Slow Cooker Butternut Squash, Chicken and Bean Chili

Remember when my husband confessed his love for squash? Well you've probably noticed that I took his words to heart and have been making a lot of squash since.

So when I was at a wedding a couple of weekends ago and someone mentioned they made a really good butternut squash chili in the slow cooker my ears perked. It led to me throwing some butternut squash and a handful of other random ingredients into the slow cooker Tuesday morning and coming home to a delicious dinner. I wasn't sure whether I should consider it a chili or a stew, but I'm going with chili, regardless it's REALLY good. It's in the slow cooker so it's easy and with most of my slow cooker recipes, it's even better leftover!

Remember, don't be intimidated by cutting up the butternut squash, this video that I shared in my Butternut Squash, Black Bean and Spinach Burrito post makes it easy.

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Baked Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Sausage

See that ugly blob of spaghetti squash on my plate? Well it tastes a whole lot better than it looks! It's creamy and delicious, and is kind of like a spaghetti squash version of macaroni and cheese. I couldn't have asked for more.

Without the sausage it would make for a tasty side dish, but I added the sausage in to make it a meal and also because I had some in my freezer. I used hot turkey sausage and it added some nice flavor. If you leave the sausage out, I would suggest using a pepper jack cheese to spice it up and add a little flavor. Heck, you can even do that if you use sausage. Have some fun, you can definitely play around with the add ins. Maybe next time I'll add mushrooms, sauteed onions or a hot pepper. 

I also cooked the Spaghetti Squash in the microwave, which really cuts down on the cooking time and makes this an easy weeknight dinner. All you have to do to cook the spaghetti squash in the microwave is puncture the skin a bunch of times with a fork (so it doesn't explode in the microwave), cook for 10-12 minutes and then let it sit in the microwave and hang out for about 5 more minutes to finish steaming. I'll get into the details below with the recipe, but my point is cooking it for 10 minutes in the microwave is a heck of a lot faster than baking it in the oven for an hour.

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Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

"THIS IS THE BEST PASTA YOU HAVE EVER MADE ME!" - Mr. KMW

If you guys haven't checked out How Sweet It Is you should, she always has amazing food popping up on her blog that I just have to try. When I saw her Butternut Squash Baked Penne I knew I had to try it very soon, lucky for me I had some pre cut butternut squash in my fridge. That's what I call fate.

I made a few changes, mixed up the spices, used a different type of pasta added some chicken and it was fantastic. To be honest I only added the chicken because I thawed it for lunch but never got around to actually making lunch.

This was so good! I already want to make it again, even though we just finished up the leftovers.

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Butternut Squash, Black Bean & Spinach Enchiladas

Well I already told you yesterday in my Homemade Enchilada Sauce post that I made some delicious enchiladas for dinner last night. They were so good and packed full of healthiness on the inside with the butternut squash, black beans, and spinach. I recommend you make these very soon! If you're not in the mood for enchiladas the filling is really good on it's own too. Although I have no clue why you wouldn't be in the mood for enchiladas.

I usually cheat and buy the pre cubed butternut squash, but this time I didn't. Don't worry it wasn't because I was being overly ambitious, it was still out of laziness. I could either go downstairs and get a butternut squash at the farmers market outside my building or I could go to the effort to get in the car and drive to the store. The point of this tangent is to share this helpful video with you on how to peel and cut butternut squash.  If cutting up the whole squash intimidates you, check it out. Keep reading for the enchilada recipe.

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Roasted Acorn Squash with Chipotle Vinaigrette

This acorn squash recipe is a nice change from the typical sweet and buttery version. Especially for me, because just like sweet potatoes I prefer keeping my squash more savory than sweet. I'm also going to be honest and let you know that I liked this recipe, but didn't love it. On the other hand my husband was blown away and declared squash his new favorite vegetable. He's not just exclusive with acorn squash, this Butternut Squash Soup also helped convince him of his new found affection. Keep reading for the recipe and keep in mind to adjust the amount of chipotle in adobo to your taste.

Ingredients
1 acorn squash
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons chipotles in adobo sauce, with pepper chopped up
1 taplespoon champagne vinegar

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut squash in half, lenghtwise, and discard the stem. Scrape out seeds and slice squash into wedges.

Toss squash wedges with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place in baking dish and cook for 30 to 35 minutes.

While squash is in the oven, whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, minced garlic, chipotles in adobo, and vinegar.

Drizzle chipotle vinaigrette over cooked squash and serve.