First Graders Families Pasta Veggie Dinner

Day before

• Wash grapes and snap peas, dry and place in serving bowls in refrigerator. If space is lacking, store in Ziploc bags in the fridge
• Make edamame guacamole (I doubled the avocado)
• Cook butternut squash
• Make brownies. When cool, cut desired size and place on serving platter
• Make CMF Basic Salad Dressing
• Cook bacon for Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese, when cool cut up and store in refrigerator
• Make Strawberry Lemonade

Make Bowtie Pasta:

• make marinara sauce (can make the weekend before; I had some in my freezer)
• cook 1 lb ground beef, grass-fed
• cook bowtie in boiling water 10 minutes or until al dente; add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pot so, pasta doesn’t stick together
• drain pasta, place in large pot. Stir in marinara sauce and cooked ground beef
• cover and place in refrigerator

Day of

• Make Creamy Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Bacon, mixing in half the bacon and reserving the remaining half
• Prep salad

thinly slice 1/4 cup of green onions (2 or 3

thinly slice two pears and cut slices in half diagonally, ), drizzle slices with lemon juice

toss green onions and pear slices with 5 oz baby spinach in salad serving bowl

Afternoon of

• Place bowl of grapes and bowl of snap peas where kids will be playing
• Place a small bowl of pitted Kalamata olives and a small bowl of shaved Parmesan cheese to one side to serve with Bowtie Pasta with Meat Sauce

Half hour before serving

• Heat Whole-Wheat Bowtie Pasta with Meat Sauce over medium heat on stove top, carefully stirring periodically to avoid sticking/burning
• Heat Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese in microwave
• While these are warming up, toss the Spinach and Pear Salad with salad dressing and 2 -3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (or any chopped tree nuts). Sprinkle another 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds on top