Grub It Up: Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta

So, no big surprise, I've been pretty staunch in my resistance to the Green Family's enthusiasm for green smoothies. Mom has decided to take a different approach and occasionally adds to vegetables one of my most favorite things in the world: bacon (turkey bacon to be more exact). She recently made this roasted butternut squash and bacon pasta from Cooking Light, but adapted it slightly to make it more kid-friendly -- she used familiar shell pasta and a more mild cheese (we'll chow whole bricks of goat cheese and blue cheese, but for some reason balk at sharp provolone). I would say vegetables + bacon = much more successful than vegetables - bacon. Plus mom served it with super yummy bread we bought from Union Market.

Here's the deal (slightly adapted from the Cooking Light recipe):

Ingredients:
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1/2 a large squash)
- cooking spray
- 6 turkey bacon slides (raw) {the Cooking Light recipe calls for sweet hickory-smoked bacon, but we rarely eat regular bacon and like turkey just as much, so mom used that}
- 1 cup thinly sliced shallots
- 8 ounces uncooked mini shell pasta {the Cooking Light recipe calls for mini penne, but our fave mac and cheese uses shell pasta so mom thought we'd be more agreeable to that}
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
- 3/4 cup (3 ounces) mozzarella cheese {the Cooking Light recipe uses sharp provolone}
- 1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 425 F

- Combine 1/4 tsp salt, rosemary, and pepper. Place squash on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with salt mixture. Bake at 425 for 45 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Increase oven temperature to 450.

- Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 1/2 tsp of drippings in a pan (not really applicable if you use turkey bacon); crumble bacon. Increase heat to medium-high. Add shallots to pan; saute 8 minutes or until tender. Combine squash mixture, bacon, and shallots; set aside.

- Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well.

- Combine flour and 1/2 tsp salt in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add mozzarella (or provolone), stirring until cheese melts. Add pasta to cheese mixture, tossing well to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 X 7-inch baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray; top with squash mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.  

1.  

Grub It Up: Green Quiche

OK, so technically this is not named green quiche. It's a yummy dish mom found on preventionrd.com (thanks to mom's friend for suggesting the site!) that is really a goat cheese, spinach and tomato quiche. BUT, in mom's new effort to get us to eat green vegetables, she's declared it green quiche and explained to us that it was the exact same yummy greenness that's in our green smoothies. Kane was still not convinced.

Enter mom's other new mealtime effort -- new rules: (1) sometimes you will be served the exact same thing as mom and dad (apparently mom realized she had turned into a short order cook and was not happy about it); (2) you will keep any negative comments to yourself; and (3) you will eat at least two bites of it. Ouch. Kane has tested them and they have held up, so I know she means business. I ate almost all of mine and Kane ate 2.2 bites. That's 2.2 more than he'd normally eat, so we took it. My willingness to try it can mostly likely be linked to my love of taunting Kane, love of green smoothies (see also love of taunting), and obsession with goat cheese (I will pretty much eat anything with goat cheese in it). It was DELISH.

Mom served ours up with turkey bacon (Kane is obsessed with turkey bacon and mom thought that might ease the idea of eating spinach), strawberries, and mini blueberry muffins. Dad and mom had a salad of mixed greens, strawberries, avocado and red onion with a low-fat balsamic vinaigrette (we don't make friends with salad yet -- baby steps).

And if your kids won't eat it for dinner, you might suggest that they'll just see it again for breakfast -- as Kane did this morning. Momma don't play.

Green Quiche (text slightly modified from preventionrd.com's goat cheese, spinach and tomato quiche):

- 1 large Russet potato, sliced into very thin rounds
- 8 large eggs
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 Roma tomato, sliced
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, tightly packed
- 3 oz goat cheese

Preheat your oven to 375.

Spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick spray. Layer the potato rounds on the bottom and sides of the pan in a single layer. With the remaining potato rounds, cover any holes in the potato layer. Bake the potatoes in the oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Add in the seasonings and whisk until well combined. When the potatoes are done, layer the spinach on top of the potatoes and the goat cheese on top of the spinach in small chuncks. Gently pour the egg mixture over the top. Layer the tomatoes on top of the egg mixture. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

If desired, broil the quiche for 1-2 minutes to brown the top slightly (mom skipped this because we freak out at the sight of browned cheese for some reason). Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Yields 8 slices.

In Home Entertainment: Tropical Island Tub

With today's forecasted weather it's hard to believe that we had to take an indoor tropical vacaye earlier this week. But this is a good one to keep in your back pocket for those long cold winter days which are sure to return. We came across this little gem of an idea on Growing a Jeweled Rose who has an unbelievable number of bathtub play ideas.

Almost all of our water table toys are frozen up in ice buckets on our roof deck (unintentionally this time), but mom rescued some of the marine life, tiki glasses, shells, and fabric flowers we used in our tropical water table last summer. We filled the bath up with nice warm water, dropped a few drops of blue food coloring in, added the toys and donned our beach gear. Mom planned on whipping up some of the shaving cream bath paint we love, but we ended up not even needing it.

Hey, it got us to dinner time. Or snack time actually. We stuck with the tropical theme and tried out the almond milk green smoothie we had planned - YUM. Even Kane drank it -- here's what we blended up:

- 1/4 cup spinach
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup strawberries (frozen)
- 1/2 cup blueberries (frozen)
- 1 banana

Blend together spinach and almond milk. Then add in fruit and blend until smooth. We garnished ours with a little dollop of whip cream (it was vacaye after all) and sprinkled a few almonds on top. Delish.

Grub It Up: Kid-friendly Green Smoothies

Perhaps it's just my generally stubborn attitude, but I regularly refuse to eat fruits and vegetables. I'll eat avocados, edamame and frozen blueberries. But that's about it (besides frozen corn and peas, which mom doesn't really count). So mom decided to try a different tack -- green smoothies. She and dad have them regularly, likely because it's less work than making a salad. But it does the trick. Se we've been experimenting with different recipes to find my favorites (these are pretty green for kid-friendly smoothies -- you can make some with yogurt or sweeter ingredients, but I started out trying mom's and liked them, so mom went with it).

Now, Kane generally LOVES anything that's green, including most green vegetables. But, and this is most definitely because of his stubborn attitude, he has refused to even try green smoothies. His refusal, of course, has only bolstered my willingness to try them and mock him ("Oh this is AWEsome. Yummy in my tummy."). But mom will take it -- it may go against popular grain, but we are all for cajoling, bribing and yes even mocking family members into eating fruits and veggies. SO, here are my two favorites and some green smoothie tips. We are going to try some with almond milk this week, so we'll let you know how those go!

This looks like I'm just being cute, but it's really part of me giving it to Kane. 

"Look how much FUN smoothies are, Kaney!"

TIPS:
- go easy on the greens at first -- little tummies can be sensitive to them (as mom can tell you after a few middle of the night bathroom trips from me)
- blend your greens and liquid before adding any fruit
- freeze all fruits -- it makes for a really nice cold smoothie
- just give your kiddos a little bit in a small glass -- an adult-sized serving is a little daunting
- drink them with your kids -- we're more likely to try it if you do!

Avocado Goodness: Makes 1 adult-sized serving (if making for mom or dad, add up to 1/2 cup more of greens -- they can take it)
- 1/2 cup spinach or kale
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1/2 avocado (you can freeze this, too)
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/2 cup frozen mango
- 1/2 cup frozen pineapple

Blend greens with coconut water first. Then add remaining ingredients and blend for 1-2 minutes.

You Put the Lime in the Coconut: Makes 1 adult-sized serving (if making for mom or dad, add up to 1/2 cup more of greens -- they can take it)
- 1/2 cup spinach or kale
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/4 cup frozen mango
- 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
- 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 tbsp lime juice

Blend greens with coconut water first. Then add remaining ingredients and blend for 1-2 minutes.