A Delicious Day!

I am making little meat loaves and stuffed squash. The house smells like............like..........fall! I don't mean to rush summer but, let's face it...........it's over! I have no idea where it went. And, I can hardly believe that fall is nearly upon us. But, I have the fall kind of nurturing thing going on in my radically altered hormone world right now! So, I am making squash and meat loaf. The house smells so good! I love fall. But, when I drove by a few trees and watched the leaves fall today I wondered how could time go this fast? It kind of scares me. But, I love fall; and, I promised (myself) to make this new blog an upper, not a downer! So, when in doubt; bake squash!

And, you know, I didn't think that I liked curry flavoring. But, this squash recipe has curry in it and it's very good! So, just a little bit can be just right! It's a low calorie recipe! The hard part is cutting an acorn squash in half. I had to put in the microwave for five minutes so that it would get soft. Then I cut it in half; took the seeds out and placed it face down on a sprayed baking dish. I baked it for about forty five minutes at 350 degrees. While that was baking I put a pound of lean ground turkey breast in a skillet and added some chopped onion (about a fourth of a cup) and a little chopped green pepper (because I didn't have any celery, and the recipe calls for 1/4 cup of chopped celery) and browned that. I was supposed to drain off the fat but I didn't have to because I bought the Honeysuckle tender white turkey breast and it is very lean; yummy stuff! I did stir in 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of curry powder and a dash of cinnamon. Then I added a couple of slices (the recipe only calls for one, but I added one more; trimmed off the crust of the second piece) of whole wheat bread; cubed and about 3/4 to 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce to the mix and stirred it well (cooked on low for another minute or so). Then I took the squash out of the oven (after it baked for forty five minutes), flipped it up and put the mixture in the center. There was more turkey mixture than I needed so I just filled the pan with extra. I then continued to bake the filled squash for another twenty minutes. It's really good; and light (calorie-wise)!

The miniature meat loaves are a favorite of mine that I haven't made in a long while. That recipe calls for an egg, slightly beaten in a large bowl; add 1/2 cup of quick-cooking oats 1/2 cup of finely chopped onion and 1/4 cup of finely chopped green pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. After this is stirred together I add a pound of lean ground beef and one eight ounce can of crushed pineapple (in it's own juice). The pineapple is supposed to be drained but; good luck, with crushed pineapple! I just throw the whole can in! Then I add one pound of lean ground beef. Stir this together well. Actually; what stir? You have to wash your hands thoroughly and get in there with both hands to mix it together! Then you have to shape six little (cute) loaves out of the mixture and place them into a 9 X 13 inch pan. Bake this for about thirty to thirty five minutes; put a couple of tablespoons of barbecue sauce or sweet and sour sauce over the top of the little loaves and put them in for a couple of more minutes to get nice and hot and tasty!

Happy fall (almost)!

God's Handwriting

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting..........a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance." J. Petit-Senn

"Whether the motive which leads us to perform an action is the love of neighbor or the love of God, it is undeniable that pleasure enters into that motive." Thomas Huxley

Dear Lord, help us not to forget that this day is a gift from you. What we choose to do with it is also a gift from you. Help us to make our choices wisely. The people we love are also your gifts to us. The choices that we make can either hurt them or help them. Help us to choose to help them.................to love them................to bless them. Then this day that you have given us can be wrapped up in your love, and when the day is done, we can offer it back to you.

Amen