Cheesey Savory Butternut Squash Bake

Required Equipment: Two 9" x 13" baking dishes; potato masher OR hand mixer OR stand mixer (mixers will give you a creamier texture than the potato masher) Fresh Squash Prep: Preheat oven to 350. Cut the squash longways into two pieces. Scoop out the pulp and seeds with a spoon. Place the two halves of the squash face down in the un-greased baking dish and add water to about 1/2" depth. Bake at 350 for 1.5 hours (or until the squash is soft all the way through) Ingredient prep: While squash is baking, add the remaining ingredients (except for topping ingredients) to a mixing bowl; let stand. Grease/spray one of the 9" x 13" casserole dishes; set aside. Baking prep: After squash is cooked, use a spoon to scoop the flesh out of the rind; add to the mixing bowl which has been standing with ingredients. Mix thoroughly until mixture is creamy and smooth. Pour mixture into the greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with the crushed cashews and broken crunchy onion straws. Bake: Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the topping is a golden brown and the bake is warm throughout. SQUASH OPTION: For faster prep, frozen butternut squash pieces are a good option. Just buy enough bags to equal about 3 lbs and follow instructions on the bag for cooking (I prefer to steam rather than boil in order to maintain the nutrients in the squash). TOPPING OPTION: Get creative! I chose cashew pieces to keep some crunch and avoid a few extra carbs, but you could use crumbled crackers or other crushed nuts. And if you're not a fan of crunchy onion straws, leave them out and opt for a nut mixture or a nut and cracker mixture instead.