In November, lean meats such as chicken breasts are a Foods of the Month. Now that the school year is back in full swing and the holidays are quickly approaching, this is the time of year where convenient, fast dinners are crucial for families.
Butternut squash (an October Foods of the Month) can be used to make pastas creamy and delicious without the extra fat or cholesterol from typical cream-based pasta sauces. Butternut squash is naturally low in fat and has more than a day’s worth of Vitamin A, an important antioxidant. (more…)
Apples are an October Foods of the Month! Now is the perfect time to take advantage of all the different types of apples at your local grocery store. Have you ever tried homemade applesauce? This recipe creates a delicious applesauce that tastes like apple pie filling. Eat it for breakfast on a whole wheat English muffin, or top off a cup of low-fat vanilla ice cream with this creation for a tasty dessert. Either way, this is sure to be a huge hit!
Fall Applesauce
Ingredients
5 fuji apples, peeled and cut into 1-2 in. pieces
1/3 cup water
The juice from one lemon
1 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. brown sugar
Cinnamon, to taste
Directions
Last week, we featured a sweet way to eat apples and winter squash together (the two October Foods of the Month). This week, we bring you a savory version of this combination to make for a weeknight meal. Roasting apples and winter squash with olive oil, salt and pepper, and sage makes this dish a comfort meal that is great for a chilly fall evening. Not only is this meal tasty, but all the colors make it nutritious!
Apples and Butternut Squash with Pan Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups butternut squash, chopped into 1 in. cubes
1 1/2 cups cooking apples, such as Macintosh, Granny Smith, Golden or Rome, chopped into 1 in. cubes
4 chicken thighs, skin removed
1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Makes 4 servings
Did you know that there is a vegetable that when cooked, resembles spaghetti? Not surprisingly this Winter Squash, an October Foods of the Month, is actually called Spaghetti Squash! Once cooked, this tasty vegetable can be shredded into what look like spaghetti noodles. This can be especially fun for the kids to see you prepare or you can even trick them and use the squash as actual spaghetti noodles!
