Monday, October 4, 2010

The Un-Recipe: Butternut Squash Stew

Thank you all for your sweet words on my race. I was on cloud nine all day! The rest of the weekend was pretty sweet as well. It included dinner & football with friends, lunch with my parents and a couple walks with Josh & Frank.

Sunday night, Josh’s friend Jeremy came over for the Eagles game. My original plan was to make Josh and I chili (beef for him, veggie for him). Unfortunately, Jeremy is not a beans fan (yikes!). So, on the fly, I came up with this butternut squash stew. This can be made with or without meat (I used ground beef for theirs but you could sub in beans or fake meat crumbles).

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Ingredients (I didn’t measure most of the ingredients, so this is rough):

  • Olive oil
  • 1/2 a butternut squash, chopped into 1” pieces
  • 1 small onion
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 2/3 cup frozen corn
  • 2/3 cup frozen peas
  • 2 tablespoons sauce from chilies in adobo sauce
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • toppings (tortilla chips, diced jalapenos, cheese, etc)

Directions:

  • Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot. Add butternut squash, onion & garlic and cook over medium heat for ~10 minutes
  • Remove veggies from pot, set aside
  • Add 1 tablespoon olive oil into pot. Add ground beef and brown up
  • Add cooked vegetables, tomato sauce, frozen peas & corn, adobo sauce and spices into pot. Turn heat to low and cook for ~30 minutes
  • Serve with toppings

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For dessert, I made the boys some sundaes using my oatmeal chocolate, chocolate chip bars as the base. I heated them up in the microwave and topped them with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream & Trader Joe’s organic midnight moo syrup (amazingness- thank you to whoever suggested this to me in my giveaway post!!). 

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Do you like to follow recipes or just kind of cook on the fly? I like a little of both but I have trouble following a recipe 100%.  Enjoy your week!

40 comments:

Jessica @ How Sweet said...

I can never follow a recipe 100% either! I always want to make it my own. This looks delicious!

Heather said...

I'm a recipe girl when it comes to cooking, but baking's a whole other story. This looks great!! :)

CaSaundraLeigh said...

Good job coming up with a recipe last minute--it looks great & I bet the guys really appreciate your cooking. Have a wonderful week lady!

Unknown said...

oh i think the butternut squash 'stew' goes great with the tortilla chips! fantastic job :)

Jenna said...

I always cook on the fly. Rarely do I ever follow a recipe 100%!

I was eager to see what you cooked up after you commented on the stew you were making. Delicious looking!

Michelle @ Find Your Balance said...

Oh, I definitely cook on the fly. I have a peanut butter pumpkin chili that I forgot about until I read this. Thanks!

The Purple Carrot said...

Yum, yum, I would certainly eat your thrown together recipe! : )

Glad you have a good weekend!!

Unknown said...

i've done a beef and butternut chili before and it was pretty good :) the more i cook, the better i get at just winging it! except when it comes to baking, then i usually stick to recipes or simple substitutions

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ said...

I like using a recipe as a base and making little tweaks here and there. Using butternut in chili is a ridiculously amazing idea. Totally going to do that one day very soon.

Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather said...

I'm not too good at following recipes other than baking. With cooking there is just so much more wiggle room.

Kelsey Ann said...

on its own the squash and beef look UNBELIEVABLY TASTY, and then u went ahead and posted a delightful dessert, WOW! <3 just WOW!

Kelsey Ann said...

i love getting creative and making my own recipes. even if i follow someone elses, i usually switch it up or tweak it in one way or another :P

Megan D said...

Ooh I love b-nut squash so I know I would love this stew!! I wish I was creative in the kitchen buut normally I just follow recipes :)

Krista said...

Great stew! I usually cook on the fly. I've been doing it long enough to wing it. LOL :)

Paige (Running Around Normal) said...

If I know I have no business changing the recipe I don't (which is often, haha) but if I know the ingredients well enough, I'll make my own adaptions:)
That looks very good though!!

Natalie said...

bnut squash is good in anything! I typically do a fair share of recipe swapping or try to inject some creativity, but I also sometimes just trust the recipe :) last night i made up a recipe for pumpkin scones that turned out wonderfully. i was pumped!

Sarah said...

Brilliant on-the-fly recipe! I keep my eye open for stew and soup recipes but honestly the best ones are always the ones made with improvization and what's around.

I make similar sundaes for Ray too! He likes cookies & cream ice cream with caramel on top, sometimes a bit of a Heath bar crushed up. I adored sundaes when I was younger, and while I still love fro yo, ice cream sundaes don't appeal to me as much. I guess I like them but don't consider them worth the calories anymore? Oh to be a boy and eat all those things and have it not matter. My brothers can, they are so lucky. :P

Julie said...

love your on a whim recipe! but honestly what's up with jeremy not liking beans! he needs to get his act together. i'm pretty sure he would like them if you made him chili so i think next time he needs to suck it up. hahaha :)

chili is like the ultimate football sunday dish so if jeremy is going to continue to watch the eagles at your house and reap the benefits of your baking then he needs to get his beans together. you can tell him i said so too.

i suck at recipes! i wish i had some spare time right now to recipe it up! i think i'll be better at it once i don't have class to worry about :)

deejy just bought midnight moo the other day! my dad has been guuuuuzzling that down with his ice cream haha

Nicole @ Geek Turned Athlete said...

I am the same way with recipes! I hardly ever follow one to the T. This stew looks really easy, healthy, and tasty.

BroccoliHut said...

This looks delicious! I am always looking for new uses for butternut squash!

Stephanie @cookinfanatic said...

What is it with guys not liking beans? I have to literally hide them from The Man to get him to eat them?! I love the butternut stew, such a perfect fall comfort meal!

Stacey said...

Dessert looks good. I like recipes, but can't follow them exactly, only as a reference. I like to be creative and see what happens.

Christina said...

I usually follow recipes for the most part but will make some adaptations. This sounds good!

Angharad said...

Congrats on your race! Just catching up with blogs :)

That is one rocking time lady!

Eden said...

When I was in culinary school, I DID follow the recipes, but it was all to learn how to memorize and find my flow and confidence in the kitchen. I have no clue if that makes sense....anyhow your unrecipe looks awesome, I'd eat it any which way!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

girl i am SUCH an on the fly cook. i cant follow a recipe to save my life. LOL

I adapt and substitute so much that it doenst look like the orig recipe, at all, when im done with it ...haha!

tam said...

I'm loving stews at the mo, I usually just bung a load of ingredients in and hope for the best which usually turns out ok : )

jenna said...

this stew is perfect for all the cool weather we've been having!! this looks so wholesome and hearty! :)
i hope you have a great week!

Biz said...

If it's soup or stew, I can definitely make adjustments on spice level etc., which is why I don't bake much (except bread) it has to be exact to come out right!

Hope you are having a great week!

The Blonde Duck said...

I always tweak things!

Holly said...

I wish I could could MORE on the fly! I'm still so unsure about how things taste together (like different spice combos).....but I'm getting a LITTLE bit better. :-) That stew looks deeelicious. I'm ready to have my first butternut squash of the season!

Anonymous said...

I only use recipes if I see when that REALLY jumps out at me. Other wise its just some creation based on what I have!

Maria said...

I always make things up as I go, but since I started blogging-I try to write down things as I go so I can post the recipes. Great meal and dessert!

Chef Fresco said...

Mmm love butternut squash! Looks nice and hearty!

Rachael said...

Cook on the fly, all the way. My kitchen is a random assortment of grown, found, fermented and dumpstered foods, and I kind of enjoy the challenge of putting it altogether into something yummy!
Thanks for the butternut stew recipe, however. I've eaten my weight in squash and pumpkin this week, and still have a gazillion more to prepare!

Bridget said...

Who doesnt like beans...esp in chili!? Weird boys :) Luckily for them you can whip up anything in a flash...the b-nut stew looks like it came out great! Mmmm I want one of those sundaes!!! I must try that chocolate syrup next time I'm at TJ's

lynn said...

i'm definitely a cook on the fly kinda gal. that moo sauce looks delicious!

Kitchens said...

Brilliant recipe, basically i also not follow any recipe but i think this is looks my type! This is looks so delicious, now let me try this.

Aggie said...

Wow! I have never used butternut squash like this before. It looks so good and full of veggies and flavor!! What beans do you think would go well with it? I'm not a big fan of the fake meat crumbles (well, I say that, but have never tried them! I'm just weird about faux meat products!)...do you think black beans? I want to make this!

Lindsay said...

I have been reading your blog for a while and I have been noticing that you dont really post about what YOU eat. I mean we see what you husband eats, but I dont really think that alot of people come here for. The only reason that I am saying this is because you do work out all of the time and I would love to see how a VERY ACTIVE person eats!! :)