Don't hide the veggies...put 'em on a pedestal!!

I have never understood people who have to "hide" vegetables in favorite recipes in order to get their kids to eat their veggies. At our house, we take everyday, family-favorite recipes and adapt them to include more vegetables. And the kids embrace it with open arms.

Tonight, we made spaghetti with meat sauce. How is this healthy, you ask? Since this is "Substitution Tuesday", we used whole wheat pasta (cooked in my famous garlic and herb water) and...wait for it...roasted butternut squash in the sauce.

It was AMAZING!! The kids danced, the choir sang, all was right with the world. OK, I may be embellishing a bit, but it was quite tasty. Here's the recipe. *Indicates a kid-friendly step.

Spaghetti with Butternut Squash Meat Sauce

Ingredients Needed:

1 Butternut Squash, small to medium in size
1 Package of Whole Wheat Pasta
28 oz. Can of Tomato Sauce (my favorite brand is Dei Fratelli because it is all natural and I can pronounce all of the ingredients on the label!)
1 lb. Ground Beef (97% lean)
1 tbls. Each of Dried Basil, Parsley, Chives and Red Onion
2 tbls. Minced Garlic (I buy mine pre-minced in a jar. It's a HUGE time saver.)
1 tbls. Salt

Instructions:

1. First things first, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut the butternut squash in half, *scoop out the seeds and *place in an oven-safe dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper (illustration above). Roast in the oven until fork-tender (approximately 30-45 minutes).
3. Start the water to cook your pasta.
4. *Combine all dried herbs and salt in a small bowl. Set aside 2 tbls. of the mixture for the sauce.
5. *To the water, add the remaining herb mixture (illustration above) and garlic to the water. Bring to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente. (Adding herbs and garlic to the water infuses flavor in the pasta without adding fat!)
6. Meanwhile on the stove top, brown the ground beef.
7. *Add the remaining herb mixture and can of tomato sauce.
8. By this time, the butternut squash should be perfectly fork-tender. Remove it from the oven (be careful kids, it's HOT!), scoop it into a mixing bowl and *mash with a fork.
9. *Mix the mashed squash into the sauce.
10. *Plate your pasta and top with a big scoop of sauce and ENJOY! (I added a few strips of parmigiano reggiano for aesthetic appeal. But that is, of course, optional.)