Classic Acorn Squash
With the advent of squash season I wanted to try something new this year. The last few years we’ve been making butternut squash in various recipes but we’ve yet to make acorn squash. I found an acorn squash on sale at the grocery store the last time I was there and decided it was high time to try it out. I went with a classic recipe for this particular trial of acorn squash. The mix of brown sugar and maple syrup is absolutely incredible. However, I realized that I personally don’t care for the texture of squash since its very slippery. Alex doesn’t prefer sweet versions of squash so this wasn’t really to his tastes either. However, if you’re looking for a very classic squash recipe this one is perfect for you. The sweet taste compliments the sweetness of the squash perfectly and is perfect for those cold fall nights.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:239]
We had some asparagus leftover in our fridge and I just had to do something exciting with it. Alex has been requesting stir fry for several weeks so I thought I’d use the asparagus to make just that. This was actually a very easy recipe to make. I had dinner ready in under an 45 minutes from start to finish and that included the marinate time for the beef.The beef is best if you marinate it overnight to give it a full flavor. If you don’t have time though, you can just quickly marinate it for 15-30 minutes. I don’t often have steak on hand so I used a chuck roast for this recipe. Just make sure the beef is very thinly sliced especially if you use a roast or some other typically tough cut of meat.This recipe really doesn’t smell the best when you’re making it. Alex wasn’t very excited to have it for dinner since it was pretty stinky, however when he finally did sit down to eat it he said it was actually incredible! The flavors blend nicely together, especially the beef and asparagus. Don’t let the smell fool you, it is way better than is smells![amd-yrecipe-recipe:195]Source: Adapted from 
Alex has been requesting different Chinese dishes for dinner the last few weeks. I’ve been trying to accommodate as many of them as I can since I haven’t been home for dinner too much. I’ve also been trying to make as many crockpot dishes as possible since I can just set it and forget it.This dish was gone very quickly. Alex absolutely loved it and he had it for lunch for the next three days! He said it had fantastic flavor, and was even great reheated. The red pepper flakes had just a slight bit of heat to the overall recipe, if you don’t want any sort of spicy you can just leave them out.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:192]
Alex and I love to have tacos for dinner. With this being such an easy recipe, I can set it in the crockpot and forget all about it and we have a fantastic dinner ready at the end of the day!I typically use my own 
Alex has been bugging me to make fajitas for months now. I just never seemed to have time or all the ingredients into order to make these. I finally just sat down and made them even though I didn’t have all the traditional ingredients called for. Alex absolutely loved them though and couldn’t get enough!I actually used thinly sliced rump roast for this recipe and it turned out fantastic (see Mom, you actually can use roast for this!) I know typically you use some sort of steak but I didn’t have it in my freezer and I didn’t have time to run to the store to get any. The key was to marinate the very thinly sliced beef overnight in the spice mixture in order to give it great flavor.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:188]
I’d been interested in making a lemon and pepper chicken for a while but it was a tad bit scary looking at working with such a strong flavor as lemon. I wanted to do the flavor combination justice, but I was just really nervous to try. However, I finally just decided it was time and went out and found a recipe. I of course adapted it to fit with my personal tastes and time schedule, but I think it turned out fairly well.This recipe calls for a boatload of lemon juice. I actually used fresh squeezed lemon juice and I think that really amped up the overall flavor of the dish. However, if I were to make this dish again and were using fresh juice, I would decrease it by 1/3 to half since lemon juice is very tart. If you’re using bottled juice you’re going to need the entire ½ cup to get the flavor of the dish to come through.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:184]Source: Adapted from 
I make this for Alex at least once a month since it is one of his favorite dishes. However, he always does the seasoning since I “don’t make it spicy enough”. This is a very malleable recipe. You can make it sweeter, spicier or in between. The directions for this recipe are all spices to your own particular taste. We tend to go heavy on the chili powder, cumin and siracha. But if your taste buds don’t like super spicy things you could go heavier on other things.With the quantities I’ve listed below you can either feed a small army, or you can have leftovers for a week. Since this is an easy dish to reheat Alex loves taking it to work for lunch. It also freezes really nicely if you get tired of it before you finish the leftovers. ;)[amd-yrecipe-recipe:182]
A couple of years ago I tried making Sloppy Joes for Alex and he absolutely hated them. I decided to try and come up with a Sloppy Joe recipe that Alex would actually like. When I served this to Alex he said “These aren’t sloppy joes. I don’t know what they are, it’s more like chili. Yeah! Chili you can put on a sandwich. Sandwich chili! That’s what you have to call it.”This dish received high marks from Alex. It is really on the spicy side so if you’re not a spicy person you’ll want to make a couple of substitutions. I would suggest using whatever salsa you have on hand that is your favorite. We have several flavors on hand so I’ve combined two different heat levels in order to get the best flavor combination for our tastes.You can serve this dish on either bread or tortillas. You could also spread it over tortilla chips for a different type of dish. I would suggest pairing it with some cheddar cheese if you’d really like a treat.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:174]
I made a giant ham back over Christmas and Alex decided to use the leftover ham bone to make a soup. He told me that his parents would make this all the time when he was younger and he really enjoyed their recipe. So he decided to look up a recipe and make a few changes of his own, and this is the result.You do need to prep this soup ahead of time since it sits in the crock pot for a while. I would suggest prepping the ingredients the night before so you can easily assemble everything the next day. This soup is best when served with a nice loaf of crusty bread with butter.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:171]Source: Adapted from 
This soup was a surprise hit at my house! I had been searching for some new soups to broaden our horizons and came across this one. Baked potatoes are one of my favorite things to eat so I thought a soup version of it would be worth trying. I thoroughly enjoyed this soup. It tastes like the middle of a baked potato.Alex liked the base of this recipe too but he had a few suggestions for making this better. He thought adding ham chunks would make the soup a little more hearty. He also thought adding more pepper, both black and white would give the soup a bigger flavor. These suggestions are completely optional. I really loved the basic recipe below and don’t think it needs many changes.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:166]Source: Adapted from 
This recipe has been a favorite of mine for many years. It is one that my Mom would make while I was growing up and that I still continue to make. Funny story, I haven’t ruined many recipes in my time cooking, but this is the one I have the most trouble with. When adding the garlic salt you need to have a light hand, and there has been a couple of times when I’ve accidently added too much! So be careful, doing this will absolutely ruin the recipe.If you eat gluten free you can simply substitute gluten free spaghetti or penne noodles into the recipe. Either will work and the recipe is then gluten free! The chicken is also optional. I personally like to serve it on the side so people can add as much chicken as they like on their individual plates.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:165]
I love experimenting with kale, quinoa and sweet potatoes. There are just so many different ways you can prepare them! And almost all of them are super tasty. This recipe is no exception. I’ve used a lot of fresh herbs which lends the recipe a brighter quality. While you certainly don’t need to use fresh herbs, I highly suggest it if you happen to have them on hand.This dish is very much on the savory side. I personally love the combination of thyme and nutmeg in a dish together. However, Alex doesn’t like nutmeg at all so this wasn’t his favorite dish in the world. Since this dish has both quinoa and sweet potato it is very hearty. If you would like a lighter dish you can leave one of them out.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:164]