I love being able to make simple, nutritious, inexpensive and delicious dinners for my family and my baby.  A meal that can be made in advance and can serve every member of my family is even better.

This is a two-fer recipe: Butternut squash for your baby (6 months and up) and a Roasted Butternut squash soup for adults.  This is a delicious, perfect-for-fall, curl up on the couch with a good movie type of soup.  If you happen to need to impress someone with a fancy dinner, this can be dressed up with elegant toppings (listed below) as a pretty and yummy soup course too.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 butternut squash, whole
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 medium onion, peeled and rough chop
• 1 garlic head, top chopped off, most paper skin removed
• 4  cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional
• 1 McIntosh or Granny Smith apple, cut into 1/2-inch dice, optional
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or sour cream, optional
• 1/3 cup coarsely shredded smoked cheddar cheese optional
• One-inch pieces of chives or thinly sliced sage leaves, optional
• ice cube trays

DIRECTIONS

1. Drizzle oil on the whole garlic head.  Wrap with foil.
2. Before:
   
   Roast butternut squash according to directions here for an hour or until very soft. Add garlic foil package to the roasting pan and cook alongside the squash.
   After:
   
3. In a skillet, on medium low heat, cook onions until soft and translucent, not brown.
4. Cut open squash.  Remove seeds and interior strings.  Scoop the squash out of the skin.
5. Using half of one squash, smoosh soft roasted squash into clean ice cube trays. Cover with plastic wrap and put in freezer for baby food. Label with the date and contents.
   
6. Once cooled, slip the roasted garlic out of the papery skin.
7. In a blender, puree the squash, onion and roasted garlic in batches, until smooth. Add chicken stock until desired consistency.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
   
8. At this stage, the soup will keep in the refrigerator a few days or in a freezer for a long time.  Reheat to serve and prepare garnishes at the last minute.
9. In a skillet, on medium high heat, cook chopped apples with butter until lightly browned and softened.
10. Serve soup plain or garnished with a swirl of heavy cream, cooked apples, shredded cheese and fresh herbs.
    

Baby food Notes:

For a younger baby, add squash to blender and puree with a small amount of water until very smooth.  Then, freeze in cubes.  An older baby will be quite happy with roasted squash as is.  If you desire, mush with a fork.

Once frozen, remove ice cubes from the tray.  Store in labeled and dated freezer bags or containers.

To serve:  Microwave frozen squash ice cubes for 1 minute or until hot.  Cool to room temp and then serve.