Chicken Pasta with Butternut Squash Sauce

One thing we grow in our garden each year is butternut squash. I think it is one of the best squashes ( and most versatile ) out there.

We eat a lot of squash, sometimes we just bake it or roast it. I will also make squash pie, muffins, and so much more. I think we have found a favorite way to eat it, we turn in into a sauce for pasta, and it is delicious! Even my husband loves it, and he does not like squash.

The process is actually pretty simple. You cook your squash, scrape it all out of the shell, and run it through the food processor. After you have your squash ready, dump it all in a bowl, and get your favorite spaghetti sauce out. We personally use the organic marinara sauce from Aldis. Dump one full jar of sauce into your processor, and add the same amount of processed squash. Process those two until they are well blended. That is it for the sauce. I usually do large batches that way I can freeze some of it for later use.




I start cooking my noodles while I cook my chicken. We usually use bow tie pasta, but you can use any type of pasta you like.

Cut up a full chicken breast into bite sized pieces.  Drizzle your chicken with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin. Fully cook, toss it with your pasta, and add your sauce.



Enjoy!

January Meal Plan

Welcome 2018! With the start of the new year, I decided to start meal planning again. Things were a little crazy last year, and it was just one thing that I kept not sticking to, so I stopped. With the new year starting, I decided to go ahead and start again.

January 2018

1/1 - 1/7
Monday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Beef burgers, home made fries, and veggies
Dinner - Chicken pasta with squash sauce

Tuesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Pancakes and fruit
Dinner - Meatloaf, potatoes, and veggies

Wednesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Spaghetti and veggies
Dinner - Egg casserole and fruit

Thursday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Sandwiches and veggies/dip
Dinner - Omelettes and fruit

Friday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Skillet lasagna and veggies

Saturday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Chicken fingers, carrots, and strawberries
Dinner - Pancakes, eggs, and fruit

Sunday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Dinner - Cheesy hash brown casserole and veggies

1/8 - 1/14
Monday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Sandwiches and veggies/dip
Dinner - Spaghetti and veggies

Tuesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Eggs, toast, and fruit
Dinner - Chili

Wednesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Sandwiches and fruit
Dinner - Breakfast burritos and fruit

Thursday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Ravoli and veggies
Dinner - Shredded roast sandwiches and veggies

Friday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Chicken sandwiches and veggies

Saturday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Hot dogs, cottage cheese, and veggies
Dinner - Spaghetti and salad

Sunday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Hot ham and cheese sandwiches, and veggies
Dinner - Chicken tacos, rice, and beans

1/15 - 1/21
Monday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Broccoli tortellini alfredo
Dinner - Cheese burger chowder and salad

Tuesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Sandwiches and veggies/dip
Dinner - Roasted turkey and veggies

Wednesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Turkey noodle soup
Dinner - Turkey and noodles over mashed potatoes

Thursday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Eggs, toast, and fruit
Dinner - Turkey pot pie

Friday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Shredded BBQ pork sandwiches, creamed corn, and salad

Saturday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Cheese quesadillas or BBQ pork cheese quesadillas, and salad
Dinner - Chicken taquitos, rice and bean

Sunday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Cheese quesadillas, rice and, beans
Dinner - Sausage, beans, and potatoes

1/22 - 1/28
Monday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Spaghetti and salad
Dinner - Chicken breast, cheesy potatoes, and veggies

Tuesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Eggs, toast and fruit
Dinner - Meatball subs and salad

Wednesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - French toast and fruit
Dinner - Shredded roast beef sandwiches, home made fries, and veggies

Thursday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Home made mac and cheese and veggies
Dinner - Ham. potatoes, and veggies

Friday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Cheesy garlic potatoes ( with added ham ), and veggies

Saturday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Ham salad, or ham sandwiches and veggies/dip
Dinner - Ham and potato chowder

Sunday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Pizza
Dinner - Chicken tacos, beans, and rice

1/29 - 1/31
Monday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Eggs, toast, and fruit
Dinner - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and veggies

Tuesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Hot dogs, cottage cheese, and veggies/dip
Dinner - Skillet lasagna and salad

Wednesday -
Breakfast - Oatmeal, toast, or yogurt, with fruit
Lunch - Sandwiches, cottage cheese, and veggies/dip
Dinner - Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Survival Skills Class - Fire starting

I would like to start this post by talking a little bit about my son. Alexzander is eleven years old, he is in sixth grade. He has recently gotten really into learning about survival skills, wanting to hunt, fish and the like.

Since we home school, I thought it would be beneficial to him, to make this one of his classes. I have been trying to decide what to do for him, and finally decided to use a collective of information, and just make my own  classes. At this time, I am unsure of how many classes this will run. Most likely it will be several posts over the course of a few months,  as long as he is enjoying the class.

I also plan on posting pictures, and other comments as he does classes. Just to show his progress.

I will be including links to all resources we use, video links, book links, product links, and much more.

Books we have already bought -
https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Explorer-Guide-Justin-Miles/dp/1770856188/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1512445693&sr=8-7&keywords=survival+kids

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Survival-Guide-Kids-Colson/dp/1770856196/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512445693&sr=8-1&keywords=survival+kids


Week 1 lesson plans.

Start off by taking this quiz about how long you would survive in the wild.  Discuss the results.

This week we are going to learn about the importance of being able to start a fire.

The very first thing you should talk about is fire safety.

Secondly, teach your student to make a fire, without the use of matches or a lighter.
( Items needed for this can be mostly found around your yard. You will need a pocket knife for this. )
Practice these skills.

Learn about starting a fire, even when it is wet. You can practice this skill if you want. This is a skill that will be practiced later of for us. We want him to master the art of regular fire starting first.


Make some fire starters. Be sure to try them out!

We are ending each class with a video about true survival stories.
This classes video.