Time to Breathe!

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is around the corner!! This school year is flying by! Life in the Kobza household has been CRAZY...football, cheer, school, work, tumbling, dance, spelling bees, math olympics, birthday parties, etc. it never ends!! We have been full blast since August with no time to breathe...until now. Football and cheer ended last week (at least until All-Stars in December) and we couldn't be prouder of our kids. Both teams made the play-offs and my daughter's cheer squad did awesome at their Cheer-Off Competition this past weekend. As much fun as it's been coaching and watching our kids, Cale and I are worn out and need some time to breathe. It's time to spend some evenings and weekends at home, time for me to get back to cooking dinners, time to think about the holidays, time to plan our upcoming ski trip, and time to train for the upcoming Half Marathon. We are looking forward to a new kind of busy!
Speaking of meal planning, I had some clients ask me today about some new recipes so I've posted a few here. The Stuffed Squash is an old favorite and I've posted it before but thought I'd do it again as it's always a fall favorite for us. Since life is a little less crazy, I'm hoping to try some new recipes (thank you Pinterest!) and will post the ones that receive a "thumbs up" by my crew.

I do hope all of you are getting some time to breathe too! It's so important especially with the holidays upon us!! Just take a deep breath and EXHALE!

Turkey Cutlets

One package of Turkey Cutlets (sold next to the ground turkey at HEB)
1 egg (use a whisk to whip the egg or use egg whites)
1 cup of flour mixture*
*I use Pamela’s gluten free flour, gluten free bread crumbs, one small package of ranch dip seasoning and Parmesan cheese
Soak each cutlet in the egg and then coat in the flour mixture. Place on a cooling rack sprayed with cooking spray then place the rack on a baking sheet. Bake for approx. 15 minutes (flipping halfway) or until no longer pink.
I’ve also cut the cutlets into nugget size pieces to use for my kids’ lunches.

Stuffed Squash

Serves 6

1 C. brown basmati rice

9 oz. large raw peeled shrimp with tails off (cut into bite-size pieces)

3 small acorn squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

3 oz. spinach (about 5 cups loosely packed), roughly chopped

Olive oil cooking spray

1 tsp. sea salt, divided3/4 tsp. black pepper, divided

2 tsp. dried thyme

1/3 C. whole-wheat bread crumbs

2 tsp. olive oil

Prepare rice according to package direction. When rice is about 3 minutes from being done, stir in shrimp. Continue to cook, covered, until rice is done and shrimp is cooked through. Remove from heat and let stand, covered.While rice is cooking, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Sprinkle inside of squash with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper, dividing evenly. Arrange squash cut-sides-down on prepared baking sheet and roast until easily pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes. Remove squash from oven, leaving oven on a same temp.In a large bowl, combine shrimp-rice mixture, spinach, thyme, remaining salt and pepper. Fill squash halves with mixture, dividing evenly. in a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and oil. Sprinkle bread-crumb mixture over stuffing, dividing evenly. Arrange squash on baking sheet stuffing side-up and bake until stuffing is heated through and browned on top, about 20 minutes.

I actually didn't have shrimp for this recipe so I left it out and it was still wonderful! Or you could sub ground turkey or diced chicken.

This Week's Menu
Monday-Turkey Cutlets and Stuffed Squash
Tuesday-Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa and Steamed Veggies
Wednesday-Southwest Chicken, Rice and Bean Salad with Sweet and Spicy Dressing
Thursday-Breakfast for dinner

More recipes to follow!!!