SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH TOMATO RAGOUT & GRILLED CHICKEN BREASTS

WAIT A MINUTE! You come back here! Before you turn up your nose at this one, let me just tell you, it is DEElicious! If you haven't broadened your horizons yet to include spaghetti squash, you really need to put this on the shopping list this week. Squash is coming into season, and our local supermarket had it dirt cheap yesterday - 2 for $1! 1 decent size spaghetti squash will feed 4 people. As I was eating this tonight, I actually forgot it wasn't pasta under the tomato ragout! I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this dish and will definitely be making it again and again. Very "figure friendly" too. I'm not sure what the WW points on this would be, but it can't be very high. If someone wants to figure it out and let me know, I'll gladly edit this post to add them.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH TOMATO RAGOUT & GRILLED CHICKEN BREASTS

2 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Bottled Italian dressing

1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
Olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped (I used canned and it was perfectly fine)
2 Tblsp chopped fresh basil (I used dried, but just a tad less)
Fresh spinach leaves (optional)

To begin. Take each chicken breast and insert them individually into a ziploc baggie (1 breast for each baggie). Squeeze out excess air and seal it shut. Take your metal meat mallet and pound each chicken breast to about 1/2" thick. Open bag and pour in about 1/4 cup of Italian dressing. Seal it back up and put it in the fridge to marinate for about an hour.

Now let's work on that squash. It has a tough outer skin, so use a very sharp, sturdy knife to cut it lengthwise. I usually jab the knife in and then rock it back and forth until it is mostly cut in half. The stem area can sometimes be a stickler, but I cut the whole thing around and then just break it the rest of the way by the stem end. Spray your baking pan with cooking spray. Lay the squash in the pan, cut side down. Pour in just a little water, maybe 1/2 cup. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until a sharp knife can be inserted through the skin with only a little resistance. Remove squash from the oven and set aside to cool just enough to be easy to handle. (I didn't wait for it to cool. I flipped it over, stuck a meat fork in one end to hold it steady and started scraping with my dinner fork. It will shred and look just like spaghetti. Place the shredded squash in a separate bowl and keep warm.

Heat a George Foreman grill. Spray with cooking spray. Remove the chicken from the fridge. Remove chicken breasts from marinade. Grill as many chicken breasts as your foreman grill will handle. Mine is small and I can only do 1 at a time. But for me, each chicken breast only took 5 minutes total. They were sooooo juicy and tasty!

Meanwhile (while you're waiting on the timer to beep for the chicken in the grill), heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and peppers in oil until tender and opaque. Add garlic and saute for 2 - 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and the basil and cook until the tomatoes are bubbly. Optional: add fresh spinach leaves and stir until wilted. Top spaghetti squash with tomato ragout and a big pinch of shredded mozzarella.
I was able to make this ragout while the chicken breasts were grilling. This is one QUICK supper! I loved it for that too!

FAJITA SALAD

Again, not the greatest pic. But photography isn't my forte' - at least until I can get a better camera (where's Terri when I need her?!) Anyway - if you like Fajitas, but are trying to watch your calories, you really MUST give this salad a try. It is probably my favorite salad. Super easy too! And the nice thing about it is, it's light, yet hearty enough to serve as a main course (if your hubby's not eating! haha) No, really my Honey likes this salad (as long as it's for lunch and not "supper!" haha

FAJITA SALAD

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into bite size chunks
McCormick's fajita seasoning
1 sweet onion, sliced thin
1 green pepper, sliced thin
olive oil
Romaine lettuce, torn into manageable pieces
Tomatoes (whatever your favorite is - Cherry, grape, roma, etc)
Shredded Montery Jack or Mexican blend cheese
Sour cream
Guacamole - homemade or store bought, your choice (I like homemade best for the chunks)
Salsa (optional)
Tostitos multigrain tortilla chips

Heat a heavy cast iron skillet to medium heat on your stove. Drizzle olive oil liberally into the skillet. Add your sliced onions and peppers and fry until soft and opaque. I like them a bit caramelized too, but you can do what you like there. Turn down to low or keep warm, while you cook the chicken.
Heat a separate skillet over med-high on the stove. Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom and swirl it around to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add the chicken chunks and sprinkle liberally with the fajita seasoning. Cook chicken 3-4 min and then flip them over and season the other side. Cook another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Take a large shallow bowl (none of this small cereal bowl stuff!) and layer your torn lettuce, tomatoes, warm chicken, onions, peppers and shredded cheese. Garnish with a dollop of guacamole in the center, along with a dollop of sour cream next to it (you can use the light version if you wish, but I think light and fat free versions are filth! I'd rather have the real McCoy and just eat less of it! haha) Add a few chips to the side and dig in!

WILD RICE STUFFING

My daughter in law made us a FANTASTIC turkey dinner today for our Sunday get-together. She served this really tasty wild rice stuffing. When I asked her how she made it, I couldn't believe how simple the recipe was! You won't either. She got the recipe from her Momma. It went perfect with the turkey!

WILD RICE STUFFING

1 box Stove top dressing mix, prepared according to directions
1 pkg Uncle Ben's wild rice mix, prepared according to directions

Prepare dressing mix and set aside. Prepare rice using chicken broth in place of the water called for. When the rice is done, combine with the prepared stuffing mix. SUPER easy, SUPER fast, and SUPER yummy!
Thanks Mon Mon for this one and for the fantabulous dinner today! You're a gem!

PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE

We got invited to our son and daughter-in-law's house for dinner today and they asked me to bring dessert. OF COURSE I would pick a new dessert that I've never made! DUH! I know my Honey loves pumpkin pie and my son loves pumpkin chiffon pie. I had never made this one, so thought I'd give it a go. I got in a hurry and started rushing through the recipe without reading the directions at the bottom - DON'T do that! I ruined the first attempt and had to start all over on a new one! This would be a good one to make the night before, so it will have plenty of time to chill and set up nice for you.

PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE

• 1 envelope (1 tablespoon) unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups pumpkin
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the gelatin and water in a small bowl, and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick. Mix in 3/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, evaporated milk, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger.
3. In a double broiler, cook the mixture over boiling water, stirring constantly, until thick. Mix in the gelatin. Stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to thicken until it mounds when dropped by the spoonful.
4. In a clean, dry medium bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually mix in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and continue beating until firm. Fold in the pumpkin mixture. Transfer to the pie crust. Chill until firm, about 1 hour, or overnight.
   

CHOCOLATE CHIP OREO COOKIES

My TREMENDOUS thanks to Jenny at the Picky Palate, for this one! I'm always on the lookout for new treats and snacks to make for our college kids. They travel home on the weekends and back to school on Sunday nights. This is another one I whipped up for them this weekend. They couldn't wait to start nibbling on them though, and were digging them out of the baggie before they were even out the door! They LOVED them! If I keep this up, they are going to get used to it! hehe *Next time I make them though, I'll keep the oreo chunks a bit bigger*

1 stick softened butter
6 Tablespoons sugar
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ Cup flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
8 broken pieces Oreo Cookies
1 Cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until mixed well.

2. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stir to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then stir in oreos and chocolate chips until just combined.

3. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until cooked, but still soft. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

100th POST GIVEAWAY

I'm just a few posts away from my 100th post. To celebrate, I'm going to have a giveaway! So keep your eye on my blog. Sometimes I go crazy cooking, baking and posting (especially now with the weather change), but other times I am so busy, I hit a dry spell. It might be this week, it might be next week, who knows. Be sure to come back and check frequently. Tell your friends about it too - the more the merrier! I'll let you know when to start "throwing your hat in the ring" so to speak. I've been talking about and planning with my daughters, what to use for the giveaway. This is going to be FUN!

TABLESCAPES - FALL

YEP - I'm getting a hankering for Fall! It's this change in the weather, I think. It's time to break out the sweaters and big comfy sweatshirts that have been in storage all Summer. It's time for baking pumpkin pie, fresh cookies and banana bread. It's almost time for apple picking and cider and fresh donuts.... no wait.... didn't I just say in the previous post that I'm trying to drop a few pounds? Oh! But those donuts at the orchard! OH MY SOUL are they ever stinking good! Especially with a glass of cold, fresh cider. Oh what am I doing to myself? haha I was talking about Fall. And this post isn't even about food, it's about tablescapes for crying out loud!
We didn't have guests today - we will have next week. But I wanted to do a Fall table for our Sunday dinner today. I love this brown tablecloth. I got it on clearance after the season, for less than half price. The little placemat in the middle is just a remnant of a piece of Fall fabric I had. The little pumpkin centerpiece was a total impulse buy on my part. I stopped at the store to buy one thing and ended up grabbing this as I jogged by on my way to the checkout! I love it though. The candle holders, again, clearance items from Walmart. I think they were $2 each.Same thing with the napkin rings - clearance! What can I say? I'm cheap. haha This shot looks really different without the flash on the camera. The goblets have a blue hue, but they are really clear.
~*sigh*~ I love my Fall table.