Stuffed Acorn Squash

Another Taste of Home goodie. I made this once with ground beef since I didn't have any sausage. It was still good, but not as good as the sausage. Luke eats the cranberries and the meat, and then Nick eats the stuffing pieces and the squash so it works out pretty well.

The squash is cooked in the microwave which is so easy! And very fast. It looks gourmet and time consuming but it couldn't be easier. My acorn squashes were 2lbs each, but I still ended up with extra stuffing. I also never made this with the spinach called for.

Ingredients

• 2 medium acorn squash
• 1 pound bulk spicy pork sausage
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach, finely chopped
• 1-1/2 cups soft bread torn into stuffing sized pieces
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions

• Cut squash in half; remove and discard seeds. Place squash cut side down in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 10-12 minutes or until tender.
• Meanwhile, crumble sausage into a large skillet; add onion. Cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. In a large bowl, beat egg and milk; stir in the spinach, bread crumbs, cranberries and sausage mixture.
• Turn squash cut side up. Stuff with sausage mixture. Cover and microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. Yield: 4 servings.

Italian Pork Chops

I love AllRecipes ingredient search. I had sausage in the fridge and lots of pork chops in the freezer. I plugged in my ingredients and out came this little beauty. Andy said it gets 9 1/2 stars. He kindly clarified that only pepperoni pizza can get 10 stars.

• 4 thick cut pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 1 onion, slivered
• 1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, brown well in olive oil. Remove chops from pan and set aside. Pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon pan drippings.
3. Remove casing from sausage and crumble meat into same pan. Mix in onions and mushrooms. Cook, stirring until onions and sausage brown slightly. Mix in garlic. Place pork chops in casserole dish, spooning sausage mixture over them. Pour tomato sauce over the meat. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.