Before August brought the seemingly endless heat, I planted some butternut squash. It started out so well – it grew  by leaps and bounds every day, started blossoming, and gave promise of much delicious winter squash. Then the heat got the best of it. In spite of my watering, my butternut was just no match for 105-110 degree days. (I guess squash isn’t a desert plant!) I had three small butternut squashes from one plant before they all shriveled up, like just about everything else in the garden.

All but one, that is. A few weeks ago, seemingly from nowhere, I had one last plant that got a second wind and started to grow again. I was unsure whether it would be strong enough to set any fruit, but yesterday, when I went out to water, I noticed two blossoms on it. So I’m hopeful that we’ll get a few more butternut squash from my garden before the season is over.

These three small squash were used in this hash for breakfast yesterday morning. Along with some zucchini, a bit of onion, and some spices, this was a hearty, wake-up-your-tastebuds change from the usual morning fare. I topped mine with some perfectly fried eggs.

This week is back-to-reality time for us, as we go back to work after taking a week off and traveling. I started to get prepared by boiling some eggs for our lunches, and hoped to make some more granola bars (recipe will be in my book!) for my husband. However, my usual marathon Sunday cooking was short-circuited by some air conditioning issues we started having. The oven was turned off (along with just about every light in the house) when the house started heating up. We had it working for a while, but I already deviated from the meal plan, swapping meatloaf (Sunday’s planned meal) for a cooler, simpler option planned for Monday night – grilled chicken with salad. Here’s to hoping the A/C is in full working order later this week so I can still use the oven. Meatloaf will have to wait until this next weekend – good thing I have room in the freezer for the meat!

Monday:

Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs, leftover asparagus, carrots, and spaghetti squash

Morning snack: pear

Lunch: garden salad topped with grilled chicken breast with a homemade honey mustard dressing

Dinner: leftover curried chicken wings, mashed potatoes, green beans (A/C guy is coming this afternoon, so this may be very up in the air!)

Tuesday:

Breakfast: leftover chicken breast, spinach-blueberry-banana smoothie

Lunch: leftover curried chicken wings, carrots, spinach, pear

Dinner: chicken piccata, spaghetti squash, broccoli

Wednesday:

Breakfast: eggs, spinach-peach smoothie

Lunch: leftover chicken piccata, spaghetti squash, broccoli

Dinner: pumpkin shepherd’s pie (if this is successful, I’ll share the recipe!), braised cabbage

Thursday:

Breakfast: eggs, braised cabbage

Lunch: leftover pumpkin shepherd’s pie, tangelo

Dinner: roasted whole chicken, zucchini and sun-dried tomato casserole, mashed sweet potatoes

Friday:

Breakfast: leftover chicken and sweet potatoes

Lunch: leftover zucchini casserole, eggs

Dinner: out – it’s Brandan’s 15th birthday, so we’ll be celebrating!

…and now, for the curried squash hash.

Curried Squash Hash, inspired by Everyday Paleo

1 T coconut oil

1 1/2 c diced butternut squash

1/2 c diced zucchini

1/4 c diced red onion

2 t Madras curry powder

1/2 t cinnamon

A couple pinches of salt

Heat a large, heavy skillet to medium-high heat. Add coconut oil and allow to melt, swirling around the pan to coat. Toss butternut squash, zucchini, onion, curry powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add to skillet and saute, allowing to cook undisturbed for a minute or two at a time before stirring, so that the pieces of squash get browned and crisp. When squash is tender, remove from heat and adjust seasoning as needed. This should take about 6-8 minutes.

Enjoy unadorned, or toss in crumbled, cooked bacon, and top with fried or poached eggs.

Hope you have a great week!

 This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays over at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free and was shared at Gluten-Free Detroit Metro for GF Menu Swap.