Menu
Appetizers
Bowl of purple grapes
Bowl of snap peas
Blue corn tortilla chips
Dinner
Whole-Wheat Bowtie Pasta with Marinara Meat Sauce
Served with Kalamata olives and shaved Parmesan on the side for people to customize
Creamy Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
I skipped the kale this time and added bacon instead
Spinach and Pear Salad with Pumpkin Seeds
Dessert
Beverages
Large pitcher of water with orange slices
Strawberry Lemonade
(place 1 cup frozen strawberries in blender, fill halfway with lemonade and blend until strawberries are completely pureed. Repeat until you have desired amount of strawberry lemonade
BYOB (beer and wine)
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
[su_shopping_list_start]
Produce
Purple grapes
Pear
Snap peas
Avocado
Lime
Butternut squash 1 large
Zucchini
Spinach
Kale (optional) for mac and cheese
Garlic
Green onions
Yellow onions 2
Pumpkin seeds
Refrigerated
Bacon
Butter
Plain Greek yogurt (1/4 cup)
Milk
Grated sharp cheddar cheese
Shaved Parmesan cheese (optional)
Kalamata olives
Pantry
2 28-oz cans diced tomato
16 oz whole-wheat bow tie pasta
16 oz whole-wheat elbow pasta
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chicken broth
[su_shopping_list_end]