Harvest Baking & Lots of Food Making!
I love to eat. In turn I love to bake & prepare yummy recipes for my boyfriend and I.
Here are two recipes that can easily be introduced to toddlers or kids of any age, as a way to incorporate vegetables and wholesome ingredients into every day meals. Even better, they are simple and quick!
I stumbled across this recipe for Crock Pot Butternut Squash Apple Sauce 2 weeks ago and we fell in love obsessed.
Top is the finished product. Next is the crock pot full of apples and butternut squash. In the blender is the next tasty item I made with butternut squash.
The recipe follows but here is the link for the original recipe on Oh She Glows with more pictures:
- 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 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2-3/4 tsp kosher salt (or 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, 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.
Notes: 1) The sauce does not cut in half well (the blender has a hard time blending it up), 2) I tried this recipe with canned pumpkin and it was awesome! 3) Cut squash in half and microwaveuntil tender (6ish minutes) – this is quicker than baking in the oven
This is the BEST pasta sauce I’ve made to date! It’s thick and creamy, flavorful, vegan, and nutritious!