My brother’s fiancee, Marie, bought me the Hungry Girl Cookbook for Christmas. Tonight, we decided to try the butternut squash fries with our sloppy joes.
I love a good ol’ fashioned potato. Really, any way you cook and prepare it–baked, mashed, sliced, diced, french fried, au gratin, twice baked, peeled, with skin–whatever their form, potatoes are good eats in my book. So I was skeptical that these butternut squash fries could fill the shoes of my beloved potatoes.
But while these definitely don’t take the place of french fries, they were good. I just don’t think that the effort required to make them is something I’m going to be willing to do on a regular basis. They’re actually not that difficult, but compared to a bag of oven fries picked up in the freezer section, they take a lot more time.
I do encourage you to give them a try, though. Especially if you’re on a diet and are looking to fill a void. :) Because these babies? They are only 125 calories per serving. And a serving size is half of the entire batch! Hell, if you’re REALLY hungry, and you REALLY like them, you could eat the entire batch for a “whopping” 250 calories. That right there is a calorie bargain.
Bake-Tastic Butternut Squash Fries
(Source: Hungry Girl by Lisa Lillien)
Ingredients:
– 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds–large enough to yield 20 ounces of uncooked flesh)
– 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Use a sharp knife to remove the ends of the squash. Cut squash in half widthwide (making it easier to manage), and then peel squash halves using a vegetable peeler or a knife. Cut squash in half lengthwise and then scoop out all seeds.
3. Next, cut squash into french fry shapes. Use a crinkle cutter to make authentic-looking crinkle-cut fries (they’ll taste great any way you slice ’em, though). Using a paper towel, pat squash pieces firmly to absorb any excess moisture.
4. Place squash into a bowl, add a light mist of nonstick spray, and sprinkle with salt. Toss squash to evenly distribute salt and then transfer to a large baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Use 2 pans if needed. All squash pieces should lie flat in the pan.
5. Place pan(s) in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or so (longer for thick-cut fries, shorter for skinnier fries), flipping halfway through baking. Fries are done when they are starting to brown on the edges and get crispy.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
Per Serving (1/2 of recipe): 125 calories, less than 0.5g fat, 158mg sodium, 33g carbs, 3g fiber, 6g sugars, 3g protein
We have been using this recipe for sloppy joes for a few years now. It is a “light” version (thanks to a Cooking Light cookbook), but if you’re expecting it to be like Manwich, it’s not. It’s definitely tasty, though.
Slim Sloppy Joes
(Source: Cooking Light 15-Minute Cookbook)
Ingredients:
– 1 lb. ground round (we use 90% lean ground beef)
– 1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium)
– 1/4 cup ketchup
– 2 tbsp. unprocessed oat bran
– 1 tbsp. low-sodium Worcestershire sauce
– 1 tbsp. prepared mustard
– 1 tbsp. lemon juice
– 1 (8 oz.) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
– 6 reduced-calorie hamburger buns, split and toasted
Directions:
1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground round and onion; cook until meat is browned, stirring until meat crumbles. Drain and return to pan.
2. Stir ketchup and next five ingredients into meat mixture; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring often.
3. Spoon mixture evenly over bottom halves of buns; cover with bun tops. Serve immediately.
Yield: 6 servings
Per Serving: Calories 250; Fat 5.9g (sat 1.9g); Protein 22.0g; Carbohydrate 29.6g; Fiber 4.4g; Cholesterol 43mg; Iron 3.4mg; Sodium 391mg; Calcium 44mg
Melissa, Andy, and Brendan came up to visit today. They didn’t get to come up for Christmas because of their work schedules, so today was sort of our holiday with them. We exchanged gifts, but other than that, it was just like any other visit.
Brendan is now really good at running around (and getting into trouble, haha). He is also learning to say more and more words, and he plays the “Where is your nose?” “Where is your hair?” game really well. :)
He was pounding the tray with his hands. Our translation was “WHERE IS MY FOOD, MAMA?!”
Family! (Most of it, anyway.)
Andy trying on his new Sabres hat.
Brendan trying on Daddy’s new hat.
My sisters-in-law and me.
After another fun–but long and exhausting–day, we are at home again. I just poured a glass of wine and we’re going to watch a movie (Forgetting Sarah Marshall).
Ahhh… vacation. This life is good.
We woke up to do our own Christmas morning at home before going over to our respective family’s houses.
The TV was Michael and my Christmas gifts to each other this year, so we just did stocking stuffers for Christmas morning. Here are our stockings, all stuffed:
Once Tessa realized that there were things in her stocking, she was anxious to get her paws on them. Here I am, trying to get it down. Not fast enough, of course.
Tessa immediately got to work ransacking her stocking and unwrapping her gifts.
Obligatory self-portrait.
While we opened our gifts, Tessa enjoyed one of the new chew sticks that Santa brought for her (he brought her a 100-pack of them since they are her favorite!). For the record, she also received what we have dubbed “Micro Bobo” (yes, Bobo #4 now!), and a stuffed turtle.Soon after, we both left the house to go our separate ways. I still had gifts to exchange with my family (we always do it on Christmas morning), and Michael wanted to spend some more time with his. My brothers, mom, and I all exchanged gifts, then we had a pancake breakfast.
Tessa in front of the fireplace at my mom’s house.
My mom and Tess. Cute pic.
Eventually, Michael met me over at my mom’s, and we headed home for a few hours to unpack gifts and try to relax a little. Then we went back to my mom’s to enjoy Christmas dinner with my family.
Are you exhausted yet from reading about all of this back and forth? Because yeah, it was exhausting. But it’s worth it. I think we’ve done a good job achieving balance between spending time with both of our families. It works for now… and I think it’ll still work once we have kids someday, but I suppose we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Overall, a great Christmas (as always). Now I need to work on recovering from it before we get to New Year’s next week! Good thing I have all this time off of work.
Merry Christmas!
Last weekend, we tortured Tess by putting a Santa hat on her. She looks like she’s enjoying it, doesn’t she? Um, yeah. Not so much. But it was damn funny. I figured that in honor of the day, I’d share a picture:
resize.jpg)
On Tuesday night, after I was finished with my baking, Michael and I took Tessa and we went for a ride to look at Christmas lights. There is a wealthy woman in our area who is known for her fantastically tacky display of lights, and it’s pretty much an annual tradition to go take a gander. This year, I remembered to bring the camera so we could snap a few photos:
resize.jpg?w=595)
+resize.jpg?w=595)
Yes. that’s Santa in a helicopter!
Yesterday (Christmas Eve), we got up early so I could participate in a special 90-minute aerobics class with my regular instructor. She really worked us hard, so it was nice to get such a good workout in before all of the holiday eating.
After that, we ran home, ate a little breakfast, and started getting ready for the day. After showering, I got to work wrapping all of the presents (helloooo, procrastination). Before we knew it, it was time to head out the door for 2:00 mass. It’s always really crowded, so we had to plan to get there by 1:30 or so. We were able to save seats for Michael’s parents and sister. When it was over, we went back to Michael’s parents’ house to hang out with them for a bit.
Around 4:30, we left to run home to let Tessa out and do a few more things at home before heading to my cousin’s house for my extended family’s Christmas party. After a while, Michael left to go have Christmas Eve dinner with his family while I stayed to enjoy the time with mine. A few photos (mostly of my little cousins!):
My 17-month-old cousin, Mia. She was so good! She and Brendan are around the same age, and I couldn’t believe the difference between them. Brendan is a little boy through and through–so active, getting into things, etc. Mia was content to sit and open presents, and play with her little doll for most of the night. Too cute. Naturally, most of my photos from the night ended up featuring Miss Mia.
Opening up her brand new baby doll.
More little cousins. Sisters Jada and Kiara taking a short break from coloring to smile for me.
I *love* our camera! Not as detailed here because of the resize, but in this photo, you can see every. single. eyelash, and even the fine blonde hairs on her face. Love it!
Feeding her baby. I couldn’t believe how into the doll she was, considering she is still just a baby herself!
Pretty blue eyes.
Kiara (4 years old) got a new doll, too. Right after I took this picture, I asked her, “So… did you name your baby yet?” She said, “Yep!” I said, “Well, what’d you name her?” She matter-of-factly replied, “Umm… Fragile!” Hilarious.
My brother, Tyler, and his fiancee, Marie
The expectant parents: My brother, Trevor, and girlfriend Kara
Last year, my cousin’s husband, Jeff, dressed up as Santa Claus to act out a “Santa sighting” in the backyard. This year, Trevor was tapped for the job.
All the kids got a huge kick out of seeing Santa walk through the backyard. He even stopped and waved, which thrilled some of the kids, and completely freaked out others. :)
Mia’s all dressed for bed and getting ready to leave… but not before Aunt Lindsay makes her giggle for her “audience.”
After the excitement of the Santa sighting, Michael and I left my cousin’s to go back to his parents’ house to open gifts with his family.
Michael’s sister, Cristina.
Michael’s parents. They’re looking at the parents’ wedding album we got them for Christmas. I designed all of the pages, and we had it printed and bound. We made one for my mom, too. I’m going to take pics of the pages and post about it (and a full review) soon. We were SO HAPPY with the quality and how everything came out.
After exchanging gifts, we were exhausted and decided it was time to head home. We went to bed knowing we had another full day of Christmas tomorrow!
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
