What they don't know...

Knit squash found here

...won't hurt them...and it might just make them healthier.
I pulled a fast one over on my oldest tonight.  I sent her outside to watch the littles play, while I defrosted squash to sneak it into tonight's recipe.

Mwa-hahahahahaha!

Go figure, it actually worked for once!  She liked dinner, and didn't once ask what the weird flavor was!  (Aaaaand lucky for me, she doesn't read my blog.)

Unfortunately tonight's experiment did not go over as well with the littles.

I based dinner on a recipe I found on Pillsbury.com for "Fiesta Chicken Taco Cups".  I don't do chicken, and the recipe sounded too spicy for my sensitive-palated monkeys, so I changed it quite a bit.

Here's my version:

Mini Chili Bowls

1 can of Nalley Vegetarian chili (of course, you can use your favorite brand)
1 can of crescent rolls
1/2 package of frozen butternut squash (6 oz, or about 3/4 cup), defrosted
1/2 cup of prepared Mexican rice (I had it leftover in the fridge, and the chili needed thickening...it worked!)
1/2 cup of shredded cheese

Heat oven to 375.
Grease or spray 8 muffin cups
Roll out crescent rolls.  Divide into 4 rectangles, and cut each rectangle in half.
Press dough into cups, really squishing it into the bottom and up the sides.  Do your best to get a complete cup.
Mix chili, squash and rice.
Spoon about 2 tbsp into each cup.  (There is quite a bit leftover.  Stick it in the fridge and use it on nachos later, or set it aside for picky monkeys who refuse to each chili out of a bread bowl...see below...)
Sprinkle cheese on top of each cup.
Bake 15-20 mins, until tops are brown.

Now, as I said, #1 actually really liked these! (#2 is visiting grandma's house) #3 and #4 liked the chili...but ONLY after I served it in bowls.  They really didn't like the mini bread bowls.  I'm learning!  A muffin with multiple ingredients is ok, but a bread bowl is not.  Crescent rolls wrapped around tasty ingredients in a spiral or pinwheel are ok too, but only if I bake it thoroughly.  My one complaint with the crescent rolls is that they are TRICKY to bake correctly.  They can look done on the tops, and still be doughy on the bottom.

The good news?  This was my last can of canned dough, so no more crescent recipes for a while!

Here is the official tally: