Back in the saddle

One of my biggest fears about adding Claire to our family was how I was going to manage to get everyone where they needed to be early in the morning with a newborn who would be keeping me up at night. But when Paul went back to work last week and the boys went back to school after the Thanksgiving break, everything just fell back into place. In fact, some mornings I was even showered and put together by 7:36, the time at which we must leave to take Sam to school. It's not like I was sleeping in anyway, since the new addition likes to fight sleep most of the early morning hours. In fact, she's not too fond of sleeping at all unless she's being held tight, jiggled, her hands held, and/or pacified. Try cooking dinner over a hot stove/oven with a newborn strapped to your chest in a Snugli, bouncing or swaying her, and holding her hand, all without burning her. Now that's some serious multitasking. But, I digress.
It felt so good to get back into a our old routine, atleast in the morning. And it felt even better when, this week, I sat down, planned out some dinners, actually got groceries back into our house, and went back to cooking dinners. I was so ambitious that I even tried out a new recipe this week, and a risky one at that. Not only was the main ingredient one which I had never actually eaten before (acorn squash), but the entire dish was without meat. Any time that I try a new recipe that I fear the spouse will reject, I find it best to keep it a secret until it's too late, at which point he's so hungry, he'll eat whatever is placed before him. Much to my delight, I think we both equally enjoyed this new recipe and I, for one, can't wait to eat it again! I served it along with my favorite salad, and we found it to be quite a filling meal.

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Mushrooms and Rice   
recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

2 acorn squash (1 pound each), halved crosswise, seeded, and bottoms trimmed to lie flat, if necessary
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 pound cremini or button mushrooms, trimmed and diced small
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, season cut sides of squash with salt and pepper, drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, and turn cut sides down. Cover sheet tightly with foil and roast until tender, about 35 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium straight-sided skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add mushrooms, onion, and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms are golden, 8 minutes. Add rice and broth and bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until liquid is absorbed, 20 minutes.
3. Remove squash from oven and heat broiler. Carefully scoop out 2 to 3 tablespoons flesh from each squash half and stir into rice; season with salt and pepper. Divide rice mixture among squash halves, sprinkle with Parmesan, and broil until melted, 2 minutes.