Butternut Squash Mac n Cheeze

Continuing with the trying to get Elinor to eat healthier, I found a recipe for butternut squash mac n cheeze. I know she loves mac n cheeze so I gave it a try.

Elinor gobbled her whole bowl up! We added peas to ours and I gave her a small bowl of them on the side. I got her to eat one little pea too!

Here is the recipe from Oh She Glows...

Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze (Vegan with Gluten-free & Nut-Free options)

Husband approved. Cook approved. Vegan approved. Omnivore approved. ‘Nough said.

Yield: 4 servings or 1.5 cups of cheeze sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 fresh butternut squash* (peeled and chopped) OR 1 cup canned butternut squash OR canned pumpkin
• Extra virgin olive oil, S & P
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacer)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened & unflavoured almond milk (revised from 1 cup)
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
• 6 tbsp nutritional yeast, or more to taste
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4-3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2-1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2-1 tsp kosher salt (to taste) & ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 servings brown rice macaroni (8oz or half a 16oz package) makes 3 1/4 cup cooked
• Mix-ins of choice (e.g., kale, spinach, broccoli, peas, pumpkin seeds, etc)

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a casserole dish with tin foil. Mix chopped squash with EVOO, S & P. Roast for about 40 minutes, uncovered, or until tender.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the cheeze sauce in a pot on the stove top. Add Earth balance over low-medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together milk and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch or flour) until clumps are gone. Add into pot and whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast, Dijon, garlic, lemon, S & P) and whisk over low heat until thickened (about 5-7 minutes or so).

3. Cook your pasta according to package directions. The sauce makes enough to cover 4 servings of pasta.

4. In a blender, blend the sauce with 1 cup of roasted squash (or if using canned, simply stir 1 cup into the pot).

5. Add cooked, drained, and rinsed macaroni into pot, along with cheeze sauce & mix-ins. Heat and serve.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/10/03/butternut-squash-mac-n-cheeze/#ixzz2fIOOTzoz

I use lime juice instead of lemon and regular yellow mustard instead of dijon. I also added more than a cup of the roasted butternut squash.

I hope to find a few more recipes to try out. Any suggestions?


 

How I got my daughter to eat broccoli

When we first started baby led weaning, Elinor would eat everything! She is now a toddler and only want what she wants. I offer her the same veggies and fruits as always but she just pushes them aside. She eats like a terrible vegan. Pastas, pb&j, crackers, fake cheese...I have to bribe her to take one bit of anything healthy. She even goes back and forth on eating apples and strawberries which are her favorite. I can always get her to drink a smoothie full of fruits and veggies as a back up.

The other day we made our own ramen for lunch. Packed with veggies. She ate the noodles only. We had checked out this really cute book called mealtime. In the book it says "just try one bite" and for some reason that's her favorite part of the book. She always repeats "one bite!". I asked her to try a tiny tiny bite of the broccoli...just one bite. She finally tried it and asked for more right away!

I gave her the rest of that one and started making more with what was in the ramen. She ate 5 big pieces! I couldn't believe it. Maybe the key is to sprinkle nutritional yeast on everything.

Nutritional yeast, soy sauce, vegetable broth and broccoli. I just threw a little bit of each in the pan and cooked it for a few minutes.