Cheese, Sausage and Squash… What Could Be Better?

…well, ice cream. 😉

But since I was planning dinner and not dessert, cheese, sausage and squash seemed like the makings for a delicious dish.

Before starting dinner, Ryan and I took Sadie on a walk around the lake.

Ryan and the Pup

Spooky lookin’ skies made us walk a little faster.

Menacing Skies

Despite our super-fast walking, we got caught in a downpour. Thankfully, in true Florida fashion, it was over within five minutes. We were able to hide out under a big tree that kept us mostly dry.

When we walked back to our apartment I noticed Grimace the Pumpkin’s smile has turned into a smirk with age. I still love you, Grimace!

Me, Sadie and Grimace

By the time we got home our tummies were a-grumblin’. It was tiiiiime for dinner.

I was motivated to use my acorn squash when I saw that this lil’ baby is the featured ingredient in the Blogger Secret Ingredient contest, currently hosted by Megan this week. I’m not a fancy-dancy chef or an expert photographer, so hopefully this un-glamorous dish will appeal to someone, likely a simpleton like myself. 🙂

Here are the supplies for tonight’s sausagey squash dinn-ah:

Sausage Acorn Squash Ingredients

To begin, I poked the acorn squash all over with a knife before microwaving it for five minutes (flipping it over at three minutes).

While the squash was a-cookin’, I combined sliced Aidell’s sun-dried tomato and mozzarella sausages, onion, garlic cloves and sliced mushroom in a pan coated with a bit of olive oil. I let the mixture cook until the onions were soft and slightly caramelized.

Onion, Mushrooms, Garlic

Sun-Dried Tomato and Mozzarella Sausage

Veggies and Sausage

I then added tomato basil marinara sauce over the mixture and let it simmer on low.

Sizzlin'

Once the squash was tender, I removed it from the microwave, cut it in half and removed the seeds before filling the squash-pockets with the sausage mixture.

Acorn Squash

Stuffed Squash

Since I can’t seem to eat anything tomato-based without cheese, I topped the filled squash with shredded cheese before placing it in the oven at 325 degrees. I let it bake for approximately eight minutes, until the cheese was ooey-gooey.

Sausage Squash with Cheese

Voila! Super easy sausage squash!

 

My Bowl o' Squizz-ash

 

Spectrum Sports Performance Personal Training

Last week at my friend Merri’s pumpkin carving party, she mentioned that her gym Spectrum Sports Performance is offering free personal training sessions to women this week. I’ve heard Merri rave about this gym since she joined, and her stories about the intense cardio sessions and creative weight circuits trainers have designed for her have always peaked my interest.

Picture from Spectrum Sports Performance

I jumped at the opportunity to give this gym a shot. (You guys know I love freebies!) Early tomorrow morning I am meeting with Rob who will be taking me through a cardio workout.

Check out Rob’s impressive bio:

Rob is a graduate of Hofstra University and brings a unique combination of passion and commitment to the SSP Team. After two years at the University of Louisville he transferred to Hofstra University where he was a 3 time All American kicker at the Division 1 Level. It was at Hofstra where Coach David Cohen called Rob, “The hardest worker he has ever coached.” His love of sports appears to only be surpassed by his passion for Health and Fitness and we’re confident this experience and enthusiasm will translate into great things for our clients.

In addition to his collegiate experience Rob has worked under Steve Saunders with fellow Performance Specialist Nate Caraway. at Power Train Sports one of the elite training programs in the northeast. It was at PTS that Rob gained valuable experience working with athletes at the Professional, Collegiate and High School levels. He has also coordinated and contributed to a number of Football, Soccer and Basketball training camps and is on the staff of FKS, a kicking school owned and operated by Tom Feely.

Before SSP Rob spent some time in the Cleveland Browns NFL training camp and currently is ranked in the top 5 of all active college kickers in 3 major categories including 1st in the nation in Kicks made per game. A graduate of Colonial High School he was a 4 year Letterman in Soccer and Football. He was named Captain of the Soccer team in 2001 and 2002 and lead the Grenadiers to their best record in school history in 2002.

They were kind enough to ask about my gym routine and are designing a cardio workout since Thursday is typically a cardio-only day for me, as I do total-body weights on Wednesdays.  Since I’ve never worked with a trainer before, I’m nervous and excited to see what they have in store!

I find myself falling into a workout routine lately and I think this is a great way to shock the old bod and try something new and challenging. If  I don’t post tomorrow morning, I may be passed out on the gym floor…

Question: Have you ever worked out with a personal trainer? Did you enjoy your experience?

Pizza Bagel Bites, Now for Grown Ups

Do you remember Bagel Bites? The delicious, pop-able pint-sized bagels? Bagel Bites were once my favorite after-school snack.

Bagel Bites

My mom would buy them in bulk and my sister and I would heat ’em up in the toaster oven.

My lunch today was an ode to my former love of these lil’ bites. Admittedly, my lunchtime bagel bite was much larger than the little guys from my past.

Pizza Bagel

My grown up version used an Alternative sweet wheat bagel as the crust.

I topped the bagel with tomato basil marinara sauce, sliced plum tomato, spinach and Sargento reduced fat Mexican cheese (my faaaavorite shredded cheese).

Some Cheese If You Please

I cooked it in the toaster oven until the bagel was crispy on the outside and doughy on the inside and the cheese was ooey-gooey and melted.

Yummy Pizzahhh

This lunch would have made young-Julie quite proud. Old-Julie liked it too. 😉

Cheesy

Question: What was your favorite after-school snack?

Waffle Wednesday

Food in my freezer is often forgotten as I open and close my refrigerator and pantry doors, hoping something will magically pop out at me and peak my interest for my upcoming meal.

Today I actually opened my forgotten freezer and was instantly inspired by what I found inside.

Kashi Waffles

Kashi strawberry flax waffles! Hooray!

I toasted a waffle and split it in half, using one half to dip into my Greek yogurt and spreading the other half with creamy peanut butter.

Wonderful Waffle

I must admit, the peanut butter half was my favorite (though I’m sure that comes as no surprise).

Waffle and Yogurt

"When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip"

Though the other toasty waffle half tasted great dipped in my Greek yogurt, I wish I had just used extra peanut butter and made a peanut butter waffle sandwich. Next time!

Wednesday's Breakfast

This was one taaaasty breakfast and it got me thinking about all the fun things I could do with those waffles:

• Peanut Butter Waffle Sandwich
• Waffles Topped with Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
• Waffle Pieces in Greek Yogurt with Fresh Berries
• Waffles Topped with Peach or Banana Slices
• Waffles Topped with Honey or Syrup
• Waffles Topped with Whipped Cream and Chocolate Chips

Question: What’s your favorite waffle topping?