Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowl

After a wonderful Thanksgiving, I decided not to go grocery shopping for a few days and use up the food and leftovers we have. I also was looking for healthy, non-rich meals after a few days of rich, meat heavy dishes. This came about because I had leftover ingredients from rice bowls that I made and a few local spaghetti squash from our produce box. The presentation of this is wonderful and would make for a great dish for guests. The ingredients include what I had on hand but feel free to substitute.

Wild Rice Pilaf

I made this dish for a Thanksgiving work party and got great feedback. It is really easy and delicious. Rather than straight wild rice, I used the Rice Select Rice Blend. I prefer this because straight wild rice can sometimes be too much for me. This is a good side dish to a fall meal or perfect on Thanksgiving. We ate the leftovers with a roasted vegetable salad.

Pupusas with Salsa Roja & Cabbage Slaw

Ryan and I love to watch Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives as a way to get ideas. On an episode we watched recently, Guy visited a restaurant and they made pupusas. They looked so good I HAD to try them. The result is this recipe. I made a red salsa and a cabbage slaw to go with the pupusas. It was a bit of a learning curve but after the first few I managed to get some good ones. The taste is amazing and although this is not a quick dish, it is worth the effort for sure.

Lemon Chiffon Pie

We don’t make a lot of desserts but when we do, we don’t like to compromise on anything. If you’re going to indulge, spend the time making it worth it. This pie is definitely worth it. It is relatively easy and, besides the crust, is naturally gluten-free.

Ginger Coconut Pumpkin Pie

This was the first time I made a pie crust out of gingersnaps but it didn’t won’t be the last. When I make pies, I usually make a graham cracker crust (with gluten-free graham crackers of course). I wanted to try a slightly different flavor profile for a pumpkin pie for Christmas dessert. The pumpkin flavor really comes out in this pie due to the limited spices added to the filling. The picture below was taken right before the pie went into the oven. To keep this recipe dairy free, use whipped coconut cream or serve the pie as is. 

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

I made this stuffed acorn squash recipe as a side dish with the roast chicken we made for Christmas dinner. The cranberry and pistachio combination makes for a wonderful flavor profile perfect for a winter dish, not to mention it looks pretty enough for dinner guests.

Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

We took a vacation up to Burlington, Vermont over the week and returned on Thanksgiving, just in time to cook our Thanksgiving meal. I made this stuffing recipe the first year I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for us. Ryan’s mom, sister and brother came to eat with us that year and I was a nervous wreck. Everything came out great and the stuffing was declared the best dish. Since then, it has been our tradition to make this recipe for Thanksgiving. Any cornbread recipe will work, however I use the one that can be found in our cookbook.