I’m not sure what possessed me, but I got a wild hair and decided to serve butternut squash soup and great northern beans for supper one day in November.  What spurned me, was that I had a butternut squash from  our organic produce basket and beans from a math lesson.

Personally, I thought it was awesome.  The review of the kids and Mark was not so much in favor of it.  I felt so bad, that we ordered pizza for them.  They all tried it and just could not choke it down (Zoe and Ceili Rain both gagged on the soup).

I do believe I’ll make it again though (if only to torture the kids) but as a side dish and not a full meal.

I used the Quick Butternut Squash Soup recipe from food.com (which was Recipezaar when last I shared a Cooking Challenge).

There should be more Cooking Challenges coming because we are getting our baskets more frequently.  So stay tuned!!!

Sure, eggplant is pretty to look at but how do you cook it?  The only other time I had ever cooked with eggplant, I tried my hand at eggplant parmesan…let’s just say it was less than perfect!  Mark and I both gagged on it and had to go out to eat that night.  For some reason, the eggplant tasted bitter.  So, I steered completely away from the parmesan.

Looking through Recipezaar, it was a toss up between Moussaka (from Kittencalskitchen) or Ratatouille.  If the movie Ratatouille, wasn’t based on an illegititmate child (and praises him for being so), then I would have made that and had a family film night.  However, it is (and I’ve got some other issues with the film…but not a need to discuss on my cooking post)…and so I decided to try my hand at Moussaka. 

A Facebook friend had made moussaka the previous week, so I got her recipe from All Recipes.  After comparing the two and reading several comments, I decided to go with the Recipezaar moussaka. 

A moussaka is basically a meat casserole and it was delicious!  The kids even enjoyed it.  Combined with some friends and Greek style green beans from All Recipes…and there were zero leftovers…which made Mark sad he couldn’t have it for lunch the next day.  The reviews were that it was awesome and the beans were amazing.  (By the way, the beans were super easy to do)

I pretty much followed the directions…although because time was running short, I did not let the eggplant get completely browned…but they were nice and soft and good.  Even though I didn’t let the eggplant “sweat,”  it still took awhile to make.  So, plan ahead (or make the meat sauce separately and freeze it…I’m sure you could freeze/make ahead some other parts of it too). One of the comments mentioned it was too salty.   I was careful about the amount of salt I used and halved it for the cheese sauce…which is called bechamel (such a cool, fancy word to say).    With simple adjustments, it tasted just right.

I know what you’re thinking…let’s just sing it out before I tell you about what I made.  “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man….something something something…’cuz I eats me spinach, I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.”

All better, now?  Let’s get started shall we.  I actually had two bundles of spinach and this recipe only used one.  The recipe I used was Secretly Delicious Spinach Pie by Rose’s Granddaughter.  To say it was super easy to throw together is an understatement.  I served it as a side dish to a supper meal last week…but, I think it would be perfect for a brunch (if you do brunch) or a breakfast dish.  Yes, I said to eat spinach for breakfast.  Popeye did it and look at his musccles.

A couple of things:
1.  I didn’t have the large tortillas and so I used what I had which was three smaller ones…it worked just as well.
2.  I used the refrigerated minced garlic instead of a roasted garlic…about a teaspoon.
3.  When the chef/author says don’t let the egg spill over the tortilla…she’s not lying…it’s not pretty and it makes the crust really hard to cut.  Really hard to cut.

I have no idea why I took a picture of it unbaked but not one of it fully baked…but it still looks yummy.

Oh, and the suggestion to serve it with salsa…thumbs up!  It was incredible!  Very yummy and the kids suffered through the bites.  Zoe seemed to like it and Ace didn’t gag when he tried it.  He took a big bite but declared halfway through the chewing process that he didn’t like the spinach part…just the egg.

Now, what to do with the rest of the spinach.  I think I’m going to try Spinach and Strawberry Salad.  Can you say, “Yummmy!”