I’m making spaghetti squash for dinner. So many things can be made with them. Lasagna and Pesto spaghetti to name two. Anytime a recipe calls for noodles, try these instead. They are a bit crunchy and you’ll find they taste wonderful as they take on the flavor of your casserole.

Start by cutting the squash into quarters. It’s actually pretty easy to do.

Scoop the seeds out with a grapefruit spoon.

I cooked this squash about 35 minutes on top of the stove and it always comes out moist, never dry. Make sure to start your 6 qt. dutch oven on medium and turn it down to low to begin the actual cooking process. That’s when you start timing your cooking.

With two forks, pull apart the meat of the squash and it will pull apart looking like noodles.

Make sure to get all the delicious squash right down to the shell.

Just one spaghetti squash makes enough for an very large pan of lasagna. Because it’s so healthy and full of nutrition, one squash feeds many. What will you make with your squash? Replace this with any other pasta in any pasta dish recipe you have! Enjoy!

Now that we are home bound, it’s a great opportunity to learn to become the best cook or the best baker we can. Our families all need comfort food right now and home is the best place to get it!

Go ahead and try this–eggs are inexpensive and this is a satisfying comfort dish! Your family will thank you for your effort!

Hard boiling eggs is never a fun chore because it boils over and is a stinky job. What if you could hard-cook eggs instead? Well, you can in Lifetime. Here is how:

Start with a paper towel drenched in water. Place eggs in pan in one layer. An 11″ skillet will hold about a dozen and a half eggs.

Cook on medium heat until pan “puffs” some steam and turn burner down to low and time 14 minutes.

Remove eggs and place immediately in cold ice water. The paper towel will remove very easily from bottom of pan.

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Now start to put together the roux for the white sauce. What is roux, you say? The easiest way to make a white sauce for this meal and alot of others. Melt 1/4 stick of butter on medium in a small pan. Add 1/8 C white flour and stir until it becomes a ball of doughy looking yellow. Add 2 C milk and stir constantly until it thickens the way you want it.

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I’ve just separated the yolks –which I grated– from the whites of the egg, put them in separate dishes and then added the whites into the smooth roux.

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Now butter your toast (or not).

Spoon the beautiful white sauce over your toast.

Sprinkle the finely grated yolk over the white sauce

And for the finishing touch, sprinkle some paprika on top.

Delicious!

I’ve been asked recently how to cook a ham and in which pan to do it in. An average size ham can go into one of your Lifetime dutch ovens, a 6 qt. or 8 qt. should work well. Preheat the pan on medium with the lid on and when water dances in it, place your ham in the pan and cover. Wait until it browns a bit and turn your burner down to low.

A ham at the store is always precooked so you are basically only heating it up. Give it about 45 min. to an hour on low and it should be delicious! Y- Your ham will be tender if cooked this way.

For those of you who would like to use the turkey (oven) roaster, you can place the ham without preheating in the roaster and cook it in a preheated 350 degree oven for an hour or so. Again, you are heating your already cooked ham.

I first had squash like this at our son’s house in Florida. He’s a terrific cook and always makes us interesting meals. Our daughter in Massachusettes sent me most of these pictures after visiting us and going home and making it for her family. According to her husband, it gets a “Thumbs Up!” This recipe is an A+! Thank you for the pictures!

I love stuffed green peppers and bought two beautiful perfect green peppers at a roadside stand.  This is how I made dinner last night:

First, using a steamer and pan with water in it, steam the ground beef.  It will be tender and devoid of grease which will drip into the water.  I used grass fed hamburger meat I bought at Aldi’s.

  Add minced onion.  I used a Vadalia.

Add fresh basil.  I grew this myself in my herb garden.

 Boil your rice.  I bring to a rolling boil, time it 90 seconds, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.  I used brown rice.  You can either make your own sauce or use any spaghetti sauce you have on hand.

I used 3 cloves of minced garlic.

Add some tomato paste and fill the can with water again and add that to your mixture.

Now, stuff the peppers, adding the remaining hamburger mixture to the bottom of the pan, cover and cook for 1/2 hour or more.  Start your burner on medium and turn down to low after the lid is hot and starting to puff.  Cook for 1/2 hour.

I don’t bother to precook the peppers.  I just core them and rinse them well.

Enjoy, I love these peppers!

Good time visiting with customers.  On a ride to meet some new friends!