Manic Monday- Acorn Squash Mash Up

     It is Monday, and I am playing catch up.  Mondays are always like that around here, it seems.  I try to take it easy on Sundays, spending time with the kids, relaxing, reading my Bible.  I do not make the kids do their chores on Sundays, either.  So, I am never really surprised that Monday is kind of a crazy day.  I do not mind the crazy so much, but I do end up scrambling to put food on the table.

     Today, for lunch, I took a cast iron skillet of bones  and drippings (from a roasted chicken) I had tossed in the fridge (so I did not waste the bones, but I did not have time to do anything with them at the time) and put a cup of water in it and heated it on the stove.  I poured the flavorful liquid into another cast iron skillet, and cooked some diced up onions on high.  When the onions were cooked, I scooped out the flesh of an acorn squash I had left over in the fridge into the skillet.  I mashed it along with the liquid and onions with a potato masher.  I let it get hot, and stirred it.  It smelled like Thanksgiving Day!  And it tasted like it too.  I had to share the recipe.

     When you are cooking through out the week, it is not a bad idea to cook extra every now and then, so you have some left over for days like Manic Monday.  I cook acorn squash whole, in the oven.  I place five or six in a large roast pan for an hour and a half at 350 degrees.  If I have one left over, I put it in the fridge for just an occasion like today.

     Keeping extras of chopped vegetables can come in handy too.  If you have the time, everything is already dirty form chopping for the meal.  Chop up an extra onion and put it in the fridge.  I have my daughter peel a two pound bag of carrots every day.  Some days we do not eat carrots (though, usually the kids eat them for snacks), but I always have carrots ready to throw into a dish.

     You can never have too many vegetables ready to go.  In the past I have even come home from the store and chopped up every vegetable I have, so it was ready to go in the fridge.  This takes a lot of time, but can save you time when you need it.  Food for thought.

 Acorn Squash Mash Up

Things you need:
medium sized skillet
1 large acorn squash, cooked
half of onion
1 cup chicken broth, or half a cup of chicken drippings from a chicken roast

Directions:
1. Heat broth or chicken drippings in skillet with onion, until onion is tender.
2. Scoop out flesh of acorn squash and mash in skillet with onion and broth.
3. Stir frequently, until hot.
4. Serve.