Built in Sauce

I love making dinner easy, but I don't love just popping a ready made meal into the oven every night. 

Once and awhile those dinners are a fantastic time saver, but if there are way too many preservatives and far too much salt to eat them every night. 

Plus, I always find that I want at least two of the so-called "servings", which doubles up my calories too. So I just try and stay away from that kind of easy meal if possible. 

Instead, I like to find easy meals with a small number of ingredients that mostly come from the produce section and the meat section of my grocery store. 

Here's a simple side dish that you can throw together in a few minutes to bake along side a piece of pork. It couldn't take longer than a frozen meal to cook (unless you use tend to use the microwave), it's cheaper to buy, it's healthier (even with the sugar I've thrown in for a treat), and it's got a built in sauce. 

Who could say no to that?

Simple Acorn Squash (with a built in sauce)

1 acorn squash, cut into quarters with seeds removed
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 pinch of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Divide butter and brown sugar between quarters of squash, being careful to get everything only in the squash. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until squash is tender when pricked with a fork.

4. Serve with pork and let the brown sugar and butter mixture spread all over your plate to soaked into both the squash and the pork.

The hardest part is not to spill the melted butter and brown sugar mixture when moving the squash from the baking dish to your plate.

And I think you're all up for the challenge. Right?