Vegas, babies, and squash... oh my!

Sorry for the absense of new posts, but I had good reason. I was in Vegas! And as if Vegas isn't a good enough reason, it was because we were visiting our brand new baby niece. She's PERFECT. Don't believe me?

(Yes, there is a recipe further down... just let me brag for a bit!)

Meet Olive:



And here is my handsome husband, he's a natural!




We couldn't be more thrilled to be an Aunt and Uncle!




I could go on and on, but for now I will get back to cooking!



Last night I picked up a beautiful spaghetti squash. Now what was I going to do with it? I had no idea. But I new I wanted to play a bit since I had been out of my own kitchen so long. So here is what I did...

Stuffed Squash Boats

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash (mine was probably 2.5-3 lbs)


• 1 lb ground beef


• 1/2 brick of cream cheese


• Onion, chopped


• Green peppers, chopped


• And whatever other veggies you're craving, chopped :)


• Seasoning (I used crushed red pepper, garlic powder, and salt & pepper)

Directions:

• Make a slice in the squash but don't cut all the way through. Put in the microwave for 8 minutes to soften.


• Throw your ground beef in a skillet and begin to brown. Season with whatever you have!


• In a seperate skillet, sautee veggies


• Once your squash has cooled, cut it in half the long way. It will look a bit like a yellow pumpkin inside. Scoop out all of the seeds and stringy stuff. Discard.


• Add your cream cheese to the ground beef and make sure it is well mixed. Then add your sauteed veggies so that it is one big delicious skillet of goodness.


• Back to the squash - the halves should look like little boats by now. With a fork, pull across the inside of the squash so that the "spaghetti" comes out. Put in a bowl. Do this for both, but leave a decent shell.


• Now mix the "spaghetti" in with your meat mixture.


• Take the spaghetti meat mixture and pile into your squash boats.


• Place in a glass baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees


• They should look like this going in:


• 


• And when they are finished they will look like this:


• 

Please excuse the blurry final photo. But that's it! Stuffed squash boats! I will definitely make these again, but I think I'll play with the flavors a little more. I loved the texture, but something was off. Perhaps it was the cream cheese?

Another experiment in The Rookie Chef's kitchen :)