butternut squash sauce

 

Holy guacamole!  Driving the kids to school today, we were listening to the radio when the morning show host stated that Superbowl Sunday is the number one day for avocados – 53.5 MILLION pounds of avocados will be consumed on February 3^rd.  Wow!  After dropping the kids off, I headed to Whole Foods for my weekly grocery trip (two days late, I might add), and the first display after walking in the door to the produce section was a huge table of avocados and all the fixings for homemade guac.  And if you’d rather buy it already made, tubs of that were stacked in ice too.

 

Having no avocados in my house is something that just can’t happen, so I loaded up on two bags this week just in case they run out.  53 million avocados is a lot of avocados needed for the game day festivities!

 

Both of my kids can make their own killer guacamole; in fact, it’s one of their favorite easy snacks to make.  Ben prefers his spicy and adds green chiles and cayenne (he adds cayenne to anything he can), and Kayley likes her super creamy and nutty, so she adds chopped pecans.

 

But avocados aren’t just for guacamole!  Their creamy richness can be substituted for cream in lots of recipes.  I have been wanting to make a butternut squash sauce ever since seeing a macaroni and cheese recipe made with it at a local restaurant.  I think I said before that I crave anything creamy and second to avocados, sweet potatoes and squashes like butternut and acorn are my favorite foods.  But, by the looks of most ready-made butternut squash sauces, they contain a lot of cheese and cream, which I avoid.  Dairy just does not do my body good, so I don’t eat much of it.  I decided to use an avocado in my butternut squash pasta sauce and serve it over spaghetti squash, and I think it turned out pretty darn good.

 

 

I grew up fearing fat, did you?  Don’t fear the fat.  The right kind of fats are healthy and really important for our bodies to function right.  Plus, they’re a great energy source – and a very stable, long lasting one too.  I can tell you that I am a much more pleasant person to be around now that I am a fat burner instead of a carb junkie.

 

 

About 85% of the calories in an avocado, or about 20% of the actual fruit (yes, it’s technically a fruit) is fat.  It’s a good, healthy, anti-inflammatory kind of fat that is mostly monounsaturated – the same kind of fat as olive oil.  The fat in avocados helps to lower cholesterol and triglycerides, so it’s good for your heart.  Avocados have lots of other vitamins and minerals too.  In fact, an avocado has the same amount of potassium as three bananas!  So scoop up the guacamole on Sunday!  For a sweet twist, try my sweet potato guacamole.