There’s something about fall that brings out the wannabe chef in me. I think it’s because fall seems to encourage a lot of cooking that involves combining fruits and vegetables with sugar and cinnamon. You can convince your brain that you’re having something healthy, but your tongue knows that it’s really dessert.

I look forward to our fall dinners all year long, so I thought I’d share one that I’ve made recently.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is a pretty versatile recipe. Mine uses the most basic of ingredients since I try not to buy special things that I only need for one recipe. You can dress it up by adding rice or stuffing or exciting spices. I’ve always thought this dish would be terribly impressive at a fancy dinner party. But I don’t throw fancy dinner parties, so I can’t speak with any authority.

Ingredients

2-3 acorn squash
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup celery
1/2 cup onion
10 (or more) Ritz crackers
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp cinnamon
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400.

Cut the acorn squash in half (I’ve found it’s easiest to do this with a small paring knife) and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash cut side down in a 13×9 inch baking pan and pour about 1/2 cup water in the pan. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Cook beef, celery, and onion until beef is cooked through. Drain.

Add crackers, cheese, salt, pepper, and cinnamon to the meat mixture.

Once squash is cooked, take out of the oven and turn over. Put a little butter and sprinkle of salt on the squash, then fill with the meat mixture. Stick it all back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

Tip: If you want to kick this recipe up a notch from yummy to delicious add a teaspoon of brown sugar to the inside of each squash half before you spoon in the meat.

 

Carb Count: 29 grams per 1/2 acorn squash (includes brown sugar)