Such an easy and healthy dinner tonight!
I love it when those two things go hand-in-hand!
On Saturday, I peeled and sliced up a butternut squash, thinking I would use it in a recipe I clipped out for our Friendsgiving feast, but we ended up having so much food that the butternut squash went unused.
Fortunately all that slicing and dicing paid off when I went to use the squash today and didn’t have to do any prep work!
I tossed the butternut squash cubes in a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and dried rosemary before roasting them at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.
While the squash was in the oven, I sautéed several apple chicken sausage links on the stove top before slicing them up and adding them to my bowl of squash.
Moley Walk
After dinner, Ryan and I took Sadie on a walk around the neighborhood and chatted with one of our neighbors about a mole problem that is plaguing many of the surrounding houses.
Side note: I had no idea what a mole actually looked like until I did a Google image search! Their hands totally creep me out, but their little snouts are kind of cute!
Anyway, moles are currently digging up the lawns of many houses in our neighborhood, including ours. The moles don’t really bother me as long as they don’t find a way inside like our previous unwelcome guests. (I shudder just thinking about that old apartment.)
As I was looking for pictures of moles, I read a few random facts about them that I found oddly interesting and I figured some of you out there might be amused by these little informational nuggets as well:
- Moles tunnel under lawns at speeds of 10 to 14 feet per hour.
- Mole tunnels produce little volcano mounds on top of the lawn while tunnels produced by voles remain unseen.
- Moles are insectivores, not rodents, and are related to shrews and bats, not mice.
- Moles eat 70 – 100 percent of their bodyweight each day.
And that concludes a totally random blog post.
Holy Moley!
P.S. Anyone else think of Austin Powers whenever they hear the word “mole?”
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Moles are so strange, but cute at the same time! I’ve never seen one up close before.
And yes, Austin Powers does often come to mind! 😉
If I ever found a mole in my house, I would shit my pants and promptly die.
LOL. awesome comment.
hahahahhahahhahaha this made me laugh out loud!
Healthy AND easy.. there is no better combination! 🙂
And that is totally insane about the Mole facts! Which I could eat 70% of my body fat each day!
Haha I think they’re a little cute too. And I wish I could eat 70% of my body weight each day! Although I’m not working hard to dig like crazy all day either!
We used to have moles in our yard when I was growing up. They make pretty big sized holes in the ground. The only way to get rid of them, sadly, was to smoke them out using these dynamite-looking things. Pretty sad, but they do a TON of damage to your yard! (P.S. great observation about the creepy hands…they almost look fake)
I have to say your pics kinda grossed me out 🙂 And I totally think of that movie EVERY time I hear the word mole. I even said it (in my head) when I saw the first mole!
i know. i can’t decide if they’re nasty or cute… or a bit of both.
The grossed mole of all is the “star nosed mole” i learned about it in a class today. Ick.
I wish I could eat 70-100% of my body weight everyday!
you and me both!
We have more voles around here than moles that my cat loves to find and play with. Weirdly enough she doesn’t kill them, just plays with them. I think she’d rather catch a squirrel, but that’s a long way off for her scaredy-cat self.
Ewww that Austin Powers movie was so gross! Eeek, haha gives me shivers thinking about it.
Hope they don’t make it into your house! But they look sooooo adorable……aww 🙂
Those hands ARE creepy.
The word mole actually makes me think of this before Austin Powers:
http://youtu.be/Vnuf9-zgdyw
It might lose something in translation but was quintessential Australian comedy in the 80s!
YES! Guaca-MOLEY!
P.S. Where do you find the chicken sausage? I can’t find them anywhere. I live in Illinois (St. Louis area) so obviously our stores are different. Just wasn’t sure if you went to a butcher or just your average grocery store.
OMG they eat their body weight, that is insane. My parents have one currently rummaging around in their yard and they can’t seem to get rid of the little bugger.
I have such mixed feelings about that picture! It’s kind of cute, but kind of not?
When I think “mole”, I instantly think of the little guy from Once Upon A Forest. Oh, childhood 🙂
put juicy fruit gum in their holes. that’s what we used to do to get rid of moles/gophers when I was younger.
they are so creepy looking
Moles are the weirdest creatures ever! And yes, I can’t think of moles without saying “guacamole” 🙂
I had NO idea that’s what a mole looked like and those fingers might haunt my dreams tonight! I would probably run for the hills if I ran into one of those in the backyard!
Now I can’t get the mole from Austin Powers out of my head!
A (gross) but sure way to rid the yard of moles is to place dog poop down in the hole. Use a small garden shovel to move the dirt off the top of the hole and place the doggie treat down in the hole. A neighbor saw our mole infested yard and told us this trick. Moles must love FL because that’s where I am too.
Ground moles attacked our lawn this year. I was not happy. I yelled at them a lot (although I never actually saw them…) My hubby kept equating it to that commercial where the guy says, “Woodchuck. Stop chucking my wood!”
I found something that semi-worked – but the first thing is to get rid of the grubs underground, because that’s what their eating. Yuck.
And now let’s all do the Austin Power dance at the beginning of the first movie 🙂
“I just want to cut it off, chop it off and make quaca-MOLE.” Haha, my dad and I think of Austin Powers everytime we hear mole too.
Uh yeah, freaky fingers!
omg. “mole” totally makes me think of austin powers!!! LOL!
the mole pics are kinda freaky looking…especially the…nails?
I just think of high school chemistry class when I hear anything about moles. Of course, I don’t even remember how moles relate to chemistry … but I remember that we did a whole project that involving making fuzzy moles with fake fur. Ah, memories.
Me too!!!!! I was gonna write about that but then I thought I would sound crazy!
Girl, don’t even worry. I work in a biochem research lab an d in a given day I think we use the word “moles” or a derivative of it at least a hundred times. so it’s the first thing that comes to mind for me too. science geeks ftw!
In my high school chemistry class we had to made a “pet mole” and decorate it with a theme for extra credit. I think I made a “Mole Man” – dressed up like a mail man. 🙂 Oh, memories.
Eeek that mole is totally freaky, but 1000% better than mice!
your dinner looks super! sometimes the simplest dinners are the best 😀
that dinner looks absolutely delicious! so simple but so good. i want to find out a way to make that in my college dorm room..but not sure if its going to be possible….
butternut squash is my absolute favorite food these days! nothing better during fall.
Aww, yeah, creepy hands but their faces are cute. 🙂
Aww theyre actually are pretty cute!! I wonder why there are so many moles in your neighborhood!
I haven’t tried it, but I’ve heard that if you put dirty kitty litter in the holes, the varmints will go away.
mmmmolaymolaymolaymolay! MOLEEE
hahah
I’ve never seen a mole before…I totally don’t even know how to feel about them! I love your dinner though…chicken sausage is one of my favorites and pairing it with squash is perfect for fall 🙂
Great idea on the meal…ps..out in the sticks where I grew up we had moles on occasion as well. But they sell steal traps…they are like daggers, its spring loaded..and when the moles set off the trap…the dagers slam into the ground and..peace out Mr. mole..worked everytime…I know it sounds harsh but its the best thing on the market in mole removal
Thanks for the chuckle while I’m on the road! I immediately had the whole “Austin Powers” scene playing in my head.
“Moooooooooole. MOLE! Moley moley moley moley.”
For the life of me, I can no longer say the word “mole” without morphing into a complete dork and it’s all thanks to that blasted movie.
LMAO.
HA! Glad I’m not alone. 🙂 “I want to slice it up and make some guacaMOLE!”
I think of the movie G-Force when I hear the word Mole haha! That movie was just too cute! I’ve never heard of Moles in Texas though…Actually I’ve never heard anyone actually talk about them before lol. Crazy stuff!
My favorite chicken sausage is Trader Joe’s sweet apple. Have tried most of the other flavors and that one is the tasties.
Ha! I laughed out loud when I read your description of the mole pic.
Their claws are totally weird but their little snouts are kinda cute!! I’ve never seen or heard of mole problems.
hahaha i love austin powers!! Mole…moley moley moley moley..i wanna cut it up and chop it up and make some guacaMOLE!!!!!!!!!!!
Ewwww I think moles are nasty. Yuck!
Cool dinner!
Bhahaha! Yes, I totally think of AP:Goldmember when I hear reference to a mole. And it was just on TV last week!
We also have moles – and likely field mice, too – burrowing in our neighborhood and our yard. The worst for me is when I accidentally drive a shoe heel or a peep-toe into the soft soil and get my shoes or feet dirty. Other than those occasional bummers, their noses are very precious : )
Hard to get rid of if your neighbors have them too. I have always heard that they are after grubs, and that if you treat for and get rid of the grubs, the moles go away.
I have never seen a mole upclose until this post! Too funny!
moley moley moley! 😉
That moles claw things freak me out. I can’t even look at it’s picture.
As freaky as those moles are, something about it is kinda cute!
Guac-a-MOLEY! Moles tend to stay underground…and don’t typically infest houses. I don’t know much about Sadie, but when I was growing up our family dog loved to dig for moles (he’d catch them and play with them/kill them).
Every time you make chicken apple sausage, I always say to myself “I need to try that”.. I NEED TO TRY THAT! I love linguica so I am thinking I may like the sausage!
My boyfriend’s backyard is COVERED with mole volcanoes ..I had no idea what they looked like until now..I always hoped to catch one digging his way up when we’re back there, but no such luck! I just imagined them to look like the mole from Winnie the Pooh! and what in the world is a VOLE?
I think it so funny that you post pictures of things I seem to wonder about ..remember the BABY PIGEONS!? I need to start taking more advantage of this thing they call google. haha 🙂
Hahaha! YES! So many odd little creatures out there!
I heard on the radio about people getting rid of gophers by basically flooding the holes, which makes me so sad! These guys are half cute and half creepy. I have no idea what I would do with one of these in my yard!
Perhaps Sadie wants one as a snack…? 😉
Sadie is the world’s worst hunter. She points and stalks squirrels, but the one time she got close to one, she just stood there and looked at me, waiting for ME to do something. 🙂
Love butternut, but the peeling is not fun. Luckily, its easy to cheat and buy in prepared here since it is such a popular staple.
I think Trader Joe’s also has prepared butternut last time I was there.
Moley Moley Moley hahaha I totally think of Austin Powers! Ok, I’ve never seen a mole before and that just creeps me out. Look at their fingernails? Ew. Great dinner!! Love squash.
First, you put two of my favorite things in a bowl together. Smart lady.
And I found your mole v vole info very interesting. We don’t have either, that I know of, but my in-laws do.
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