Are you tired of my pumpkin recipes yet? Well I have another, but this one is savory, not a dessert. This is a good way to get the veggies into your little ones (and maybe your husband) without them knowing. It also cuts down on the calories and fat. Turns a pretty unhealthy recipe into one that you don't feel bad about giving your kids or eating yourself.

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

2 cups dried whole wheat macaroni
2 T butter (I use the smart balance sticks)
3 T whole wheat flour (can use white)
2 cups organic skim milk
1 t dry mustard
2 t (sugar, agave nectar, raw sugar-whatever you prefer or have on hand)
1 dash grated nutmeg
2 cups cheddar shredded
1 cup pumpkin
kosher salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil your macaroni as usual, drain and set aside
2. Melt your butter in the pan, add in flour and stir until all of the flour is mixed in with the butter
3. Pour in milk and whisk until all lumps are gone. This will need to heat until almost boiling for the mixture to thicken
4. Once thick, turn down heat and continue to stir as you add in the dry mustard, nutmeg, cheese, salt/pepper, and sweetener
5. Now add in your pureed pumpkin and the macaroni
6. Heat until warm and serve.

This recipe is pretty good. It does have a slight pumpkin flavor to it. I served it to Sam for supper last night and he ate it up, just like that is how he had always had it. This is important to remember when you taste it because it is not exactly like the fattening regular mac and cheese we are all used to. If you are not a fan of pumpkin a slightly milder flavor to use could be butternut squash or maybe even carrot puree (I haven't tried to carrot). This makes a lot of mac & cheese so there will be enough for the whole fam as well as some to freeze for baby. I don't think freezing a large portion for the whole family would turn out very good....macaroni tends to get pretty mushy after it is thawed. Should be fine for your little ones though because they need it a little mushy anyways.

I am in the middle of baking cupcakes and a cake. Little Sam turns 1 tomorrow, but the party isn't until Saturday. I am going to freeze the cakes and cupcakes until Friday, then do the icing etc. I really deliberated over what kind of cake to make. Should it be a healthy cake with no sugar and using pureed fruits and no icing......or should I just get one from the store and go all out with the icing piled high? If no one was coming over for the party, more than likely I would have made a healthy version without icing, and maybe just some powdered sugar on top. BUT family is coming over and would probably pitch a fit if I didn't have a "regular" cake so that we could see Sam smush icing all over his hair and up his nose. So, I decided on a homemade "regular" cake rather than a storebought/bakery cake. First of all, if I am making it at home I know all of the ingredients involved and secondly, I really wanted to be the one to make his first cake.

I like to make all of my desserts from scratch, but the recipe I am using for the cake(s) is one that I got from a friend (thanks Jane Doe) who made these cupcakes for a baby shower. It involves buying cake mix from the store and then adding other ingredients. Plus it makes a ton which is better for me since essentially I am preparing 2 cakes and needed a ton of batter. The recipe is here-----> http://www.food.com/recipe/white-almond-sour-cream-wedding-cake-69630. It also says you can half this recipe if needed.

With the batter I made 24 cupcakes....I am attempting to make a pull apart cake, where you put all the cupcakes together and ice it like a cake, but instead of having to cut slices you just pull apart your "piece". With the other half of the batter I am going to attempt the martha stewart monkey cake......I am by no means a cake decorator but this one looked somewhat achievable so I am going to try. But this half of the batter I added 1/2 cup cocoa powder to make it chocolate. The recipe that goes with the martha stewart version is a banana cake which sounds great, but after reading the reviews everyone stated that the cake was like a banana bread.....that just sounded so dense and not appropriate for a birthday cake. I will post some pics if things are successful!

Hope you enjoy the healthy mac & cheese!