What to do with Acorn Squash

Or for when you can't decide if you want something sweet and sugary or savory and filling.
Compromise! Since there's two halves anyway.

I know there are infinite variations of this all over the net, so here's my infinite+1.

Get acorn squash (can work with just about any squash, honestly) cut in half, scrape out seeds, put in 8x8 cooking dish, preheat oven to 375.

In one half: 
Small pad of butter, spoonful of brown sugar, sprinkle of cinnamon, drizzle of maple syrup
In other half:
Spoon of minced garlic (mine's from a bottle, a clove will be fine) and chunk of bacon (mine was frozen solid and I imagine sausage would work well too)

Bake for 30 mins, check, adjust bacon as necessary. (I had to spread mine out since it had thawed at this point)
Up the heat to 425, bake 20 mins, stab with fork and take out.
Sprinkle cheese on the savory side.
Enjoy!


Garnishes? Ain't nobody got time for dat.

Potato pancakes, Banana Pancakes and Sausage with Real Maple Syrup

Breakfast, that's what's for dinner.

Potato Pancakes, banana pancakes, and sausage with real maple syrup

Also, I love sausage and maple syrup


Potato Pancake:about~
2 smallish potatoes. today one red and yellow: shredded
3TBLS dried onion
2/3 tsp sea salt
1 egg
1TBLS potato flour
black pepper, parsley (powdered between the hands), garlic, paprika OR seasoned salt to taste

*Mix, fork works best
*Drop a couple forkfuls into hot olive oil in a largish pan and spread flat (but not so flat the pan can be seen through the potatoes).
*Flip when golden brown and place more oil in as needed to fry the pancakes up.
*Feel free to taste them as they come off to see if flavors need to be adjusted.
=Can be refrigerated but they get soggy however they still taste good.
++As a side note, this is the first time I tried red and white combo and they didn't hold up as well as just using a white tater has in the past, but it tasted better than before. So.. I guess you take some and you lose some.






















Banana and egg pancakes:
one egg, one banana, dash of cinnamon
Mix.
Can be cooked up like a regular pancake in butter, olive oil, or bacon grease, I prefer butter for the taste.

Sausage:
links, patties, chunks, turkey, whatever your favorite is.
Cook.

Put on plate, drown (or lace) with real maple syrup.
Enjoy!

-=The pictures do not serve this plate justice, it tasted so good the plate was clean in a very short 5 minutes.=-

Sweet Potato Fry Bread

Or, my one-hour sammich.
I don't recall the exact recipe I based this off of, so it may have been an accidental creation, but I've made it plenty that it takes one hour from start to licking my fingers clean.

What's needed:
Sweet Potato
Almond Flour
Tapioca Starch
Olive Oil

How to do it:
*Nuke the sweet potato until it is done. Peel the skin off.
       -I like to take the ends off and run a fork between skin and meat and peel that way. Careful, it's hot.-
*Drop it in a medium to large bowl.
     -For more precise measurements, mix equal parts tapioca starch to potato present. (so if the potato yields 1.5 cups, add 1.5 cups tapioca.)-
Half of the tapioca starch, add almond meal.
     -In this example, 3/4 cup-
*Now, if you like to micromanage your food and don't want to risk putting in too much flour, then do what i do: drop the tater in, and start with 1/2c tapioca and 1/4 c almond and mix until incorporated. Then in 1/8c or tablespoon increments, continue adding until it is kneadable and doesn't all stick to the hands.
*At this point, grab a frying pan, medium sized works best, drop a splash of olive oil in it, and turn the heat to medium.
*Take a small ball of the doug, roll it, and flatten it between the heels of the hand, flipping form hand to hand so it doesn't stick. Get it as thin as possible without tearing.
*Drop in hot oil.
*Flip when golden brown and adjust heat as necessary so it doesn't burn but so it cooks all the way.

I like to when I get to cooking the second piece is place cheese and meat on the cooked side so that once it's done, I take it out, add tomatoes and lettuce, add the second half, and voila, I have made a sandwich.

Can be used to make great grilled cheese, BLT, Tuna melt, though in my opinion, it tastes fine, but much better as a meat'n'cheese  type fare. Goes great with soups and stews or by itself as a snack.
I've refrigerated- wrapped in paper towels for 4 days so far and they've been fine, I either microwave or fry it in butter. And I've frozen them separated by paper towels in a large ziplock, but I can't tell you for how long as I tend to eat them too fast.

One average potato makes 2-4 bread slices, but that also depends on how big the bread is, whether it's saucer or dinner plate sized. And my grain-full friends said it tasted like joy.


Notes:
I have tried this by adding regular potatoes, and it doesn't work.
If the sweet tater you've tried doesn't yield chewy results, it could be due to the breed used. Try another variety and don't give up.

5-minute Lemon curd and Strawberry Tart - For one

Ever wanted something sweet, and quick?
Heck yes!

I have a mini tart bowl, but even a regular Corelle bowl will work.
I used my bullet blender, which has made life so much easier and I don't know how I've lived without it so long.

The crust is powdery but goes well with the curd and cream. It tastes like shortbread.
The Curd is Dickinson Lemon Curd

Directions:
(*Note, all measurements are approximations)

For the crust:
2 large or 3 scant Tblsp cold butter
1/8c almond flour
1/4c tapioca starch
dash-1/8tsp guar gum (or equivalent, also not entirely necessary)
Dash cinnamon

Blend, press into bowl, microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. A little golden in the middle or on the edges is fine. In fact, nuke it until that happens.

For the Curd:
Buy or make one you like.
Spread into the finished crust.

For the Cream:
Using the bullet blender (or any preferred method) blend cream, capful of vanilla, and two spoons of sugar. Adjust amount of sugar or vanilla to your preference.
Takes less than a minute this way.
Dollop onto the curd.

Cut rinsed strawberries and put on the cream, and enjoy.

Tools for the Treats

Out of everything I make, these are what I use the most often to make the deliciousness out of.

In no particular order:






Olive oil (I have a large jug under the cupboard to fill up this one). I occasionally use coconut oil, but everything is cooked with or even fried in Olive oil.
Real Vanilla Flavoring I know there's been some "research" that says there is no difference between imitation and real, I just prefer the real stuff.
Butter butter is amazing and so much healthier than all that non-butter nonsense. Tastes so much better.
Sea Salt I rarely salt anything, but if I do it's with this. IMO there's more/better flavor with sea salt.
Almond Flour nuts.com is a dangerous place to go, they have alot of awesomeness there. Plus a 5lb bag of almond flour for a pretty good price.
Tapioca flour/starch necessary for a lot of stuff
Potato starch (the one with the red label) also necessary for a lot of stuff.
Sweet potato flour (the one with the green label) also necessary for a lot of stuff.
Mortar and pestle (+sifter) the sweet 'tater flour is chunky so it gets powdered and sifted in with the other flours.

There is of course other items I use, various binders, tools, dishes, other flours, but these are the primary items used.
Of note, I get the three other flours at the Asian market because they actually have sweet potato flour (I haven't seen that anywhere else) and they have it for very cheap.

This will be dedicated to the awesome foods and meals I cook, because cooking grain and nut free is a major challenge and I'd like to share my creations with others. Just because it's grain free doesn't mean it has to be delicious-free too.