Squash and Apple Side Dish

My sister-in-law made this one night at her house and I LOVED it, so of course I stole her recipe. This is a great recipe for this time of year!

Butternut squash (at stop and shop you can find it already cut up)
2 large apples (any kind work well)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1 TBSP flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Cut up squash and apples and put into a large baking dish. Crumble dry ingredients in a bowl with the butter and pour over the apples and squash. Bake at 450 degrees until the apples and squash are soft. (this should take about 30 min but keep checking)

Penne ala Vodka

It took me a LONG time to find a good ala vodka recipe. I happen to really like this one.

1 pound penne
1/2 stick butter
garlic (chopped)
oregano
basil
1 cup heavy cream
1 oz vodka
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
8 oz can tomato sauce
salt
pepper

Melt butter in pan; add 3 cloves garlic and make sure your garlic does not burn. Add salt, pepper, dry oregano, dry basil to taste. Turn up heat and add 1 oz vodka letting the alcohol burn off. Add cream and bring to a boil. Add in parm cheese and tomato sauce. Let simmer and serve.

I like to add in chicken or shrimp to make the meal have a little protein.

Stir Fry

I LOVE to make stir fry and my son loves to eat it, which is great cause it is filled with veggies.
You can make it with tofu, chicken, or beef. (I prefer tofu, but if you use tofu make sure you get the extra firm, you don't want to make the same mistake I did once)

The great thing about stir fry is you can use pretty much any veggies you have on hand, here is a list of some veggies I have used:
broccoli
celery
carrots
baby corn
bok choy
water chestnuts
snow peas
bamboo shoots

Cook protein with a little oil, garlic (chopped), grated ginger, and soy sauce. Once protein is mostly cooked take it out and add in veggies. Add more ginger, soy sauce, and garlic and cook until veggies are soft. Add protein back in to finish cooking it, and serve over rice. YUM!