Shout Out for Help -- Butternut Squash Edition

I've never had butternut squash. I have no idea what it tastes like, or if it's worth it to try and make something with it.

But inexplicably, I bought one.

Now, YES, I could go online and find a recipe with a high rating and try it. But my hope is that someone might see this over the next week and give me THEIR favorite recipe for one lone butternut squash.

Pretty please?

Quick Tortilla Pizza

Quick recipe guys -- but oh, so yummy.

Ingredients:
4 whole wheat tortillas (medium)
8 tablespoons pizza sauce
4 oz mozzarella, shredded (shred it yourself, if you can!!)
Optional toppings: pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, red pepper -- you know what you like :)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Layer 2 tablespoons of sauce on each tortilla. Top with optional toppings, then 1 oz of cheese per tortilla.
Bake on the bottom rack (directly on the rack) for 4 minutes. Move to the center rack and cook for 3 more minutes.
Remove, cut, chew.

Yum.

MIA: One SD Card Reader

I have posts. Oh, I have posts.

Posts about quick, yummy pizza. Some about really messy children. Superheroes. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

But I can't find my card reader.

So ... these posts must wait.

Sigh.

Halloween Cupcakes

I made these for the heck of it last week, and ended up giving most of them away because I was eating all of them wanted to be nice.

The base is my rich double chocolate cake, turned cupcakes. It makes about 36 cupcakes, so I had more than enough to share.

But that doesn't mean I wanted to.

Buttercream ... I want to write you a sonnet. You are smooth and rich and so velvety creamy. Me + You = love.

Try and enjoy!!

Quick Wreath

Just a quick project I did to replace the wreath I made a few months ago and haven't ever liked.

I bought these at HobLob for $3.99/each. They were 40% off this week, though, so awesome!

They're supposed to be candle decorations, which would have been adorable, too, but I cut each leaf off the round and hot glued the crud out of a Styrofoam wreath ($4.99 at HobLob, plus 40% off coupon) to make:

Won't lie. It's not done. It definitely needs some bling or ribbon ... something.

But it's much better!

Roasted Red Pepper Meatloaf

Yum.

Oh man. Can I just tell you how AMAZING this meal is? How great it smells? How wonderful it tastes?

I'm sad it's over. I really am.

Roasted Red Pepper Meatloaf

Before baking.

Warm and yummy.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
½ cups milk
1 whole egg
¾ cup Panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoons dry ground mustard
½ teaspoons black pepper
1 cup ketchup mixed with 1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 large red peppers, sliced into eight 1.5" rounds
Eight slices of bread (optional, but totally worth it)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix first 10 ingredients with your hands in a bowl.

Divide the mixture into eighths and fill into the pepper rounds. Make sure you smoosh (yes, smoosh) them down to completely fill them.

Top each pepper round with the ketchup mixture and place on top of a slice of bread.

Set each bread/pepper on top of a baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Cool for 10 minutes, serve and sigh with happiness.

I have to say, you can totally omit the bread, but it gets so fantastically toasty and crunchy and becomes the PERFECT way to enjoy this meatloaf.

She liked it :)

Teaching My Kids to Sew = AWESOME.

I was almost 5 years old the first time I remember seeing my mom sew. She was excellent. We never had a sewing machine, but she would make the coolest Halloween witches, etc., by hand. 

On that day, the first I remember seeing her actually sew something, I was walking down the hall to her room and saw her on the bed with needle and thread in hand. I watched her for a few moments at the doorway, before she called me in. I was so excited to get to sit with my mom in her bed, under her covers next to her and watch her sew.

Then she asked if I wanted to learn.

I could have died there. I was ecstatic.

And now it's my turn.

My kiddos have been asking for me to show them how to sew for a while. While I don't think my daughter, at 3, is ready, she wants to do anything/everything her big brother does. He's almost 5 (WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?), so he's ready. At least, I hoped so.

I went out today to HobLob and purchased craft needles (blunt tip--I found them in the carpet weaving/cross stitch aisle), flexible foam sheets and cheap yarn.

On the way home from school, I told them both I'd be teaching them to sew tonight. They FLIPPED. I remembered the feeling.

When we got home, I sat them both down and showed them the parts of the needle, how to thread it, etc. 

I dotted each sheet with the path I wanted them to follow.

Then I let them go.

My son REALLY impressed me. The girlyQ? Not quite ready. But I knew that going in. Three is a little young. But almost 5?

Perfect.