Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese with a sleep deprived toddler

So my toddler woke up this morning well before 5 am, somehow opened the window and screamed out "MAMMA!" and then "dried" their poopy butt on the chair in their room all before I was able to come get them. So today was a run out the clock till naptime kind of day.

So I started this around 8:30 am and it was ready for them about an hour later give or take. I kinda have time blindness and I'm not always great at knowing how long things take. But hey, my toddler ate half of it in their crazy-autistic-over-tired-chaos-gremlin-demon-toddler-king state of mind. So I'll call that a win.

Side note here: Trader Joe's sells pre-peeled and diced butternut squash. So you can also just throw those on a pan with some oil and salt and stick them in an oven or air fryer till soft and squishy enough to puree.

Also.. If you want to add pureed butternut squash to boxed mac n cheese, you could totally do that too.

Ingredients:

One Butternut squash

a swish of oil

salt to taste

1.5 cups dry pasta (Whatever you want to use is great)

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup milk of choice (something mild and less tasty-ish here like cow or oat is what I prefer but it's your fancy)

1 cup cheese (cheddar is really the best but whatever is your fancy. Have fun)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.

3. Swig a bit of olive oil and spritz a bit of salt on the inside of the squash and place flesh side down.

4. Place the butternut squash in the oven for about 40 minutes or until you stick a fork in the thickest part of the butternut squash and it goes in easily.

5. Take the butternut squash out of the oven and set a pot on the stove with water to boil for the noodles.

6. While the butternut squash is still hot, take two forks and slowly peel the skin off then place the flesh of the squash in a food processer.

7. Remove all but 1 cup of the butternut squash puree from the food processer. Add in the butter, cheese, and milk and puree the sauce.

8. Once the noodles are all done, drain and add the sauce to the noodles.

It was at this point, my toddler took said noodles and ate them on the stairs. As of writing this out, they are still asleep. Praise be.