Happy New Year and Stuffed Acorn Squash!

Happy New Year everyone!  So how many of you have a resolution to get healthy and lose weight?  Well, my resolution is to try and help YOU keep that promise to yourself!  When your healthy and eating right, everything else around you is better.  When your happy, you have a better outlook on the world and look at it in a different light.  Not that I wasn't happy before eating paleo, but feeling better about yourself helps you love others and in turn makes you happier.  Making goals and accomplishing them also makes you feel great!  My Comp team coach for CFCM, Ryan Carbone, has a great blog and yesterday posted an article about how to set smart, attinable goals and keeping them.  Its a great read.  You should read it and then write down your goals – http://cfcm.blog.com/2013/01/02/goal-setting-in-the-new-year/

With that being said, are they any request for any recipes?  I do have my on going list of things I have made and want to post.  Some may need perfecting, some need a picture and some – I need to remember when I found the original recipe!  There really are so many awesome sites out there with delicious recipes.  I strive to be one of them! So if you would like to see something, let me know!  I will see what I can do!

Now, for a recipe – its a version of Paleo Stuffed Acorn squash.  The original recipe I found was on Fast Paleo and I just made a few tweaks.

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Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

• 2 acorn squash
• 1 lb sausage (save yourself and get nitrate free!!)
• 2 ribs of celery rib
• 1/2 red onion
•  2-3 Garlic Cloves 
• 2 apples, chopped
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• A few sprinkles of dried rosemary
• A few sprinkles of dried Thyme
• A splash  of apple cider vinegar
• coconut oil
• salt and pepper to taste

1. To get started, preheat oven to 400.  
2. These squash have seeds like a pumpkin so they will need to be cut in half (length wise) and clean the seeds.  
3. Heat some coconut oil and brush some on the 2 halves and then season with salt, pepper and thyme.  Cook for about a hour, or until you see a little browning.
4. While that’s cooking, you can make the stuffing!  In a pan, put some coconut oil and brown the sausage. 
5. Once the sausage is cooked, remove it from the pan and put it in a bowl to cool.  
6. Add the diced onions, celery, garlic into the fat from the sausage and add a splash of apple cider vinegar.  Sauté until softened and add the apples and sauté for a few more minutes. When this is done, add to the same bowl the meat is cooling in.
7. So now we need to mix.  You want to make sure the meat and veggies are cooled because the best way to mix is with your hands!  Add egg and almond meal. Sprinkle in rosemary and thyme and mix well.  
8. After squash is done remove from oven and divide the mixed stuffing in the halves evenly.  Bake for 20-25 minutes and dinner is served!!  

It will be VERY HOT when coming out of the oven, be sure to let it cool!  

Enjoy.

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