What's Cooking?

Beef. It's what's for dinner. Not exactly while you're counting your WW points and trying to lose weight. Don't get me wrong: I love steak, hamburger, roast beef and any other red meat. We just don't eat it very often, especially during the week when dinner comes much later. My diet has shifted to even more fruits and vegetables (0 pts) than before. Tony didn't believe it either, until our grocery bill spiked. Fruits and veggies have to be purchased at Market Basket or we will go bankrupt. I will be thinner, but we will be in the poor house. I'm happy to report that despite the multiple birthday celebrations and alcoholic outings, I somehow managed to lose weight last week. Down 4 this round of WW at Work; down 24 from my heaviest days in New Mexico; down I'm-not-even-going-to-say-how-much from the pregnancy. A lot.

Although we didn't try any new recipes this weekend, we did manage to buy some meat in bulk then actually wash, separate, marinate and freeze it into smaller portions. I won't even tell you how many times we planned to do this, didn't bother and cooked 3 lbs. of chicken for two people. Chicken is great for leftovers. You can fold it in a sandwich (Tony likes to spice it up with buffalo sauce); throw it on top of a salad; press it between tortillas. But you can only eat leftover chicken for so many meals when it starts to dry out, nevermind bore your tastebuds.

Does anyone else love looking around other peoples' kitchens? Although I'm not a nosebag like my daughter, I enjoy looking in my Mom's fridge, freezer and spice cabinets. This is fairly new since my interest in cooking evolved and I feel like it helps with ideas. Lord knows I'm not getting any creative meal ideas from Tony. We all know he would eat cheeseburgers, pasta or steak every night of the week. My Mom and I recently tried a ridiculously easy tomato bisque recipe. The ingredients? Condensed tomato soup (the healthier version), diced tomatoes and a cup of Half n Half. It was delicious! I tried fat free Half n Half the next time around. Don't do it. It was awful. Sunday night we made the bisque with diced tomatoes with basil and oregano. So tasty!

kabocha squash, from Apple Pie,
Patis & Pate site

I had a goal in mind for tonight - A Tackle it Tuesday idea from Tony's cousin, Sara. I was going to clean the bathroom floor. Maybe tomorrow night. I did, however, manage to cook Tony's frozen Uno's pizza so that it was hot out of the oven when he got home and bake butternut and kabocha squash. I'd checked out recipes and articles about kabocha squash but had never seen it in the grocery store, or bothered to notice. I grabbed it this weekend from the Market Basket by my Mom's. I cut it in half lengthwise like the butternut squash, scooped out the seeds and baked it skin up for 45 min. at 400 degrees. I used my sister-in-law's tip to line the baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean-up and added a cup of water to the pan. Now that I have time to look up additional recipes, there are definitely more tastier ways to serve kabocha squash, but I wanted to try it plain and simple the first time around. I'm impressed! It's softer and smoother than butternut squash so I would definitely try it in a soup. Now that's getting crazy for me!! The best thing about both types of squash? Jill can enjoy them too!