#FreshTastyValentines: Tex-Mex Stuffed Butternut Squash

So.

One of the promises that I made to J with his new healthy eating outlook was that I would cook 1 meatless dinner a week.  This was probably one of my less popular promises, seeing as my husband is big on meat.  Big.  As in if I cooked it 3 times a day he'd be all good.
But I went looking for some dishes that contained more beans and less animal protein on my favourite source for such things - Pinterest.  I even created a new board so that I could find things more easily.  This is one of the first things I pinned, knowing full well how much my husband wouldn't be in favour.
While J likes way more vegetables than I do, he's not a fan of squash - except as pumpkin in baked good form.  I like it, but never cook it as a result.  However, I had high hopes for this as really the squash was a vehicle for the Tex-Mex flavours that J is a fan of.  I was wrong.  It's too bad, really; seeing as this is delicious.  I made the stuffing for 4 (I didn't want to use half a can of black beans and have half a can leftover) and took it to work for lunch for a few days afterwards.  It's filling, and so, so good.
I scraped my squash half clean.  J?  Well, he ate the filling and said it was good.  I personally would recommend both.  I present to you now from Life Tastes Good, Tex-Mex Stuffed Butternut Squash:

Grillmistress: Cheeseburger Kebabs

So.

We had a big pool party last weekend for some of my friends from when I was in Youth Group.  Yep, I've known a good number of the people who were here since I was 4.  We ate way too much, swam away the afternoon and caught up.  J and I host this once a year, and it's always so much fun.  One of the biggest deals this year was that we went out and bought a new tank of propane.

When my mom came in June, we set up to BBQ, got halfway through cooking the steak, and ran out of propane.  We then neglected to buy more for a month.  I know.  Have indoor grill, be lazy.  But with 25 people and a freezer full of burgers and hot dogs, the Foreman was not going to cut it and we got a new tank.  

What this means is that we're back to grilling in the great outdoors when the weather is good.  Just as well.  I found these little beauties on Pinterest or Twitter, and decided that I needed to try them myself.  It was a good need.  These are great.

I present to you now from Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen Cheeseburger Kebabs:

Breakfast: Baked Peanut Butter Apple Oatmeal

So.
I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest.  I love that I can organize the interesting things I find and use it to plan for vacations.  I hate that I forget how I've reorganized things when it seems to be getting out of control.  I also hate how much of a master Pinterest is at the art of time suckage.
I can lose myself in pretty food pictures for hours.  I can click and click on home renovations that I don't have the time or the abilities to recreate.  But sometimes, one of my friends pins something that looks delicious, and I don't need to look so hard to find something that I'd like and might be good for me.
Case in point, this recipe.  My friend Lauren pinned it and I thought it looked so good.  I am often on the hunt for new things to make for breakfast that can be made ahead, and that is warm and delicious.  One of my New Year's resolutions was to eat breakfast regularly, and I've become much better about it.  When desperate, I have toast and jam; but I have looked for options that are a little more hot and filling.  About once per week, I do some sort of egg wrap for J and I, and I've frozen pancakes to reheat in the toaster.  I finally decided to make a batch of the baked oatmeal that I'd seen all over but not tried, and when it contained peanut butter, so much the better!
This was perfect and simple.  It also made enough to eat for the whole week.  I portioned it out into reheatable containers and stacked them in a corner of the fridge.  J and I both enjoyed this the first morning and reheated in the microwave with milk as the week progressed.  I definitely need to make more baked oatmeals!
I present to you now Two Peas and Their Pod's Baked Peanut Butter Apple Oatmeal:

#15Cheesecakes: Everyday Cheesecake

So.

You know how I entered new territory this year with blog events?  They're way fun, and keep me on track with my cooking.  I've been pleased to be a part of events coordinated by Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.  She's always organized and a great person to work with!

When Cam posted that she was celebrating her 15th wedding anniversary with a blog party of 15 cheesecakes, I waffled about whether or not to join.  It's not that it didn't sound fun, it's just what was a going to do with a whole cheesecake?  

J and I have dessert or at least a treat most nights after dinner.  With a dessert that serves 12, we'd be eating it forever, and while cheesecake is good, a little goes a long way.  But my mom was coming for the weekend, so that was 2 servings down, and perhaps I could send some home with her too.

Then I got smart.  I got on Pinterest, and searched "small cheesecake".  not mini cheesecake (which definitely has a place too), but a small one that would be all the beauty of cheesecake without all the servings.  

Enter this recipe.  It takes only 1 package of cream cheese, and comes together fast.  It's great alone, but we all talked about how amazing it would be with a fresh raspberry sauce.  Frankly, it's easy enough for everyday...but you could totally serve it to company too.  And even better?  It makes 6 servings.  Just enough for J, mom and me for 2 meals.  

I present to you now from Rita's Recipes, Everyday Cheesecake:

Pintertest Kitchen: 45 Minute Dinner Rolls

So.
It's a while since I've done a Pintertest Kitchen.  It's not that I haven't been making things, I just don't post.  Pinterest is an ongoing source of things to make and enjoy.  While I do have a few other boards (Road Trip, anyone?), my Recipes to Try and Recipes I've Made are by far the busiest.
A little while ago, J and I made a batch of chili on a Sunday afternoon.  I was fairly certain that I had leftover rolls from something in the freezer.  I was wrong.  So very wrong.  With no time for a 3 hour loaf of bread in the bread machine,  and no cornmeal for cornbread, I turned to the genius of Pinterest to find me something that might work in a pinch.
Enter this pin:

I present to you now Crazy for Crust's 45 Minute Dinner Rolls:

Pintertest Kitchen: Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Pockets

So.
The kitchen is back up and running.  It's all good, seeing as I've gone back to work and the thought of having to grill or come up with new things for the crock pot is repulsive.
We love everything in this recipe.  Broccoli, chicken, cheese...pizza dough.  I've made similar recipes to this in terms of the pocket, and what I learned before was the importance of the seal.  We'll come back to this.
I present to you now The Baker Upstairs' Cheesy Chicken Pockets.  Here's the pin:

Pintertest Kitchen: Nutella Swirl Pound Cake

So.
I have no kitchen right now.  The cabinets are gone.  The cat is living in our bedroom with a relocated litter box, food dishes and cat tree so she can be Queen of the neighbourhood.  The floor has been ripped out, and my fridge is in my dining room.  The floor in the dining room will come out later when the living room carpet is ripped out.  Our kitchen designers say the whole process will take about 3 weeks, barring any crazy things.  So far, nothing has been crazy (fingers crossed).  Just a whole lot of inconvenient and miffed feline who is only let out to explore when all the workers who might leave the door open have gone.
I'm BBQing a lot, and washing dishes in my laundry sink.  But I also spent some time baking before this process started so we'd still have sweet treats during the renovations.  One of the things I made was this loaf, which I'd pinned:

Nutella and pound cake in one simple package.  How could this possibly be bad?
I present to you now Sally's Baking Addiction's Nutella Swirl Poundcake:

Pintertest Kitchen: Pecan Pie Muffins

So.
I'm a day late on Pintertest Kitchen.  I decided it didn't matter.  Summer and all.  I'm running behind.
But whatever.  I spent a day cooking this week.  It was awesome.  I haven't spent a day like that in a while, and it was totally worth it.  One thing I made was this pin:

I am still using the pecans my father bought me before he died.  Dad would stop at Adcock's in Georgia and stock up for mom and me.  I keep them in the freezer and use them often.  I still have halves, meal, and pieces in my freezer.  These are a perfect way to use them.
I present to you now Southern Living's Pecan Pie Muffins:

A Bowlful of Deliciousness: Southwestern Breakfast Scramble (The Pintertest Kitchen)

So.
There is no question that J and I love Mexican food.  I've never really strayed out of the dinner realm before, but ohhhhhhhhh.  I read this on Budget Bytes, pinned it immediately, and thought, "how could this possibly be bad?  But...TORTILLA CHIPS??"
I don't know why I question Beth's recipes.  They work, they're easy, and they're freaking tasty.  Once again, I pinned a winner from one of my favourite places to draw inspiration from on the web.
Here's the pin:

From Budget Bytes, I present to you the Southwest Breakfast Scramble:

The Pintester Movement: Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

So.
I don't read a ton of blogs regularly, but I do read the Pintester and follow her on Facebook. Reading her foibles while crafting and cooking make me giggle.  A lot.  Regularly.  I also enjoy her Cocknails videos where we're treated to a cocktail and manicure.  That always makes J ask, "What are you watching?  She swears a lot."  But it's a whole package.
So, when she announced the Pintester Movement, I jumped on board.  I mean, who doesn't enjoy looking through all the things pinned to your boards wondering what I should make and possibly fail at to be a part of the movement?  Essentially, the movement is to make something from Pinterest and post to Pintester on May 30.  To see what others are doing, click here.
Honestly, the food I pin usually isn't things like "Buy a chocolate bar and Pillsbury grands and make chocolate croissants!" (I bet those would be good).  I click through and look at the recipes to decide whether or not J and I would actually eat what is being offered.  So I combed through and found something for a busy week that I'd wanted to try that was a take-off on an old classic.  It's also in a slow cooker, one of the many backbones of Pinterest culinary prowess.  Here's the pin:

How can you be wrong with that much cheese?
I present to you now Hot Mama Network's Buffalo Chicken Lasagna:

Pintertest Kitchen: Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

So.
It's finally Spring here.  I commented to J on the way back from a weekend away that it didn't feel like Spring because there were no buds on the trees.  I was driving home tonight and the trees have popped.  It was sunny and warm.  Our pool has been drained in preparation for a set of stairs to be installed along with a new liner.
Soon, it will be poolside dining time, people.  Things are exciting.
When I saw this pin, I knew I wanted to make it.  J loves blueberries, and I like ice cream.  It was also reason enough to crack out the ice cream maker and celebrate the budding trees.  Poolside dining.  If you can't do that, you might as well eat ice cream.
I present to you now La Famille Noire's Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream:

Pintertest Kitchen: BHG Chocolate Sour Cream Cake and Milk Chocolate Buttercream

So.
My mom's birthday was Easter weekend this year.  I offered to make her cake and bring it with us when we went to visit for the holiday.  She told me I could make whatever cake I wanted.  Well, that was a challenge!  Knowing that I had a bunch of things pinned (and striking out with something that took my fancy in my TOH cakes magazine), I started looking for something to make.  I eventually chose these 2 pins:

How could they not be a good combination?  I present to you now Better Homes and Garden's Chocolate Sour Cream Cake and Comfortably Domestic's Milk Chocolate Buttercream:

Pintertest Kitchen: Candy Cane Ice Cream

So.
You know what I still have left from Christmas?
Snack food and candy.  I put these things away in a drawer, and out of sight, out of mind.  I believe there are still a couple of bags of peanuts, a bag of chip nuts, and a container of chocolate covered pretzels.  There's probably some gum and other stuff that was in stockings in the drawer too.  Out of sight, out of mind.
I also am not known for eating the candy canes that come attached to stuff.  I don't buy them to put on the tree, and I don't really eat them.  But I do get a few and they collect for a couple of years until I finally decide to try one and discover that humidity has leached in and the candy is soft and unappealing.  That didn't happen to this year's batch of canes, though.  I found this on Pinterest and pinned it immediately:

Here in Canada, Candy Cane Ice Cream is a way of life over the Christmas season.  We wait for President's Choice to issue their Insider's Report of seasonal goods to try and stock their stores with their ice cream version of crack, Candy Cane Fudge Crackle.  I think J and I ate our way through 2 tubs this year.  And then, as quickly as it arrived it's gone and we wait for next year.
There is no fudge crackle in this recipe, but my friends, we may have found a way to wait patiently for the next time that Galen Weston makes a seasonal rite available.  I present to you now The Way To His Heart's Candy Cane Ice Cream:

Pintertest Kitchen: Cinnamon Roll Cake

So.
I have a confession to make:  I'm not particularly good with money.
Sure, one of the duties of my job is to oversee the spending for a building and make sure that I don't go in the hole, but the way that I do that is by telling my staff that there's no money.  Okay, that's not totally true.  We still have a photocopy budget, and we do some special things.  But at home, well...let's just say that Dave Ramsey wouldn't be thrilled.
J and I have taken steps to get ourselves on the right track; and I'm much better than I used to be.  But by the same token sometimes the money just runs out.  Like this past weekend.  Through a glitch in payroll, my pay isn't coming through until Monday.  This left J and I with about $25 to our name that wasn't spoken for.
Unlike many, the biggest change in our plans was that we wouldn't be going out for a meal this weekend and the cat tree we'd planned to buy got waylaid until next week.  As a result, I was left to figure out what we were eating with no trip to the grocery store.
Our church has been doing a series about letting go of our stuff and how we allocate our resources.  One thing that has rung very true with me recently is that we as North Americans feel poor:  like there's no money, we can't afford things and what a misnomer this truly is.  We are encouraged to live simply and share our resources, demonstrating God's love for those around us.  Heavy stuff, but an important reminder.  This weekend really made me think about this - we can't afford to go out to eat.  So what?  We go out for the entertainment of it.  I started combing my cupboards for what to make while we stay home.  The next few days will be posts from that weekend.  We ate really well while having no money.  I need to remember that.
It's a little embarrassing what lurks in my cupboards.  We spent the weekend eating recipes that I wanted to try from Pinterest that I just hadn't gotten around to.  I pinned two very similar cakes that I combined into this one with a couple of substitutions based on things I'd run out of.  Here are the pins:
I present to you now a hybrid of Cookin' Up North and Six Sisters Cinnamon Roll Cakes:

Pinned: Garlic Parmesan Roasted Brussel Sprouts

So.
I feel like vegetables much like J feels about fruit.  I like a few specific things, and I'm not adventurous.  Most weeks, I buy broccoli in the winter.  In the spring, we eat a lot of roasted asparagus.  If I had my way, we'd eat mostly frozen corn and green beans with a few frozen green peas for variety.
J likes all vegetables - he'll eat any I put on his plate other than squash and sweet potatoes.  So this week when we went to the grocery store, brussel sprouts were on sale.  For whatever reason, I have been pinning brussel sprout recipes.  I decided to see whether or not I liked them.
I present to you now Joy in the Jumble's Garlic Parmesan Roasted Brussel Sprouts:

Pintertest Kitchen: Bacon Quiche with Pat-in-the-Pan Crust

So.
When I was growing up, my mom would make quiche and I would hate it.  Things that involved the meat grinder and leftover ham didn't really appeal.  Or maybe it was that my mom didn't use great cheese.  I don't know.  The other option is that my tastes have changed over time.  But I doubt it.
When I went to France, one of the things that I learned to make with one of my host mothers was quiche.  I learned to make a lot of great things in France and still make sauces the way I learned from Mme Brabant.  Mmmm...tarte tatin, bechamel sauce, cheese to finish meals.  Good times.
I was cruising Pinterest and found this very attractive pin for Bacon quiche.  It looked so good, but there was still one problem - I would have to make a pie crust.  Here's the pin:

I suck at pie crust.  My mother makes wonderful pie crust because she made a pie per month for the 41 years of marriage.  I make pastry once and a while.  It never turns out as well as I hope.  But no worries - this pin also had a pie crust that you pat into place in the pan.  How bad could it be?
I present to you now For the Love of Food's Bacon quiche with Pat-in-the-Pan crust:

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make This

So.
I was bummed when I realized that it was the first Thursday of the month, I had no groceries after being away with dad's funeral, and I had nothing for the Pintertest Kitchen.
Then I looked at the length of time that I had to post, and decided that I wanted to make this.  I love all things lemon.
There are so many fun things to rant about with this recipe.  Learn from my tales of woe as we go.  I promise, the final results are worth it.  Even if you've never worked with yeast dough, I would say this is worth a shot.  Even if you have to throw the first attempt in the garbage like I did.  Yeah.  It was a fun afternoon.
I present to you now The Whimsical Cupcake's Lemon Scented Pull-Apart Coffee Cake:

Things to Put in Things: Unfried Refried Beans

So.
J and I love Mexican.  We eat it a lot when we go to visit his family in the States.  You know, where people eat Mexican food.  As opposed to where we live where there is no Mexican.  As a result, we eat tacos and their ilk at home on a fairly regular basis.  I buy Rotel and Pace picante sauce to bring home and help in my quest for yummy Mexican.  I think I have some enchilada sauce as well right now after not being able to find it for the enchilada soup earlier this year.
So on one of my many cruises of Pinterest, I found a pin for Unfried Refried beans in the crockpot.  You know, ones that taste waaaay better than those that come out of a can and smell like...like...I'm not even sure.
Then I was cruising Pinterest and I discovered the blog Budget Bytes and her black bean quesadillas.  Upon further poking around, I found her recipe for the same.  Today, I made them.
I present to you now my hybrid of Six Sisters and Budget Bytes Unfried Refried Beans in the Crockpot:

Pintertest Kitchen: Apple Fritter Cake

So.
I've been in a rut, and I haven't been cooking.  That's kinda changed this week, and this cake got the ball rolling.  I pinned this from my friend Lee-Ann.  I've pinned a lot of great things from Lee-Ann.  I've made lots of them too.  Maybe I should have saved Lee-Ann a piece of this cake.  J's piece.  Cause mine disappeared quickly every night.  I'm just saying.  Here's the pin:

I present to you now Nerdy Baker's Apple Fritter Cake:

Pintertest Kitchen: Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

So.
According to Pinterest, I pinned this 26 weeks ago.  Half a year.  I was at a different school, in a different house, bemoaning different aspects of my kitchen than I am now.
The first day of school, I set out to discover if this chicken recipe was really the BEST ever.

I present to you now Food.com's Easy Garlic Chicken: