Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

This sauce is a slight variation of my normal quick sauce - the basic difference being the addition of squash, and higher levels of spices.

Makes 6-8 cups, about two meals' worth. 

3 cups butternut squash flesh, cooked

2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes

1 6-oz can tomato paste

2-4 cloves garlic

2 tbsp basil

2 tbsp dry onion or onion powder

1 tbsp oregano

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp marjoram (optional)

1/2 tsp sage (optional)

1/2 tsp thype (optional)

Dash red pepper flakes (optional)

Salt to taste

Blend all until the sauce is the desired consistency. Heat if preferred. We like using it to quickly cool our veggies and noodles, especially for the kids. Enjoy right away, or store in fridge for up to a week, or freeze for later. We like layering it with noodles and oil-free sauteed veggies.

Butternut Oatmeal Cookies

When I decide to do something new and different from other recipes I find, I still use a stencil from another recipe as a guide to the right measurements. There's probably an exact formula to get texture right, but I haven't learned it yet.

The first time I made these cookies, I started with a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe that included oil. But I had already run out of last year's canned pumpkin, and the box of pumpkins I ordered wouldn't be here until the next day. Butternut squash seemed to be a great substitute, as well as lending natural sweetness.



In fact, most of the ingredients here lend natural sweetness. The original recipe included some agave, but I subbed extra applesauce.

To cook the squash, I used the technique of piercing the squash multiple times and cooking it in the crock pot - this is so quick!

This particular picture was the second go around in which I roasted both a pumpkin AND a butternut squash:

Butternut Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe makes two sheets of cookies, or about 24.

INGREDIENTS
2 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (gluten-free if desired)
1/2 cup flour*
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups cooked mashed butternut squash
3/4 cup applesauce or pumpkin**

1 dropper liquid stevia (optional)
2/3 cup raisins
*I have successfully used almond flour, and a combination of sorghum and teff.
**I used applesauce the first time, but had freshly roasted and pureed pumpkin ready the second time, so figured I'd sub out.

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium to large bowl.
Stir in wet ingredients and then raisins.
Spoon out 1-2 tablespoons cookie batter on baking sheet. For a flatter cookie, press batter down and shape with fingers.
Bake 15-20 minutes (it'll depend on the cookie's size; check on them every 5 minutes).
After baking, allow cookies to cool for about 10 mins and then transfer them onto a cooling rack and cool completely. They are very soft and if you don’t allow them to cool completely they will crumble. 

Adapted from: http://www.kimscravings.com/2014/09/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-oatmeal-cookies/

Pumpkin Seed Lentil Loaf

I am starting with a picture of Plant-Powered Families because this post is on a recipe directly from this book. I changed none of the ingredients (except I used quick oats because we were out of rolled oats - I had to crack open a food storage can for this recipe). I changed little about the process. This recipe belongs to Dreena Burton (though, if you read the description in the book, the original recipe came from a book called "Vive La Vegan!"). That said, we're ecstatic about this recipe here. Austin gave it a 10/10. He gives a ton of 9/10s (let's face it, I'm excellent at cooking what he likes), but he saves the 10s for true love (my words, not his).

We served this to the sister missionaries, as well as a friend of ours who eats the same whole foods, plant-based diet as us. She said she'd need the recipe to feed it to others (since she at least knew WE liked it), I figured I should post here - that IS why I made this blog, right? 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of my own finished product. I doubled the recipe (which is the measurements I give below) and used a 9x13 dish instead of a pie pan. Instructions will be altered accordingly.

Pumpkin Seed Lentil Loaf 

1.5 cups dry lentils

3 cups water

1/2 cup dehydrated celery, or 1 cup fresh chopped celery

2 large onions, chopped

2 cups rolled or quick oats

4 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp rosemary

1 clove garlic

Pepper to taste

4 tbsp soy sauce, liquid aminoes, etc.

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce*

4 tsp black molasses

1 cup pumpkin seeds

Combine lentils, water, onion, and celery in a pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for about 30 minutes, until the lentils have absorbed the water.

Preheat oven to 375. In batches if you need to (I personally have a rather small processor), run everything, except the pumpkin seeds, in the food processor until fairly smooth but retaining some texture. If you did this in batches, combine it all in a big bowl.

Add the pumpkin seeds to the processor and pulse several times until they're broken up. Add these to the mix and make sure everything is combined thoroughly and evenly.

Transfer to a 9x13 casserole dish and back for about 30 minutes. At this point, I covered it in foil and baked for another 8 minutes. 

Once removing from the oven, let it stand for a few minutes in order to firm up - trust me, this really makes a difference. Slice into wedges and serve.

Serving suggestion: baked potatoes and steam-sautéed broccoli.

*I've heard Happy Herbivore has a vegan Worcestershire sauce recipe in one of her cookbooks. I haven't seen it myself. I happened to buy my first bottle at Whole Foods a few months ago and used that.

Herb Oat Muffins

I kind of dislike it when bloggers give long explanations for recipes, but this is my first post, so I feel a need to explain this blog.

I love to cook. I enjoy my kitchen immensely. And I have a ton of people who ask what I eat, and what I feed my family. I want an easier way to quickly share recipes with my friends and family. I'm not trying to start the next big vegan blog, as my pictures can attest to. I just want to have links I can share.

Truly, this blog is an extension of the post I recently wrote on my other blog, found here: http://throwawaythescale.blogspot.com/2015/08/what-i-eat.html?m=1

In that post, I talk about how and what we eat in a week, and give a sample of meals from that particular week.

Now, on to the muffins:

Another thing I don't care for is thickeners in gluten-free recipes. They cost a lot, and aren't really the best choice nutritionally. I LOVE using oats as a quick swap-out for baking recipes that involve wheat (I'm self-diagnosed wheat intolerant). It's simple, easy, cheap, and has turned out great every single time I do it. Oats are naturally sticky and moist when wet. They don't rise like wheat, but I can live with that.

I have never found a wheat-free bread recipe like this (if you have, please share a link in the comments - I would love to try it!). I only wish I had thought of this sooner. These bread "muffins" were super easy to make, and they're delicious! They're not really suited for sandwiches, but I made them to dunk in soup, and they are the perfect candidate.

I do a lot of adaptations. These muffins are adapted from The China Study Cookbook.

Herb Oat Muffins (makes 7 muffins):

2 1/3 cups oat flour (rolled oats run through the food processor)

1/2 tablespoon rosemary

1/2 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon basil

1 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons molasses

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Transfer to muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve with soup or enjoy on their own!