I admit it. I am a touch homesick. I have begun my countdown to Thanksgiving and I know I am not the only one counting.

This is a great way to use one pan to make a full, healthy meal of turkey and autumn vegetables, which will also make your kitchen smell a lot more like home. If I could bottle the smells from roasting everything, I would sell it. It is that good.

Servings: 4

4 boneless, skinless turkey breasts

2 medium zucchinis

½ a large white onion

1 small butternut squash

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 380 degrees.

When I went shopping for the vegetables for this dish, I had a lot of trouble. I walked past the zucchinis about five times. I also could not tell a butternut squash from spaghetti squash. They all looked the same to me so I bought a package of pre-cut butternut squash. I do not think the price difference was that great, but I did google squashes later to find out that all the ones in the bin were really spaghetti. Thank goodness I used the clearly labeled package of butternut.

Now that the vegetables have been chopped up, throw it all into your baking pan. Pour the oil and spices on top of everything and toss it together. Rinse the turkey breasts and pat them dry before putting them on top of the vegetables. You could totally use chicken instead, by the way.

I just used salt and pepper on the turkey and ran them through the seasoned vegetables so they could pick up the spice too. I’m a pretty aggressive seasoner.

Bake everything together for about 40 minutes. If your turkey was like mine, you may need to pull it out before the vegetables have completely roasted. Just put the turkey on a plate and cover it with foil. If you don’t have foil, like me, cover it with another plate.

You have just made a near-Thanksgiving dinner for yourself and made your kitchen smell irresistible.

Note: I am aware that seasonings and spices are expensive. As a college kid, my staples are salt, pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon and Italian seasoning. Italian seasoning is so great because usually it is a mix of oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme, basil and marjoram. You don’t have to buy all those individual shakers if you have Italian seasoning.