When you’re eating grain free, you have to get creative when it comes to lunches. My kids can eat a lot, so I’m also always looking for frugal lunch ideas. Our family loves acorn squash with butter and a little bit of honey in it. One day, I came up with this idea for lunch! It is frugal, too! Each squash costs me about $1.50 to $2.25. The apples cost a little less than $1 for the whole recipe. The shallots are cheap–maybe .25 to .50. The butter is about .75 total. It ends up costing between $6.50 and $8 to feed 6 people ($1.08 to $1.33 each). Or, if they’re really hungry, maybe my kids might eat an entire squash all on their own–Then it costs $2.10 to $2.60 per person. Not bad for a filling and nutritious lunch!! Try this recipe and let me know how you like it!

Acorn Squash with Apples

Ingredients:

3 large acorn squash,

halved and seeds removed

1/2 c butter or ghee

1/3 c shallots, finely chopped

2 apples, cored & diced

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the squash on a baking sheet, flesh side down. Bake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the shallots in butter for 5 minutes, or until tender. Add the apples, salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove from heat. Carefully remove the squash from the oven, turn flesh-side up. Fill each squash with some of the apple mixture. Return to oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until squash and apples are tender.

What do you make for lunch??