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Weekend Wrap Up & Something New for Your Family Table Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

 Happy Monday friends! We are riding high after a big win from our Buffalo Bills last night! It was a great way to end the weekend. Sharing a few bits from the weekend, including a great new Fall recipe I made yesterday. 

Let's get to it! On Friday, Ella was off to the Cross Country State Championship for the last time. Unfortunately she injured her leg in her last race, so was not able to race but was there to support her team. As a senior and captain, she wanted to get her team a little something to celebrate the special weekend. 

We got them all matching Pajama pants from Old Navy. We tied them with a ribbon,  a little liquid IV packet, and she wrote a personal note to each girl. Such a cute little gift if you’re doing an exchange with teen girls or your girlfriends!




Saturday I had a great walk catching up with a friend. We have been spoiled with really good Fall weather this year. I think we are on our track to see the latest snowfall here in Buffalo. We usually have had at least one snowfall by now. Ill take this snow-free Fall!


I spent Saturday running all of the errands. And I think everyone else did too. The shopping centers and the roads were so busy! Definitely feeling like the holiday season. I wore this new fleece that is total \Free People dupe at a fraction of the price. It is so cozy and cute for running around. I got in the black-and-white, but it comes in several other colors.


All that shopping had me in the holiday spirit and I began to decorate the inside of the house for Christmas.


Sunday was a low key day of working out, laundry, and getting some stuff ready for dinners for the week. The Bills were playing in the later game, so I made a Game Day dinner of barbecued pulled pork, coleslaw, and this butternut squash mac & cheese. I was looking for a mac and cheese recipe that was a little bit healthier. This would be a great addition to a Fall or Thanksgiving dinner. 

This is not a weeknight meal, as it takes a couple of extra steps. I followed this recipe, making a couple of changes as I went along. 


You cook and puree the squash to add to the cheese sauce. 



The recipe called for a couple of different cheeses to be blended together. While I was grocery shopping, I saw this bag and just went with this blend.


The recipe called for skim milk and I used almond milk. Now the sauce didn’t thicken as much as I think a traditional mac & cheese sauce thickens. Not sure if that’s just this recipe or if it’s because I used almond milk. Either way, I thought the taste & texture of the finished product was great. 


I added about an extra 1/2 cup of cheese over what the recipe called for. 


The recipe called for 10oz of pasta, but I did a full package which was 16oz. I also only used about 3/4 of the sauce. Just seemed like there was too much sauce for the amount of pasta. I topped it with a bread crumb topping and it was ready to go in the oven! 

It turned out nice and golden and had really great flavor. You could taste a hint  of squash, but it was very mild. A great Fall dish! I think you could add a few cups of broccoli to this dish too and it would be great.


Wishing you a great week! See you back here later in the week, there is always room for one more at our family table.

Xoxo

Genevieve  

p.s. I get commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post. Thank you for supporting my blog. 


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