Slow-Roasted Tomato Marinara...perfect to make on a rainy day inside.

This year was a disappointment for tomatoes. I did better than most people but it still wasn't a great year. I didn't get enough this year to can but still had enough to make some sauce with. I saw this recipe in my November issue of Cooking Light and knew I had to try it. You have to make it on a day you are not leaving the house since you roast the tomatoes for 7 hours but boy is it worth it. What flavor and such a beautiful color the sauce has after roasting the tomatoes all day. Other than the long hours the tomatoes roast this recipe is pretty much hands off and easy to make. Give it a try and you will not be disappointed, I promise!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 lbs plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise (you can really use whatever tomatoes you want)
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup water
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup dry red wine
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, tossing gently to coat. Arrange tomato halves, cut sides up, on a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake tomatoes at 250 degrees for 7 hours. Remove pan from oven. Add 1/3 cup water to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Place tomato mixture in a food processor or blender. Blend and keep warm.
3. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and next 3 ingredients (through garlic); saute 5 minutes or until tender. Add wine; cook 3 minutes or until liquid nearly evaporates. Stir in tomato mixture and 2/3 cup water; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in salt and pepper.
4. Serve with your favorite pasta!

Acorn Squash: A yummy and cheap fall side dish!

We made this special meal a couple of saturdays ago, Brian happened to have a rib-eye steak from this summer he wanted to eat so I went to the store and treated myself to my favorite steak the oh so yummy filet! This post is not about steak though, I'm the last person who would want to tell you how to cook that. Someday I will branch out and try to cook it but it still scares me. Who wants to spend a pretty penny on a good cut of steak only to ruin it...not this girl.

This post focuses on one of the sides, the simple acorn squash. I was at the store and noticed a big bin of them and they were some so cheap! Like 30 cents! So I knew how much my mom loves them so thought I would give it a try. I'm glad I did, it was delicious and very simple. I already have a fall rice dish from a new cooking magazine that I want to try with chunks of squash in it. So if you haven't tried squash before, branch out this fall and give this recipe a try!

Ingredients

• 1 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place halves of acorn in a shallow pan, flesh side up. Put a little water in the pan. Put 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each half and one tablespoon of brown sugar in each.
3. Bake about 45 minutes until fork tender and the brown sugar/butter has started to caramelize.

Brown sugar and mustard glazed salmon

What better gift can someone give a foodie than freshly caught salmon? I was so lucky to receive an awesome slab of salmon from a co-worker last week! I haven't ate such a delicious fish in quite a while! I was spoiled in college to have a bunch of Alaskan fishermen as friends so I took for granted the quality that comes from an ocean caught fish. This was the perfect meal to end a week!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 4 (6 ounce) boneless salmon fillets
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from broiler. Spray broiler pan with cooking spray. (If you don't have a broiler pan, just line a cookie sheet with foil and then spray).
2. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Whisk brown sugar and dijon together in a small bowl. Spoon mixture evenly on fillets.
3. Cook under pre-heated broiler until the fish flakes easy with a fork, 10-15 minutes!

Birthday Chicken Quesadilla

For his birthday I will make Brian whatever he desires for dinner. This is the second year he has chosen his favorite meal, a simple chicken quesadilla. Easy enough for me, he even requested it to be rotisserie chicken from Costco, so that made it one step even easier! This is a simple refried bean, chicken and pepper jack quesadilla. The fun thing about quesadilla is you can really chose whatever ingredients you love and it would turn out great. That would be a fun Mexican themed dinner party, have a build your own quesadilla bar and have a whole bunch of fillings for your dinner guests to chose from!

I did make homemade guacamole and salsa to make this dinner a little more special=).

Salsa- diced fresh tomatoes, diced onion, juice of one lime, a couple cloves of pressed garlic, handful of cilantro chopped. Let sit in fridge for a bit before eating.

Guacamole- 1-2 ripe avocados mashed, juice of one lime, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped onion, 1/2 tomato diced, a couple dashes of garlic salt and a handful of chopped cilantro. (I also make it without the onion and turns out great too).

Double Decker Shepherds Pie

I saw this recipe and thought it looked interesting, because it is a spin on a traditional shepherd's pie which I love so much. I had so many peppers from the garden I needed to use I thought this would be the time to try it out. After I made it Brian was skeptical because he said it had a lot of "carbs". Yep it does, but I am a carb lover=). We both really enjoyed this meal, I did even more so than I imagined. This is a keeper for sure!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs baking potatoes peeled and diced
• 1 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 8 ounce package of mushrooms. Caps quartered and stems chopped
• 1 lb ground turkey meat (or lean ground beef if you prefer)
• 1 bunch scallions, white portion thinly chopped and green portion thinly sliced
• 1 large poblano pepper, or whatever pepper you prefer. ( I used one from the garden, keep seeds if you like heat)

Directions

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425°. In a saucepan, combine the potatoes with salted water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water; return the potatoes to the pot. Mash with the cream until smooth; season with salt.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes; transfer to a plate. Crumble the beef evenly across the pan and cook, undisturbed, until the liquid cooks off and the meat begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and stir in the finely chopped scallions, the poblano, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved mushrooms, 1/4 cup mashed potatoes and the reserved 1 cup cooking water. Lower the heat and simmer until the juices are thickened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread slightly more than half of the potatoes evenly in a greased 9-by-11-inch baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture evenly on top, then spoon the remaining mashed potatoes evenly across the filling to enclose. Bake until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with the sliced scallions; let stand for 10 minutes before serving.