Friday, May 18, 2012

Delicious Vegan Penne Florentine

Vegan & Gluten Free Penne Florentine



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Whole grain pasta, sauteed yellow squash, and spinach smothered in a creamy sauce with a hint of spicy kick to it.   This delicious dairy free cream sauce has a 'secret' ingredient that boosts its protein content and nutritional value...Shhh the kids won't even know it's in there!

The two most common complaints I hear from busy moms....picky kids who won't eat healthy food and how to sneak healthy ingredients into foods their children WILL eat.  I have found a myriad of ways to get vegetables in my kids meals.  In fact, my vegetable based cheese sauce is a staple lunch ingredient for them everyday.  It takes a little creativity but you can find ways to sneak vegetables, beans, fruits and other healthy foods into your kids meals, and even into their desserts!

**One tip to make whole wheat pasta softer like white pasta, cook it twice as long as white pasta!  I learned that trick and it made all the difference for my family.  Brown rice pasta however is soft with less cooking so I don't have to worry about that anymore but I know there are many people struggling to like whole wheat pasta because they don't know how to cook it.

This delicious dairy free penne florentine features white beans in the cream sauce.   Why would I add a can of white beans in my cream sauce....sneaky added nutrition!

The white beans add the following nutrition per serving of penne florentine

Protein......9.5g
Fiber.........6.5g
Folate.........21%
Calcium.....10%
Iron.........22%
Zinc........18%
Omega 3's......7%


You can add beans in homemade ice creams, brownies, cream sauces and many other recipes to boost nutrition.

Along with striving to create healthy meals that will appeal to the whole family, its always nice to create recipes that are simple and easy.  Busy mom's need simple recipes they can create easily for their family.  
Who doesn't love pasta with a cream sauce?  This is the perfect family meal!


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Made this tonight, it was fast and easy to make and was so delicious!