Fall Cooking with Kids

Since we are just coming off Thanksgiving week, I thought I would share one of my favorite fall recipes, fit for a family affair like that one or just a make ahead and freeze meal to use during the week. My kids love soup, and I have invested in all the necessary tableware to make these meals as mess-free and easy as possible, especially when it is just me home feeding them lunch or dinner and my hands can only move so fast.

This butternut squash soup recipe is incredibly easy because instead of peeling and dicing the impossible to manipulate squash, I just half it, scoop out the seeds and roast it in the oven in a tray with a half inch of water. To make life even easier, I throw an apple into the pan, and half my soup is already done.

Even better, because it is a relatively simple recipe, my kids help with the entire process from scooping the seeds to sauteing the onion (with supervision) to pushing the buttons on the blender. It is very rewarding to watch them engage in this process and I think they recognize the importance of their work when we sit down to the table and enjoy something that they have made for our entire family. Plus, it tastes good and is nut and dairy-free – which makes it incredibly PC to bring to birthday parties, dinner parties and the like.

Please enjoy and give thanks for the beautiful people, and happy and healthy family around your dinner table each night.

Butternut Squash Soup-

Ingredients:

2 Medium Butternut squash (halved and scooped)

1 apple, peeled and diced

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 tbsp of olive oil

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of kosher salt

1/2 cup of chicken/vegetable broth (plus more to thin out soup later on, if needed)

2/3 cup of almond milk

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Half squash(s) and place face down in a roasting pan with an inch of water at the base. Peel and dice apple and add it to the pan. Roast for 1 hour (checking to make sure water does not evaporate).

Meanwhile, peel and dice onion. Saute on medium heat in olive oil until soft, about 10 minutes.

When onion has cooled, place in a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Scoop out squash when cooled, and add it to the blender along with the apple. Blend until smooth.

Return mixture to pot and heat. Add additional broth to achieve desired thick/thinness of the soup.

Put bibs on your kids, and make sure your chairs are either easy to wipe clean or use a towel as a liner!