Butternut Squash Casserole

THINGS I DO AHEAD OF TIME

1. Cut in half, bake, deseed & mash 1 large or 2 small butternut squash (I generally do this on the weekend when I am baking other things)

2. I generally make a variation of this Green Bean Casserole recipe earlier in the week when I plan to make the squash dish later in the week….

http://tinyurl.com/y9jta44

I modify the above linked recipe for health & speed by

 -  skip topping (I just use some Trader Joes fried Onions which are trans fat free), or don’t top it at all

 -  For the beans: I just steam them for a couple of minutes

 -  For sauce: less salt, low sodium/fat broth, use less half & half and replace the rest with skim milk or white wine, ONLY USE ½-2/3 of the SAUCE once you make it IN THE DISH SAVE THE REMAINDER of the SAUCE for the Butternut Squash Casserole recipe below

Butternut Squash Casserole

Boil a pot of water & toss in a box of Whole Grain pasta (any shape)

To the mashed squash add:

garlic, nutmeg, Italian seasonings, pepper to taste

In a bowl, add Ricotta cheese (I use low fat & generally use about half as much Ricotta as squash, but that’s a preference thing)

Add the sauce left from the bean casserole you made a few days ago : )

Add some broth or white wine or skim milk IF needed to make the mixture more the thickness of spaghetti sauce VS mashed potatoes… (just so it doesn’t dry too much when baking)

Add:

Kale (or spinach, but I preferred the Kale)

Drained cooked whole grain noodles

Dried cherries

Diced pack of precooked Chicken Sausage (I like the apple chicken from Trader Joes or Sams Club)

*or to go vegetarian replace the meat with a pack of diced portabella mushrooms

Mix all of the above, put in a dish, top with chopped walnuts & parmesan cheese

Bake at 350 or 400 until heated through

Today I beaded more jewelry as well. I managed to photograph some, but not all of it and posted one. Must get to bed so I can get up early tomorrow, so I will wait to post more items for my Valentines Day series. Here's a sneak peak.