Moroccan Food Acorn Squash Fall Recipe

This Acorn Squash Recipe with Moroccan Spice give your taste buds a kick. 

Angie shares her favorite spicy recipe. Moroccan Food Rocks. After you use your squash for a fun, Fall Thanksgiving Craft, make this recipe in the kitchen with your kids 

Angie's Recipes at Kids Creative Chaos.

"I made this the other night; 
it has just the right mix of sweet and savory. It is delish!"

Moroccan Spiced Acorn Squash Recipe

2 medium acorn squash (I used 3)
11/2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
¾ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp black pepper
2/3 Cup uncooked wild rice blend
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp Moroccan Rub
1 1/3 Cup water
1/3 Cup Golden Raisins
1 Medium red apple such as fuji (I used Jonagold's)
1 can 15oz. Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas) Drained and rinsed
2/3 C. slivered almonds, toasted and divded
1/3 cup snipped fresh chives
Additional snipped chives (optional)

Preheat oven 450.  Cut squash in half crosswise.  Remove and throw away seeds.  Place squash on Medium sheet pan or Large Bar Pan.  Using basting brush, brush squash with ½ tbsp of oil; sprinkle with brown sugar, ½ tsp of salt and pepper.  Bake 32-38 min or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and put on cooling rack.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in 10in skillet over medium heat 1-3 min or until shimmering.  Add rice blend, onion and rub; cook and stir 1-2 min or until onion is tender.  Add water and raisins; cook covered, 12-15 min or until rice is tender, stirring occasionally.

Dice apple, zest lemon to measure 1 tsp.  Add apple, lemon zest, chickpeas, ½ cup almonds, chives and remaining ¼ tsp salt to skillet.  Cook covered, 1-2 min or until heated thru.  Spoon rice mixture evenly into squash halves.  Garnish with remaining 2 tbsp almonds and additional snipped chives, if desired.

Cook's Tip: To form flat base, trim ½ in off top and bottom of the squash.

Recommended Reading:

Kids travel journal: my trip to morocco*

Morocco Recipes* 

Easy Tofu Parmigiana Vegan Recipe with Fire Roasted Tomatoes

Vegan Parmigiana with Tofu Recipe

Here's an easy Vegan Recipe for Tofu Parmigiana with fire roasted tomatoes from Angie's Recipes. Enjoy!

                                   Vegan Tofu Parmigiana.

How to Make Vegan Tofu Parmigiana at Home

Tofu after sliced, excess moisture removed.

What it looked like during the finishing stage. Sorry; I can't show the plated version after it went over the tomatoes, my family dug in immediately before I could get a picture.

Here is what I made for dinner over the weekend at the request of my 9 yr. old daughter. I truly believe, as she flipped through the cookbook and saw this, she thought it was cheese. lol.

Either way, this turned out to be a HUGE hit with the entire family even with my meat loving husband who already had a local pizza place on speed dial as a Plan B back up if he didn't like it. :D

Tofu Parmigiana with Fire Roasted Tomatoes Recipes

I doubled this recipe as the original just made 4 servings.  

1 pkg of extra firm tofu (14oz), drained
3/4 tsp salt divided
1/2 tsp ground black pepper, divided
1 small onion
1 can (14.5 oz) Fire Roasted Tomatoes ( I used chipotle style tomatoes instead)
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1/2 C. Panko bread crumbs (I used italian style bread crumbs because that is what I had on hand)
1tsp Italian seasoning
1 egg
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1/4 C. mozzarella cheese
1/4 C lightly packed fresh basil leaves (I omitted this because the family doesn't care for it)

Extract Moisture from Tofu: Pat tofu dry with paper towels, removing as moisture as possible. Slice tofu horizontally into eight (1/2 inch thick) slices. Season tofu with 1/2 tsp of the salt and 1/4 tsp of the pepper.

Heat Sauce and Coat Tofu:  Finely chop onion.  Combine onion, tomatoes, pressed garlic, remaining salt and pepper in Small Micro-Cooker.  Microwave for 6 min or til heated through. Combine parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and seasoning on a plate, lightly beat egg and put that on a plate, dip each slice of tofu into egg mixture and then into breadcrumbs, coating generously.

Cook Tofu and serve:  Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to 12 in skillet; heat over medium heat 1-3 min or until shimmering. Add 4 slices of tofu to pan and cook 1-2 min or until golden brown. Turn tofu over; top with half of the mozzarella cheese and cook for 1-2 min or until golden brown; remove from pan; repeat with remaining oil, tofu and mozzarella cheese. Thinly slice basil. Serve tofu on top of the sauce and basil sprinkled on tofu.


Recommended Reading:

Vegan Appetizers and Desserts

Easy Recipes

Holiday Recipes and Games for Kids*













ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Easy Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe with Basil and Squash

Try this Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe with Basil and Zucchini

Angie's at it again with this Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe with Basil, Zucchini, and Winter Squash. This is a great way to use up that leftover summer zucchini or make a dish with the flavors of Fall. Enjoy!

              Easy Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe with Basil and Squash.

Vegetarian Squash Lasagna with Fresh Basil

9 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 C of fontina cheese (or any cheese of your choice)
1/4 C of parmesan cheese
2 medium zucchini
2 C. loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 whole nutmeg grated (or 1tsp of ground nutmeg)
3 T of olive oil
1/2 C of all purpose flour
3 C of milk divided
1 1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper
2 pkgs of frozen cooked winter squash, thawed (or 4 C fresh butternut squash cooked and then mashed)
freshly diced tomatoes are optional

Preheat oven to 400.  Cook noodles to package directions, omitting the salt and oil.  Drain and set aside.  Meanwhile combine cheeses and set aside. Slice zucchini on #3 setting using the simple slicer and set aside.  Chop basil and grate nutmeg to equal 1/2t or use 1tsp of ground nutmeg.

Sauce:  Heat oil in 4qt casserole over medium heat 1 minute.  Add flour: whisk until completely incorporated. Gradually add 1 cup of milk, whisking constantly until smooth.  Add remaining milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper, whisking constantly.  Bring mixture to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 3-4 minutes or until thickened, whisking frequently.  Add squash and basil; bring to a simmer. Remove casserole from heat.

Assembly:  Spread 1 cup of sauce over bottom of Rectangle Baking Pan. Top with 3 noodles.  Spread 1 1/4 C of sauce over noodles; top with half of the zucchini and about a 1/4 C of cheese mixture.  Repeat layers one time, starting with noodles.  Top with remaining noodles, sauce and cheese mixture.  Cover pan with foil; bake 25 minutes; carefully remove foil and continue baking uncovered, 15-17 minutes or until cheese begins to brown and center is hot. Remove pan from oven  and let stand uncovered for 20 min. Top with tomatoes, if desired.

Try to make Tofu Parmigiana with Fire Roasted Tomatoes.


Recommended Reading:

Fresh and Fast Vegetarian: Recipes That Make a Meal*

Easy Tofu Parmigiana













ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Fruit Pizza and Chocolate Cookie Perfect Valentine Dessert Recipe

How to Make a Fruit Pizza with Chocolate Recipe

This easy fruit pizza is the perfect dessert recipe for a birthday celebration, Valentine's Day, picnic, or any time! It's an impressive dessert that is simple to prepare and delicious every time. You can customize it by changing what type of bottom cookie crust you use, choosing different fruits, or even using coconut and a white chocolate drizzle for a tropical pizza. This crowd pleaser is sure to be made again and again. Learn how to make a fruit pizza with chocolate cookie crust.  Enjoy!

Easy Fruit Pizza Recipe

18 oz refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough (you can use any type you like to customize!)
2 squares(1 oz each) white baking chocolate
2 T of milk
1 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/4 C of powdered sugar
1 C thawed whipped topping
12-16 Strawberries, sliced
1 can of Mandarin Orange Segments drained
2 TB - 1/4 C semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 t - 1t vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350.

Using a lightly floured roller, roll the dough into a 12 in circle on Round Stone or spread dough out on Bar pan or Cookie Sheet of your choice to a 1/4 in thickness. Bake 12-15 min. or until edges are set (cookie will be soft...don't over bake). Remove from oven and let cool for 10 min., then gently loosen cookie from pan using a spatula and let cool completely on pan.

Place white chocolate in a small bowl and microwave on high for 1 min., stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, microwave an additional 10-20 seconds if necessary. Combine Cream Cheese and powdered sugar in the Classic Batter Bowl mix well. Then, gradually add the white chocolate mixture to the cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth. Then, gently fold in the whipped topping. Spread over top of cookie.

Arrange Strawberries and Mandarin Oranges over top of cream cheese mixture. Melt Chocolate chips with the vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds or until mixture is melted and smooth. Drizzle over the top and refrigerate for at least 30 min. Then slice and enjoy!





Recommended Reading:

Edible Party Bouquets*

Game for Family Reunion










ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Sneaky Healthy Sloppy Joe Recipe

Healthy Recipe for Sloppy Joe

No one was home, so I had a chance to get crafty and healthy with my cooking. I love when that happens. So, what's in the fridge? My best Sloppy Joe Recipe. Beware, it's sneaky. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Sloppy Joe eats Sneaky Sloppy Joes (Clip Art).

Persimmon Recipes, Wine, Patience, and History: How to Make it!

Persimmons? You Need a Recipe for Persimmon Wine. 

Every year, the Persimmon Tree looks dead or dormant. If you blink, you'll miss the beautiful blooms.Bountiful, orange-salmon fruits appear beckoning, but don't take the bait too soon.The pucker power is shocking causing the mouth to pucker and the tongue to tingle. Looking for Persimmon Recipes? What can you do with Persimmons? Here are things to make at home with Persimmons. Enjoy!



Indiana Persimmons: Persimmon Recipes.

It is said that harvest can be made after the first frost. One might want to wait for a frost or two to allow the fruit to ripen to a passionate, purply-orange. Keep an eye on the fruit. Don't pick them all at once, just like people, persimmons mature at various ages. Harvesting the perfect persimmon is an art. Rotten persimmons are not pleasant. One year, I picked a cupful at a time and froze them until I had enough for a batch.

Persimmon Jam.

Indiana Persimmon Pudding.

Persimmon Pie.

A batch of what? That is the perplexing problem with persimmons. A lot goes a little way. Perhaps a simple pudding, chutney, or jam for one. Maybe you'd like a cobbler or a pie?

The internet is abundant with recipes and instructions for picking and preparing the perfect persimmon. All Recipes has an amazing selection of persimmon recipes. My advice stir up a big helping of patience before starting. Removing the seed is a chore.

Native Americans made many predictions based on the persimmon tree. Once you've removed a seed cut it open to predict the weather. If you see a fork inside expect a mild winter.   

When all is said an done expect to end up with a putrid appearing unpalatable mess. Now, you are ready to prepare a persimmon recipe.

Click the link "The Patient Persimmon" above for everything you never wanted to know about Persimmons.

This year, I am thinking of trying this recipe. At least after all of the work, I can relax with a nice glass of wine in a year or two. After the tedious collecting and preparing of 3 lbs. of persimmon pulp, it might take more than one glass of wine to restore sanity.

PERSIMMON WINE

3 lbs ripe persimmons

2 1/2 lbs finely granulated sugar

1 tbl sp acid blend

1/2 tsp pectic enzyme

7 pts water

1 crushed Campden tablet

1/2 tsp yeast nutrient

1 packet Montrachet, Pasteur Red or Champagne yeast

Make Persimmon Wine at home.

Wash the persimmons, cut into quarters and mash the seeds out with your hands. Mash the pulp well, put into primary, and add half the sugar, the acid blend, yeast nutrient and crushed Campden tablet. Add water to total one gallon. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover, and set aside. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme and recover. After another 12 hours, add yeast. Ferment 5-7 days, stirring daily. Strain through nylon sieve. Do not be concerned if a lot of fine pulp gets through; it will precipitate out. Add remaining sugar, stir very well, then transfer to secondary while leaving about three inches headroom. Fit air lock and set aside. Rack every 30 days until wine clears and no additional lees are laid down (4-6 months). Stabilize only if you feel the need to sweeten the wine before bottling. This wine should age in the bottle a year.

[Adapted recipe from Dorothy Alatorre's Home Wines of North America]

Recommended Reading:


Grandma Mary's Persimmon Compendium: My Grandmother's Persimmon Recipes *

Bringing Wine Home: Book Two *

Make Cinnamon Doughnuts at Home