Butternut Squash Mash

We hope you enjoy today's previously published Zola classic...

A lot of people call me a clean freak. My house is pretty spotless most of the time. I have three cats, but I don’t have any small, human children, so frankly, this is not that hard to do.

Sometimes I can be a little extreme.

This is something I do that drives my husband a bit batty:

My husband is an early bird. Every morning, he gets up around 5:30 a.m. and reads the morning newspaper while drinking a cup of coffee. I, on the other hand, get up around 7:30 a.m., jump in the shower and get ready for work. On my way out, I’ll grab his abandoned newspaper which is usually lying on the kitchen counter and toss it in the trash. I usually find his empty coffee mug near the paper too. And maybe even his empty French press full of cold coffee grounds that held his coffee that morning. I habitually pick it up. All of it –- whatever is lying around. I place the press pot in the sink for him to wash (I hate cleaning that thing). I put the coffee cup in the dishwasher and I throw the newspaper in the compactor to be recycled. I figure he’s read it. He had hours to do it. The problem is, sometimes he comes looking for a newspaper section which he wants to reference and he’s surprised that the paper has already hit the trash!

I’m fast. What can I say?

That’s not to say my husband is a slob –- far from it. That man can clean a floor like nobody’s business. He helps a lot with the housework. I rarely empty a dishwasher. He’s fabulous. But when it comes to kitchen cleanliness, I’ve got him beat.

There are few other things I do that revolve around my cooking and my kitchen that I thought I’d pass along:

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Butternut Squash Mash

This is a ZReboot recipe. If you have a hankering for potatoes this will give you the same texture in your mouth and a party on your tongue!

Servings: Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 – 2½ pounds of butternut squash
½ tsp of grated sea salt
¼ tsp of pepper (or to taste)
¼ cup of heavy cream
1 tsp of Truvia (1 packet) (optional)
Butter to taste (2 – 3 Tbl should do it)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel the squash(es). Carefully cut them in half and take out the seeds. Toss that stuff in the garbage. Cut the squash flesh into 1” chunks. Put the squash chunks into a large oven pan sprayed with olive oil. Spray the squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil. Roast in your oven until soft. This might take 30 – 40 minutes. The longer you roast them the softer they will get.

Remove from the oven and put in a heatproof bowl. Add the cream and Truvia. Use your electric mixer to mash them (or use your own favorite method for mashing potatoes).

Add the butter and give it another quick mash.

Serving Suggestions:

These can be made ahead and re-heated. They make great leftovers too. For me, these are just as sweet and wonderful as mashed sweet potatoes. And even better than baked potatoes!

Check out these numbers and tell me what you think:

Smashed Butternut Squash
Glycemic index = 8
22 grams of carbs per cup

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Glycemic index = 17
41 grams of carbs per cup

Baked Potato
Glycemic index = 29
63 grams of carbs per cup

You want all of these numbers to be as low as possible. The squash kicks potato butt! Choose the squash every time and change the traditions in your family for the better.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola