was new to cycling, and just loved getting out to ride for 1.5hrs or more at a time. I was in shape, but not in the way I like. I had endurance, but didn’t feel too strong. And I was hungry. Like constantly eating, constantly hungry, give.me.fooood. hungry!

Lessening the cardio and upping the lifting, really made a difference. I wasn’t trying to lose weight, but wanted to tone + cut some body fat. In about 4-5 months, my body fat dropped 4%, weighing the exact same, if not a pound or 2 more.

My workouts continually change. They’ve changed from only running, to running + yoga, to walking + lifting, to longer stints of biking + swimming, to shorter cardio + heavier lifting, etc. The changes keep me interested and keep my body guessing what’s next.

For instance, late this summer I found Body Rock, and suddenly my visits to the gym became less frequent. The heavy lifting routine was working pretty well, but I was actually starting to bulk up a too much. My upper body [especially] gains muscle mass pretty quickly. Definitely not a bad thing, but there is only so much bulk I want to add. Finding Body Rock was a huge breakthrough. I saw results within two weeks. More ab definition, much more tone in my arms, and finely noticeable leg muscles! While my arms show muscle change very quickly, my legs do not! I don’t thrive or obsess on always seeing results, but I was looking for a workout to help define my muscles, rather than just bulk them up.

With Body Rock, I was spending less time working out and feeling much stronger. The workouts were hard + intense, but they gave me such a rush. I still kept up with walking the dogs, cycling + swimming for cardio.

Long story longer, just when I was getting in the groove with the BR workouts, a nagging foot injury crept back into my life. About 1.5yrs ago, I injured the top of my foot [close to my toes], and had to take a lot of time off from walking + running. That is actually when I started cycling + swimming. My foot doctor never diagnosed me with a stress fracture or tendonitis, but just said to give it plenty of rest.

The Body Rock workouts consist of a lot of on-your-toes movements, which after a few months, started to wear on my right foot. The top of foot pain came back and the Body Rock workouts halted. Actually, walking halted. I stopped walking the dogs and stopped going to the gym. I stayed off my feet as much as possible, and iced multiple times each day. I wore stiff soled shoes, to keep the muscles + bones from working too hard, when I was on my feet. My workouts returned to a lot of cardio that didn’t cause pain to my foot. After a few weeks, I was able to lift free weights at home, without foot pain. After a full two months, I finally felt comfortable walking further than 1/4 mile. I babied that foot and was quite frustrated about it.

So, because of all that, I fell out of the gym routine. And because of that, I’m okay with closing the gym membership. But now, I need something new. Low impact, Body Rock type workouts. A new search begins!

And now to connect gym memberships back to snowboarding, closing our gym memberships will help pay for most of the money spent on gas, to + from the mountains.

Now I’m thinking maybe we should talk about food?

Specifically acorn squash. The perfect edible bowl, that is just asking to be stuffed!

A trick you may not know about! After slicing your acorn squash in half, lengthwise, slice a thin piece off the back so your squash can sit flat + not wobble. Thank you 101 Cookbooks for teaching me this invaluable trick!

No wobble!

Chris is not a fan of squash.

I always act as though I’m surprised. Like…”maybe he’ll like it with curry and pureed in a soup..” or… “if I roast it with a bunch of other veggies, it won’t even be noticeable.” Not the case. I mean, maybe he was into the curry soup, but he still had to crush mounds of Saltine crackers to choke it down. When I do make something squashy for dinner, he tells me, “It’s not my fault I don’t like to eat decorative gourds.”

The only squash he enjoys is spaghetti squash. And the only recipe with pumpkin he’s ever enjoyed were my pumpkin donuts. He’ll put up with a squash-involved dinner about 3 times per year, and I think we’ve already surpassed that quota.

With this recipe, I didn’t even give it a try. I bought him a take n’ bake pizza instead.

Happy husband. Happy squash-eating wife.

Lemony Quinoa Stuffed Squash [serves 4]

3/4c quinoa, rinsed + drained
1.5c water
2 acorn squash
1.5c cooked chickpeas, rinsed + drained
1/3c squash seeds, cleaned + patted dry
1/4c lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon
1T + 4t honey
2T sunflower oil
2 garlic cloves, minced ~2-3t
2t fresh thyme, chopped
1T fresh sage, chopped
1/2t salt
pepper

Preheat your oven to 400*
Cut squash lengthwise, de-seed, and slice a very thing piece off the back of the squash, to help it sit flat on a plate.
Drizzle with about 1t oil into each half squash, and sprinkle with salt + pepper. Rub into the cavity and the cut edges of the squash.
Turn cut side down, on a parchment lined pan and bake for 35-40min. The edges should be golden brown when you flip it over, and the squash will be very tender and easily scooped out.
While the squash is baking, in a pot, add the quinoa + water and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer, cover + let cook for 15min, without stirring. Turn off the heat and move to another burner [keeping covered] for 10min. Fluff with a fork after 10min.
After the quinoa has been cooking for awhile, in a large pan, add 1/2T oil over medium heat.
Toast the squash seeds with a sprinkle of salt + pepper until golden brown, stirring frequently. 5-8min
Mix 1T oil, 1T honey and the lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside.
Remove the seeds from the pan, add another 1/2T of oil, and add the chickpeas, stirring frequently for about 3min.
Add the garlic, sage + thyme and cook for about 1min until fragrant.
Add the fluffed quinoa, salt, pepper, lemon dressing, and 1t lemon zest to the pan mixture and gently stir to combine.
When the squashes are done roasting, flip them over and add 1t honey into each squash bowl. Rub into the bottom and sides.
Scoop the quinoa mixture into the squash bowls, and top with toasted seeds and a tiny bit of lemon zest. Add more s+p if desired.

tips/substitutions: Millet would work as a great sub for quinoa. If using dry herbs, sub in 1t dried sage and 1t dried thyme. If you don’t want to use the acorn squash seeds, toast sunflower or pepitas/pumpkin seeds instead. If you have butternut, delicata, or another type of squash, peel, cube + roast the squash with oil/salt/pepper until tender, then toss together with the quinoa mixture.

After a few days of non-stop eating, this was just the recipe I was looking for. Light in flavor, but a filling + comforting meal. And the leftovers are all miiiine!

Ashley

Photography blog has been updated! As if you needed to read more from me today…

normal, edible, sweets, meet!

Ashley — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:48:40 +0000

I’ve been overwhelmed with all of your supportive blog comments + tweets about my latest Project Food Blog post! Thank you all. Always! If you haven’t voted, it’s open until Thursday. This has been such an exciting opportunity to be a part of and it’s thanks to you that I’ve made it this far!

…

To say that Sunday was an awesome day, would be an understatement.

I had a smile plastered on my face all day long. It was hard to fall asleep Saturday night, and I sprung out of bed on Sunday! Why? Well, because visitors were coming!!

The lovely Abby + Jessica!

What do you do when you have bloggers coming to visit????

Start cooking!

I also prepared little Ohio-themed goodie baskets for the girls! Everything was fresh from Shaker Square farmer’s market. If you’re in Cleveland, you must go check it out!

Enter the acorn squash. I just love acorn squash! This recipe was from this month’s edition of Vegetarian Times magazine. The prep was a bit time consuming, but fairly simple. The hardest part was cutting open the squash! It’s always so hard to cut raw squash, even with sharp knives! Then, I had to cut a hole in the center and scoop out the seeds + goop.

Then, so they will sit flat while baking, you have to shave a small piece off the bottom of the squash.

Don’t cut too much off the bottom, or this will happen. Oooops. No problem though! This one was salvaged!

The stuffing was a South American veggie ragout. It was SO amazingly flavorful. The different textures worked really well together.

Before the girls came over, I prepped the squashes and got the soup/stew mixture ready, then popped it in the fridge. My mom picked up lunch for us from a delicious Mediterranean restaurant, Aladdin’s.

hummus + baba + tahini yogurt sauce

pita + falafel [the falafel was to.die.for!!!]

Such a fun lunch spread! My mom ate with us, and we chatted NON-STOP, while shoveling in the food. I met Abby on my last trip home, but just met Jessica for the first time that day. There was not ONE second of awkwardness. I talk to both of these girls multiple times per week and love them dearly. Just makes it even better that we had the chance to hang out!

Next, we headed to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, which were just gorgeous. We had such a good time and practiced our photography. The lighting was really great, although a tad chilly.

Jessica is HILarious. SO spunky + bubbly + just amazing.

Abby has the best stories, and is so kind and adorable. A pleasure to be around!!!

I adore them both. HOW could you not?

Abby made sure we didn’t get lost. Just like with our last visit.

They had an amazing + HUGE herb garden! We crouched down to waft in the smells. MMMM

Flax!

Purple kale! I should have used this for my wedding bouquet! Could have massaged it into a salad with my dinner.

When we arrived home the squash were just about done in the oven. I gave my mom instructions on the final steps, [basically just filling the hollowed squash] and she popped them in the oven before we got back.

Jessica, doing her photo thang!

Check out Jessica’s post. She took some amazing shots and also had some really sweet things to say about our day.

I think she was checking to see how many vegetables were inside…hehehe If you know Jessica, you know she’s not too crazy about veggies! However, she said she loved this [and I believe her ].

Make sure to check out Abby’s post, recapping our day as well. It was beautiful. She had some really amazing things to say not only about our day + our friendship, but the blogging community as a whole.

Jessica brought dessert! 24 mini pumpkin cupcakes + raw macaroons, that I forgot to photograph, because I was too busy eating them.

I love these ladies like I have known them my whole life. Without this amazing community, I wouldn’t have found them, or all of YOU. I feel so very lucky.

The hardest part was saying goodbye…but I know I will see them again soon….

My parents had so.much.fun. getting to know Abby + Jess too!

Who do I look like more?

Mom?

or Dad?

One more day in Cleveland. Better rest UP!!!

Night

<3 Ash

double pumpkin…deleted.

Ashley — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 06:31:11 +0000

Did you catch my Round 2 entry for Project Food Blog? If not, check it out and then go cast your vote, starting Monday at 9am!! Thanks so much for helping me through Round 1!!

….

Well, I had a double pumpkin breakfast this morning, but the photos have been deleted. Ahhh. Big deal? Not really…but I was so excited about it. I literally consumed 1 full can of pumpkin with my breakfast today.

I made the butternut squash smoothie from last week, except this time with pumpkin and it was just as tasty!! Before eating this morning, I went through my google reader and saw HEAB’s pancake Sunday post. She made pumpkin pancakes!! That’s it, I’m making those too! I followed the recipe exactly. They were nice + fluffy and obviously had delicious flavor. mmm

So as you can imagine, my breakfast was quite orange and quite delicious. Boo to no photos!!

I went on a hilly 18m bike ride today. I think my quads were still a bit tired from last weeks 37m bike ride and a long swim on Friday. Thanks for all of your helpful tips for being safe while riding. Most of what you mentioned, I already do, but forgot them on my list.

helmet!! always
no music – I’m just not a workout with music person..weird I know! If you do listen to music only wear 1 ear bud so you can hear traffic better.
Road ID – I should get one of these for sure!
padded shorts + gloves – I had these before my first ride

There were definitely some other helpful tips, so check out the comments if you want to see more!

After my ride today, part of lunch was this PB + J on my favorite, Ezekial sprouted English Muffins.

Toppings included:

cinnamon peanut butter
Crofter’s jelly
wheat germ
coconut
hemp seeds

Deeeeericious.

Saturday was a big day for me!! I shot the Battle of the Burners event at the Masonic Temple, here in Ft. Collins. It was such an amazing experience. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing for a few reasons.

I didn’t want to disappoint. Even though I volunteered my time to do this, I was still nervous about getting Beet Street a decent set of photos.

I’ve never photographed an event before.

The only people I’ve photographed are friends + family. I take photos of food, not moving, cooking people!!

I’ve only used a flash for like 25 photos. [and sadly the flash has to be returned tomorrow, booo]

I’ll have a slew of photos to show you soon. It takes awhile to edit 600 photos! A lot will be deleted, but you still have to go through them all. The event was amazing. There were about 250-300 guests, 6 chefs, and a lot of friendly volunteers. I had a great time and even got to enjoy a few bites of food. I felt pretty confident with the camera, although man did it get heavy!!! Holding it up for 4 hours, with a huge flash on top was not easy. Mad props to wedding + event photographers out there. Not sure how you do it. I’ll give more of the details when I post photos.

For now, here is the nerdy photographer.

Despite deleting my breakfast photos, I have a recipe to show you from last week!

It begins with 2 medium sized acorn squashes.

Make sure you slice them lengthwise down the middle. This will make the filling process much easier. Believe me, I’ve done it the other way and it’s not fun.

Acorn squash. Chris likes these!!!

This recipe originally came from 101 Cookbooks. I adore that blog. Photography, writing, recipes, just amazing!

Heidi has a recipe for corn pudding stuffed acorn squash. It’s delicious!! I’ve made it at least 3 or 4 times. I wanted to change things up this time around though.

I was craving broccoli more than corn. So I just adapted the recipe a bit and it worked perfectly.

Although my daylight was fading fast…per usual!

Broccoli Stuffed Acorn Squash [adapted from Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash]

2-3 medium sized acorn squashes
1T olive oil
1c milk [I used 1%]
1 egg + 2 egg whites, whisked
1.5c chopped broccoli
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
~1/2c onion, diced
1/4t fine grain sea salt
black pepper
1/2c grated sharp white cheddar cheese [Organic Valley is the best]

Preheat your oven to 375*
Cut squash in half lengthwise + seed. I scrape out a little of the flesh as well, so there is more room for the filling. [Cutting the squash is the hardest part of this recipe!]
Rub the squash with a light coating of olive oil.
Place the squash in a deep baking dish, cut side up, covered in foil. Bake for about 40min or until just tender.
Combine the milk, eggs, broccoli, garlic, onion, salt + pepper in a bowl.
Fill the squash about 3/4 of the way with the filling. This recipe should fill 3 whole squashes. *I typically make 2, and fill 2 ramekin dishes [or other small oven safe bowl] with the rest of the filling.
Carefully place the baking dish back in the oven and bake for about 40-50min, or until the pudding is set.
Just before it’s done, sprinkle with shredded cheese and broil for 2-3min until bubbly + brown. Watch it closely!

This recipe is not too difficult, as long as you can successfully cut the squash! It just takes a bit of waiting time. I try to position the squashes together so they stay upright. If you don’t have enough in your pan, it’s easy to have them tip. I’ve gotten tricky before, with wadding up foil to keep them in place.

I loved this new twist on the recipe! The “pudding” is basically just the milk + eggs that cook together. It’s a soft texture that sets and should not be runny as you’re eating it. I’m a huge fan of broccoli and loved the addition of garlic. The cheese on top is my favorite part though. The only thing I don’t like about this recipe is that it stays so hot!!! It’s hard to be patient to eat it, so I usually end up scooping it out and making a huge mess on my plate.

shower.

search for weekly bread recipe.

Dexter!!!

bed.

orange + green

Ashley — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:00:00 +0000

No oatmeal, 2 days in a row, I feel lost! I went out to breakfast today with Melissa, Jake, her mom, my mom + Jenna. We were meeting at 10am, so I had to scarf something ahead of time.

pnutty smear on a bananer

While eating my banana, I was admiring my favorite Christmas ornaments on the tree. My dad and I put it up Monday night. Kind of last minute, but at least it’s up. I told him to wait til I was home

There is a set of fruit ornaments, and they have been a long time fav. of mine!

Flying Santa.

The ornament I made the other night with the whole family on it! Even all of the pets. There are 14 names on this thing!!

I made this one too!

Snoooooze. Okay, sorry, time for breakfast.

Jake was of course 100% cute the whole time we were there. He even scarfed a little pancake.

Melissa + Jake, adorable!

I am glad I ordered the “mini” omelet. This thing was not mini!! I got a spinach/portabella/tomato/cheese omelet and it was delicious! We went to a place called Scrambler Marie’s. Very yummy! I ate the omelet, most of the potatoes, some of the toast and was hungry about an hour later This was realllly tasty though!

Jenna ate all of her waffle, which looked awesome.

Jakey + me!!!

momma [the newest lover of kale!!] + jake [would you look at that face!]

Lunch was orange + green. Salad with Annie’s balsamic [yum!!], leftover butternut squash pasta, sprouts, cucumber, and 1 clementine.

This is super delish.

See? Very orange + green!

What’s next you ask?? My yearly puppy chow day! No not dog food..I’m sure you’ve seen the crispix + chocolate + pnuts + pnut butter + powdered sugar before. I think it is called Sweet Minglers or Puppy Chow.

We made 3 big batches [recipe coming] and AJ + Jenna helped a ton.

In a giant ziploc after being tossed around with the powdered sugar.

Got that all packaged up and cleaned up. What’s next you ask? Cookie mix-in-a-jar of course! I have never made this before but have seen it given as gifts, and I just love the idea. I looked up recipes on allrecipes.com and found one with great reviews and I liked the mix of ingredients. There are SO many to choose from on that site.

Here is the one I went by.

What is a hair dryer doing in a kitchen???

There were annoying labels on the mason jars and did you know that a little heat from a hair dryer peals those pesky labels right off!? Try it out sometime. I usually have it on high heat for about 10sec and then it peels right off. Careful because sometimes the object gets hot quick! So much better than using goo gone. Also make sure you sanitize/sterilize the jars + the lids/seals. I found these jars [pint size] for about $2.99 at Michaels. The best way to sterilize them is putting them in your dishwasher on the “sterilize” setting. If you don’t have that option you can boil them and let them completely dry as well.

Why is there a turkey baster in the jar!? Well, to help pack down the ingredients. I got the wide-mouth jars and went back and forth using my hand and the baster to really pack down the ingredients.

I like to make messes

Alllll done. I’m giving these out for a few gifts to friends while I’m home…for only 1 more day Sad to leave the fam, but I’m totally missing the hubs!!!!

I decided not to add nuts because not everyone likes nuts in cookies. I added a mix of chocolate chips and “sun drops” [kinda like m+m’s from WF bulk bins] and a little sprinkling of cinnamon on top.

Can you smell a cookie-mix-in-a-jar photo shoot?

Obviously

I made a batch too, to test them out. Man, were they good and so easy. There was no mixer involved, no creaming the butter + sugar, and you don’t even have to wait for the butter to soften…you actually melt it! They had a great chunky consistency from the oats. I added less sugar in the batch I made. Instead of 1/2c of each white + brown, I took it down to 1/3c of each. They were definitely sweet enough and I would probably only do 1/4c of each next time.

However, as a gift, I put the suggested 1/2c of each in the jar. I’m a little sensitive to sugar in sweets and like it toned down quite a bit more.

The blue ribbon was for Hanukkah and the red + green label obviously Christmas.

My cousin Renee came over to hang out for a bit. She was my maid-of-honor in my wedding. It was great seeing her, even though it was only for a little bit. She was on her way to work out and didn’t really want to have her photo taken, but I told her I would make her out of focus in the photo and she liked that idea.

Even though she’s blurry, you can tell she’s gorgeous

Dinnnner time. I had 2 squashes to cook that I got last week. Butternut + Acorn

Baked in the oven @375 for about 35min. I tossed the acorn with olive oil, s+p. The butternut got hit with some olive oil, ground cinnamon, and a sprinkling of brown sugar. I put the acorn squash on lettuce with some of the Annie’s dressing and a little mozz. cheese. I really loved the warm squash on the cold lettuce. It was awesome!

Again with the orange + green!

I ate the butternut squash alone. nom nom nom

Squash is filling!!! I was stuffed after this. Then we went to my aunt + uncles house again and I stuffed my face with Christmas cookies. Not to mention snacking on puppy chow while I was making it, and eating one of the “cookie jar” cookies. rehehehe

Butternut squash, before cooking.

After.

Such a fun day!! I have a massage appt. tomorrow [yes yes yessss] and a few friends to quickly say hi + bye too and then packing [trying to fit gifts] and visiting with the fam. I’m out bright and early xmas eve morning!

Off to dreamland….

~Ashley

ch-ch-ch-chia

Ashley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:29:04 +0000

No, I am not growing grass from a ceramic animal! I bought chia seeds to EAT! It was my first time trying them out, after hearing so much about them recently. My oats got a little sprinkle this morning. I liked the speckled look and the extra little crunch. If you are not familiar with this superfood, google it!

Toppings Galore Oatmeal:

1/3c. oats
2/3c. water
1 small banana smashed in
vanilla extract splash
2tsp brown rice syrup
chia seed sprinkle
1T pnut butter
1T strawberry jelly
2T walnuts
coconut shavings
cinnamon sprinkle

OH my, was this a delicious bowl of oats. I would say top 3 bowls EVER! Loved the jelly dollop.

While I was at the mall with Melissa [Tuesday], we stopped in Urban Outfitters. I found sale shelves full of pottery and got 2 of these super cute mugs for $.99/each! I was [still am] pretty excited about my find! They hold about 6oz [with leaving some room at the top] which is perfect for my morning cup of coffee. I used the organic instant again, which is really good!

Natalie + Pat were super awesome and surprised me with gerbera daises [my favorite!!!] and a sweet card. It definitely helped cheer me up!! I like a lot of other flowers but gerberas are just SO bright + cheerful. I absolutely love them!

Lunch came quick as I was busy working on some holiday projects! I had some Oikos with a little granola and a honeycrisp [fav!!] apple. About 2 hours later I made something delicious!!

1 med. red potato
2tsp. olive oil
hefty shakes of: garlic powder/salt/pepper/rosemary/italian seasoning

Cut potato into chunks and throw in a heated pan with the olive oil. Keep it a little under medium and brown with seasonings for about 10-15min until soft. As the potatoes were cooking I added 2T of h2o, 2 different times, to keep the potatoes from drying out. It creates a bit of smoke but worked like a charm. Top with some chopped avocado!

SO good!

Dinner was corn pudding in acorn squash! Natalie said this is her favorite vegetarian meal for sure. The only hard part of the recipe is making sure you don’t cut too far into the bottom of the squash. I leave out the nutmeg + anise that she calls for in the recipe.

Coming out of the oven, before the light coating of cheese + broil action

I have made this 3 times now, and I swear each time it gets better! Made with a side of pan sautéed kale, which the family has declared, “is the new spinach,” and toasted baguette with garlic/salt/pepper/parsley.

Healthy + Delicious

I am headed to NC on Saturday to be with my grandma until next Thursday. My computer + camera will definitely be coming with =) I’m excited to get to spend time with my grandma and help her out with whatever she needs.

Night peeps!

~Ashley