Getting in shape is not easy for me, it never has been.  I find that I have to be disciplined in everything I eat and my physical activity.  That includes counting calories, with the help of an amazing iphone app, but that’s a whole different post.

Did you notice that as soon as labor day came and went there were pumpkins and different kinds of squash at the grocery store?  I even noticed some halloween candy, but quickly walked right past that section.  I did decide to pick up an acorn squash a few days ago and last night I had some time to cook it.  To me there is nothing more hearty than an acorn squash and a nice salad.  So how do you cook acorn squash you ask?  Well it couldn’t be an more simple.

First you cut up the squash in circular pieces, as I’ve done above.  Make sure you take the seeds out and keep them!  They are just as good as roasted pumpkin seeds.

Then you put the squash on a baking pan.  You can use a half sheet pan, cookie sheet, whatever.  I then sprayed it with pam olive oil cooking spray, remember I’m trying to watch my calories.  I seasoned it with a little bit of Lawry’s 17 seasoning.   You can read more about it in this post.  I didn’t put any salt on it because I’m trying to reduce my salt intake but you can add salt, or any sort of seasoning you see fit.  I’ve had it with cinnamon before, if you want to go a little sweeter.  The joy of cooking in my opinion is that you can make it your own!

The squash came out of a 350 degree oven 30 minutes later and it was beautiful.  I decided to have it with a little salad I put together of lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, shrimp, dried cranberries and Newman’s Own Raspberry Vinaigrette.

While the squash was cooking I washed the seeds with some water and then dried them.  Then I sprayed them with more cooking spray and this time I used salt to season the seeds.  When my salad came out of the oven I put these in and baked them on 350 for 10 minutes.  They were the perfect late night snack!  And not one ounce of that squash went to waste!

Roasted Acorn Squash

Ingredients

1 Acorn Squash

Lawry’s 17 seasoning

Salt & Pepper to taste

Seasonings of your choice

Spray Oil.

Method

1. Wash and dry your squash

2.  Cut in circles

3.  Remove all seeds and scrap out the center of circles.  Save seeds for later use.

4.  Spray with cooking oil and season with 17 seasoning or seasoning of your choice.

5.  Roast in oven 350 degree oven until tender.  Usually about 30 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!

Roasted Acorn Squash Seeds

Ingredients

Seeds from 1 acorn squash

Salt

Cooking Oil

Method

1. Clean seeds in water and dry with paper towel.

2. Spray with cooking oil and season with salt.

3.  Roast in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.