Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Ok, so lets face it....everyone loves mac and cheese! So as a mom you find ways to stuff veggies in just about everything. In this recipe you can stuff a WHOLE (medium size) butternut squash in a batch of mac and cheese, and no one has any ides. I have had made this for veggie hater and they wolf it down! Because the beauty of it is that butternut squash is the same color as cheddar cheese and if you prepare this right, it all blends together in an amazing cheese sauce!

So I start things off with cooking a whole butternut squash, cut in half face down in a glass tray with a small amount of water to go up the side. About 1-1 1/2 cups of water. Cover with a lid or foil and bake 45mins to and hour. Until very soft. Once it is cool, scrap out the meat with a fork and set aside.

I must confess, I am a sucker for cool shaped pasta. I mostly use whole wheat elbows for this dish, but if I find a funky shaped pasta I have to try it. So this week I found these cool noodles at Safeway and they were GREAT in this dish.

Are these just the cutest little things ever?

From $5 Dinner Mom

1 box of noodles
3 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour
2 cups of milk
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt
pepper
garlic powder
meat of a butternut squash

Cook pasta according to package directions.
Drain pasta and set aside.
To make cheese sauce, melt butter in a pan over med heat. When melted whisk in flour and brown for a moment. Then whisk quickly the milk into the the butter flour mixture. Whisk so you dont get big lumps. Once that is smooth, add in the cheese and mix in a figure 8 motion, until cheese in all melted. Mix in your scraped, mashed butternut squash. Then season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Toss with pasta and eat HOT!