Today's Special: Butternut Squash Apple Soup, Garlic Soup, Beef with Snow Peas, Sausage, Mushroom, & Spinach Lasagna, and Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

New Recipe. A couple weeks ago I made some butternut squash gnocchi and had a ton of squash left over. So, I froze it. And used it for this recipe! I honestly just made this to use up the extra squash and didn't have super high hopes for it. BUT, I really liked this a lot! The recipe says to use salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg to "season to taste." I HATE IT when recipes say that without giving you a starting point as to recommended amounts. But, I delved in and seasoned and tasted away and the final product was just what I was hoping for... a nicely seasoned soup that didn't taste sweet. I think it's hard to use cinnamon and nutmeg as a savory ingredient... usually they give more of a dessert quality to a dish. So, in order to help you make this, I will give you the amounts I used for the seasonings: 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 2 1/2 tsp. salt. You may want to start with 2 tsp. salt, just to be safe. So anyway, this recipe was definitely a winner and it's ORANGE! Perfect for Halloween dinner! (I totally didn't plan that.)

Garlic Soup

New Recipe. I didn't realize how much time this was going to take to make... at least an hour I think. But, the end product was really good. I think I like this more than the garlic soup I've made in the past... more flavor and a thicker consistency. I used half and half instead of the heavy cream and it was still really delicious. This was good as a light dinner with salad and french bread. It didn't make a whole lot... maybe enough for 4 people... maybe. This would also be good in place of a dinner salad... if you are one of those ambitious people who have several courses to a meal (I'm not). Oh, I also used Jarlsberg cheese instead of Gruyere because I couldn't find any of that.

Beef with Snow Peas

New Recipe. If you're looking for a fast recipe this week, this is your winner! It took me maybe a half hour and that included all the prep work and cooking the brown rice (pressure cookers are awesome!). The sauce was perfect and the beef and snow peas were so delicious! The extra addition of crushed red pepper made it that much better. This is the first Asian-y beef  recipe I've made that has turned out to my liking. I really haven't had much success with this category of food... it's very rare for me to make something and actually like it as much as the stuff I get at restaurants. It's nice to have found another winner!

Sausage, Mushroom, and Spinach Lasagna

New Recipe. Now, I am really picky with my lasagna. Usually I only like the kind I make with my sauce recipe and my mom's lasagna recipe from when I was a kid. But I thought I'd try this one out because #1 It looked a lot healthier and #2 Who doesn't love sausage, mushrooms, and spinach? I made this exactly as written using the Italian flavored ground turkey, but I also used an oven-ready pasta. I was a little worried about the pasta not getting cooked through and/or the lasagna being too dry. Oh, I also added 2 cloves of garlic to the turkey mixture. So, this actually turned out really good. I didn't think it tasted healthy at all and the oven-ready pasta worked just fine. It wasn't the fastest meal ever because of the hour long bake time, but it was well worth the effort.

Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese

Old Favorite. Have I said how much I love this stuff? Seriously the best homemade mac and cheese I've had by far. Ok wait, I lied. Rachel made some for us once and it rocked too. But other than that... every other homemade mac and cheese I've made or eaten pretty much sucks. The Dijon mustard in this is what gives it an extra punch of flavor. It only calls for 1 tbsp., but I usually double that because I love it so much.