It’s quite an accomplishment for me, but I actually wrote down a recipe. When I bake I document my recipes, but most of the dinners I make are on the fly. I look at what we have and put it together. Or I get an idea in my head and buy ingredients at the store and make it up as I go. Not good for trying to be a food blogger.

So this Halloween I made a conscious effort to record how I made the same two chilis I’ve served for the last several Halloweens, turkey and black bean, and butternut squash and spinach. I used Trader Joe’s butternut squash from a bag and black beans from a can.

Here is the butternut squash recipe and I’ll post the turkey recipe tomorrow. It’s very easy and people love it.

Easy Butternut Squash Chili

½ large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 can Trader Joe’s Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chilis

24 ounces butternut squash in cubes

12 ounces spinach

3 cans black beans

Saute the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once the onions are soft add the tomatoes and butternut squash. Cook until butternut squash is slightly soft. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add beans and cook together for at least an hour. I usually transfer to a slow cooker for at least 4 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you like more spice, add ½ teaspoon chili powder. Serve on its own or with shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

One food they will eat is pizza. But of course, it can’t be regular pizza with sauce and cheese. My boys used to eat broccoli and meatballs and salsa, now they just want peanut butter and jelly and pizza with no sauce.

Lucky for us Fresh Brothers pizza invited us to a grand opening party on Tuesday at the newest location in Calabasas.

The grand opening was set up like the Fresh Brothers birthday party. Each child had a personal size pizza box to decorate and then they made their own pizza. My kids were able to make exactly what they wanted. They went for dry pizza with cheese and pineapple. It was actually better than a birthday party because my boys ate all of the pizza they made and they were very happy about it.

And I was happy because I had the perfect dinner to bring home. Tuesday was my 8-year wedding anniversary and my husband and I had no plans for the evening (and no babysitter and no time because my husband worked late and no energy because we’re tired). I bought him a gluten-free pizza and he loved it. It was such a treat. It’s not easy to find gluten-free pizza and Fresh Brother’s is very delicious. The crust has good flavor and texture and the sauce is good, which is key.

The gluten-free pizza isn’t just for adult size pizzas. GF is available for children’s birthday parties as well. Kids also get a tshirt as part of the package, which my older son wore the rest of that day. It was a fun afternoon and even though my kids continue to be picky eaters, it was nice that they ate all of their dinner without complaining.

Full Disclosure: For the past 6 months, I have been making gluten-free cookies and brownies for Fresh Brothers Pizza. I decided to shut down the wholesale portion of Yvonne’s Gluten-Free Goodies 2 weeks ago and I no longer work with them. But we still love the pizza! I was not compensated for this post.

Last week it was in the 80s and 90s and now it’s dark and stormy. On one of the 85 degree days I went on a field trip to the Lombardi Ranch pumpkin patch with my son’s school. It was hot like summertime. Regardless, I couldn’t stand waiting for Fall any longer and the next day I made Butternut Squash Soup in Pumpkin Bowls from Food Network Magazine.

I hollowed out and cooked 2 sugar pumpkins while I made butternut squash soup. I filled the pumpkins with the soup and topped them with toasted and crumbled gluten-free bread. It was delightful and inexpensive and easy. The recipe called for bacon and pepitas as a garnish, but I didn’t have it. It didn’t matter, it was still good.

After we ate the soup I cleaned out the inside of the pumpkins, peeled them and pureed the leftovers. I froze it for a rainy day, which turned out to be yesterday and made 3 loaves of gluten-free pumpkin bread. Here is the recipe for a single loaf.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread

1 cup gluten-free flour mix*

½ cup brown rice

1 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

1 tsp guar gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 cup pumpkin puree

½ cup canola oil

2 beaten eggs

Where: Anytown, USA

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