The weather is getting a little bit warmer, we’re starting to dream of picnics at the park, and the smell of the beach. But we can’t get too ahead of ourselves, we must enjoy March, because it’s National Nutrition Month®! The month of March has been adopted by Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) since 1973 in an effort to promote nutrition and well being for everyone in the nation through avocation of the academy members. This year’s theme is “Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right”.
As a current human nutrition graduate student at Drexel University, I decided it was only appropriate if I tried something new for National Nutrition Month®. At first I was having a bit of a hard time coming up with a new way to cook my go-to foods (eggplant, zucchini or quinoa). So instead of reinventing the wheel with my usual food choices, I decided to attempt to find a way to recreate a not-so-healthy food to make it more nutritious.
On of my favorite guilty pleasures of all time is macaroni and cheese, so when I saw a recipe for an alternative to the high fat, high simple carbohydrate mac and cheese we know and love, I was curious. After looking into it some more, I was really surprised and a bit reluctant to try the recipe from Men’s Fitness magazine. The key to this recipe is to swap a lot of the cheese for butternut squash, an item I haven’t quite fallen in love with. But hey, I figure its National Nutrition Month®, I can at least try to adapt to a healthier mac and cheese choice!
Here is the recipe I followed:
Ingredients:
- 8 oz whole wheat macaroni
- 1 ¼ cup pureed butternut squash
- 3 tsp olive oil
- 1 large chopped onion
- 1 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 tbsp grated Asiago or parmesan cheese
Directions: 
- Cook whole grain macaroni pasta to taste.
- Slice, cube and boil butternut squash until soft.
- Place cottage cheese and butternut squash in a blender and process until smooth.
- In a skillet, heat 1 tsp olive oil. Sauté union until tender.
- In a large bowl combine the macaroni, cottage cheese/butternut squash puree, onion, cheddar cheese, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Mix well and transfer to a baking dish.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tsp of olive oil, bread crumbs and grated cheese. Then sprinkle ontop of the macaroni.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
According to the magazine, the recipe makes six servings (about six generous cups). Each serving is about 285 calories, 20 g of protein, 40 g of carbohydrates, 6 g of fat, 2 g saturated fat, 4 g of fiber, and 260 mg of sodium. The nutritional facts sound pretty good on paper, but the true test was if it tasted any good!
As I sat down to dinner, I didn’t have high expectations for my butternut squash macaroni concoction. But to honor National Nutrition Month I dove right in! To my surprise, it was actually quite good. The butternut squash was practically undetectable, the texture was my favorite part because it was incredibly creamy, and the crust on top was crunchy and provided a little kick of flavor from the cayenne. Needless to say, I went back for seconds. To be perfectly honest, when your craving cheesy, cheddar goodness…this may not satisfy your taste buds. But on regular weeknight when you want to make a side dish that makes you feel like your doing the body good, this is a perfect dish.
For me, celebrating National Nutrition Month® meant challenging myself to turn a guilty pleasure into a nutritionally sound, yet satisfying dish. But in case your not up for a dish revamp try something like this:
- Begin planning a vegetable garden for summer produce.
- Try replacing a processed snack food with a fruit or vegetable.
- Try new cooking methods on your favorite vegetable.
- Play around with a new protein source. Try tofu or a fish you’ve never tried!
- Check out the fresh herbs in the grocery store and see how you can create new flavors in some of your go-to dishes.
- Challenge yourself to incorporate different healthy fat choices like avocado.
- Scan the grocery store produce and choose a vegetable you are not accustom to. Take it home and read up on what you can do with it!
- Play some nutrition related games.
Whichever way you do it, “Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right”. Click here for other Men’s Fitness healthy takes on classic comfort foods. Happy National Nutrition Month®! 
by Nicole Sellers-Hansen
Eat Fit Health Intern
Drexel University Graduate Student, MS in Human Nutrition
ACSM Certified Personal Trainer