It's Fall Season!

On Saturday, Dave and I picked out the perfect pumpkin.  It's officially fall!

And with fall comes Pumpkin and Squash season! Sunday morning I woke up (after 10 glorious hours of sleep) and made Pumpkin Pancakes. I'm not the best pancake maker (I usually burn the outside and undercook the inside) but these were pretty good and pretty healthy.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour

1 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 tablespoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 cup of skim milk

1 cup of canned pumpkin puree

2 eggs

2 tablespoon of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoon of dark brown sugar

Instructions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the first six ingredients (whole wheat flour through pumpkin pie spice). In a separate bowl, whisk together the last six ingredients (milk through brown sugar). Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and blend together with a wooden spoon until just combined. If batter seems too thick to pour, you can gently stir in a little more milk. Drop pancakes by ladleful onto a medium-hot griddle. Pancakes are ready to turn when the edges start to look a little dry and you can see small bubbles forming on the surface.

I also made my Baked Banana Oatmeal for the week with the addition of Canned Pumpkin! I was thinking of adding pumpkin to my normal baked oats for awhile but using an 8X8 pan instead of a loaf pan.  Then I saw Lauren make something similar and knew I had to try it!

Baked Banana-Pumpkin Oatmeal

Combine the dry ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

Combine the wet ingredients:
1 egg, beat
1 mashed banana
3/4 cup Canned Pumpkin
1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk or other milk you have on hand
1 tsp vanilla
Instructions:
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix well. Spray some cooking spray in a 8X8 pan then add the mixture and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Cut into squares.

Next up, I wanted to use two of my CSA Squashes I got last week.  I decided to make a Stuffed Acorn Squash AND prep my butternut squash for Monday nights dinner.  All about prepping ahead!
I roasted the two squashes with a little butter, olive oil, a tiny bit of maple syrup and salt and pepper.  Into the oven at 400 for about 50 minutes the fall squashes went.

When they came out, they were perfect!

Then I followed an easy process- stuffing the Acorn Squash!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This recipe is inspired by a dish I saw in a magazine called (I think) Dinner for Two and it was for Stuffed Butternut Squash.  But I decided to use my Acorn Squash instead.

Kale & Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients:
1 Acorn Squash, sliced in half, seeds removed
Maple Syrup, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper
1 package of Apple Chicken Sausage
1 Onion, chopped
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 apple, sliced in small pieces
1 cup of chickpeas
1 cup of cherry tomatoes sliced in half
2 cups of kale
1 ounce of cheddar cheese
Instructions:
Preheat Oven to 400. Cook Acorn Squash on a baking sheet.  Put some butter on the squash, salt and pepper and a tiny bit of maple syrup.  Bake in oven for 45-60 minutes. Saute Garlic and Onion in Hot Skillet with EVOO.  Add sliced sausage and saute until lightly browned then add chopped cherry tomatoes, apples, chickpeas and kale.  Mix together until Kale is wilted.  Turn off from heat and add cheese. Then fill the squash with the delicious filling!

This was seriously one of my favorite dishes I've made in a long time.  This is the true definition of fall comfort food.  And it was so simple!

Tonight I made another fall rich dish: Butternut Squash Risotto.  The creamiest dish you can eat, without the cream!  This was my second attempt at risotto and first successful try. The key is to add the stock in small ladles and to be PATIENT.  A word I clearly don't know very well.

Butternut Squash and Chicken Sausage Risotto
6-8 cups chicken broth 
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided into 2 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups butternut squash, peeled, and finely diced and roasted (I did this the day before)
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup of diced chicken sausage (3 links), sauted in hot skillet
2 tablespoons of marscapone cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped chives or garlic chives
Salt
Instructions:  
Heat broth in medium sized saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a large saucepan; add onion. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add rice to onion. Cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine. Cook, stirring constantly until wine has been absorbed by the rice or evaporated. Add a few ladles of broth, just enough to barely cover rice. Cook over medium heat until broth has been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender about 15 to 20 minutes. During the last minutes of cooking, add remaining tablespoon of butter, marscapone cheese, 1/3 cup Parmesan, and chives. Add in butternut squash and sausage. At this point the rice should have a creamy consistency. Add salt to taste. Serve with remaining grated Parmesan. Add chives to garnish.

I hope you guys try some of these delicious fall recipes- trust me, they are worth it!