Butternut Squash Risotto

We have this problem that whenever Karen tastes someone else's butternut squash dish, she loves it. But when I make it, it's always too bland. But I keep trying. When we were in Lewes, Andrea made butternut squash risotto and Karen loved it. When I got a butternut squash from the CSA, I thought we should give it a try.

I found this recipe. I takes about an hour to make but I got home at a good time yesterday and Karen was planning to come home late, so it worked out okay. It would have worked even better if Doris hadn't had a pee accident in the middle of it.

Doris likes to try new foods while I'm cooking and last night she was really enjoying raw butternut squash. She doesn't like cook with me anymore because she's scared of the blue fire. I'm not sure what happened, but one day she just stopped and said she was scared. I hope she starts again soon because I really enjoyed that time.

I altered the recipe by using Apple Cider instead of wine because it's fall and I have a huge jug of apple cider in the fridge. And we are out of parmesan cheese so I used cheddar. The aborro rice I have had in our pantry for years so it was nice to finally use it up. And I forgot to add the chives which I actually did buy. The dish tasted great and Karen actually said she liked it, so finally, a butternut squash recipe that she likes. It makes a lot, so we are having leftovers tonight. Maybe I'll add the chives tonight.

I made fried veggies to go with it. The inspiration was the green tomato that I had, but I added eggplant and zucchini. I dipped each in egg and then bread crumbs and then fried it. The zucchini and eggplant tasted great but the tomato was soggy. I think the trick with tomatoes is to only cook for a few seconds and maybe to cut thick slices. But as a first effort at fried veggies, pretty good.

I also made Quorn veggie nuggets. All in all it was a heavy meal. When I make the leftovers tonight, just a simple salad or sauteed veggies will probably be in order.

Broth: $3
Butter: 20 cents
Onion: 75 cents
CSA veggies: $2
Rice: 75 cents*
Apple cider: 50 cents
Cheese: $1.50
Bread crumbs: 75 cents
Eggs: 75 cents
Veggie nuggets: $4

Total: $14.50 ($4.83 per person)

*Does the rice even count if I've had it for years?

Another big one. But it has leftovers, so another cheap meal tomorrow. I think it will work out okay.