Edible
Last night Isaac and I planned to cook dinner together. I went straight to the gym after work and when I arrived home he had done much of the chopping and had even started the process of cooking a “surprise.” The surprise ended up being roasted butternut squash, unpeeled, cut in quarters, and coated with a bit of olive oil. Twas a grand surprise as I love all things butternut squash. Especially fries.
After the squash had cooked a good 40-50 minutes at 400° and the stir-fry was complete we sat down to our lovely meal and an episode of 2.5 Men. As we were eating Isaac asked if it was okay to eat the peel. I said it probably was okay, but that I wasn’t going to eat it as it was too tough. He tried it, liked it, and then made me try it. I tried and I liked it as well. So there you have it, butternut squash peel, once roasted is tender, quite delicious, and very much edible.
If you haven’t tried roasting a butternut and eating the skin I highly recommend it. It makes preparing butternut squash a tiny bit more appealing than they are already because there’s not a ton of peeling and chopping involved. Anyone who’s made butternut squash fries knows what I’m talking about… those babies are a piece of work to chop.
Moving right along to today- I’m feeling a little disconnected. I spent the entire day at a conference for work and missed over 40 emails on my gmail account and 20 emails for work. It’s crazy what happens when you are away from the computer for a day.
I didn’t know what was going to be scheduled for lunch at the trade show so I packed my own.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, banana, green grapes and a Raisin Spice Heart Thrive( for a snack). The show was really slow and it seemed like the day revolved around when the next food break was going to be. Typically the trade shows have a lot of food but most of the time it’s not very healthy fare. However, today’s options weren’t too bad because they offered fruit at breakfast and for a mid-afternoon snack, plus they had a veggie tray with curry dip at the evening reception. I ate quite a bit and mostly because I was bored. 
But at least, they had plenty of fruit and veggies. 
For lunch I went and checked out the options but decided I would rather have my packed lunch over the pasta they were serving.
After standing all day I decided the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym. So now I am home and getting ready to watch a movie with Isaac….
Hope everyone had a marvelous hump day!
- Brittany
P.S. It’s been brought to my attention that gargling salt water doesn’t protect against the flu- sorry for that misinformation. You can never trust a chain email.
Thanks for testing the bnut skin waters! I’ve always wondered about this. And, YES, peeeling and chopping pre-fry making…. no fun… but pretty worth it
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Oh my goodness I am SO thankful to know about the butternut squash. I actually just spent about 15 minutes peeling/chopping one, and thought I was going to shop my finger off several time. Thanks for the tip!
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Hey girl! So sweet that your man had dinner all ready for you when you got home, and a yummy dinner at that
Also wanted to see if you had thought about going to FitBloggin in March next year up in Baltimore? I signed up already and am thinking about just taking the train up so let me know if you would be interested in being travel buds if you decide to go too!
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have you ever tried buttercup squash. is that the same as butternut?
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Brittany Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Hey Lizzy,
Buttercup squash and butternut squash are different varieties of winter squash, although I find the texture and taste are pretty similar. The shape and rind color of buttercup is much different than butternut though- Butternut is beige colored and shaped like a large pear, where as buttercup are part of the Turban squash family (hard shells with turban-like shapes) and are dark green with gray stripes. Here’s a guide to different winter squash varieties: http://whatscookingamerica.net/squash.htm
Hope this helps.
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I just discovered that I love the peel too! It gets nice and sweet when roasted.
Salt water doesn’t prevent the flu but it does speed the healing of a sore throat. (Though my nana swears by apple cider vinegar, and she is 95 so I won’t argue!)
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Brittany Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
My mom always made me gargle salt water when I had a sore throat!
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I had butternut squash skin yesterday actually
Man now I’m craving a PB & J lol
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I have never eaten the skin but I will next time. Thanks for the tip!
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Love your packed lunch–all the essentials, in my book!
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I totally eat the squash skin! Maybe a little out of laziness…but also there’s nutrients in that peel, right?
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There are definitely nutrients in the peel- FIBER!!
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mmmm love butternut squash and the peel, lots of fiber! While gargling with salt water doesn’t prevent the flu, it sure helps me when I have a sore throat and soothes the pain
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I totally haven’t really eaten butternut! I do know the one time we attempted it the skin was REALLY hard to peel so nice to know we can eat it to. Now if only to convince the overgrown kid in the house not to draw a face on it! LOL Everything is turning into a Jack O Lantern around here.
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I know how you feel, if I’m away from my computer for a day I feel like I spend the next day trying to catch up! I still have to buy my first bnut of the season – I love those things!!
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Butternut squash goodness!
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