Monday, January 5, 2015

Butternut squash Mac and Cheese

I made Butternut squash Mac and Cheese a few weeks ago and I thought it turned out great! The only drawback was it took a bit longer and Leela went to bed later than I wanted her to.
I used the recipe in my good ol' Betty Crocker Cookbook as a guide and expanded it/added to it.

I peeled and seeded a fairly large butternut squash, cut up half in ~2" chunks, and covered the chunks in about 2" of water and cooked/boiled until tender.
I used a whole box (1 lb) of swirly pasta, can't for the life of me remember it's name now.
I cooked that in boiling water per the instructions.
I made 2 cups of the thin white sauce, per Betty Crocker (in a saucepan make a roux with 2T flour, 2 T butter, salt and pepper gradually whisk in 2 c milk and bring to a slight boil, and remove from heat).
When the squash was done, I pureed the squash in the blender and added the white sauce as needed for liquid.
When the pasta was cooked and drained I combined the squash mix with pasta some butter and probably about 8 oz of cheddar cheese, grated on low until everything was melted and mixed together well - yum!

The butternut squash made it really creamy.

Apparently I like making this and make this at least once a year - here and here (though using pumpkin), each time has been a little different.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Coconut Red Lentil Curry

I made this Coconut Red Lentil Curry last month. I thought it turned out pretty good. Ebon seemed to like it well enough.

Peanut Sauce

I used this Peanut Sauce recipe in an stir fry a few months ago.
I wasn't excited about it, I felt like it was missing something.

Pumpkin Muffins

I made some Pumpkin Muffins in preparation for our trip to Nebraska over Christmas. These turned out so great. I was a little wary about all the spices, but they tasted great!
My modifications were to use about 2 cups of pumpkin, I forgot the buttermilk, and skipped the pumpkin seeds because I didn't have them. I think I also used all white whole wheat flour instead of the two flours in the recipe.
They were so moist and didn't fall apart or become really crumbly. I would give them 5 stars for traveling. Leela loved them. I froze the muffins I didn't use and they have been great quick breakfast items for Leela and I.

Kale and (Soy) Chorizo Soup

I made this soup the other night. I thought it turned out pretty good. I followed the recipe pretty closely except for using Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo. It was a little spicy for Leela, but she ate a little bit of it.