Breakfast & Dinner, Oats & Butternut Squash

I try to eat very lightly in the morning and gradually move on to denser foods throughout the day; maybe a piece of fruit once I get to work, or overnight oats. I threw some together last night (not the most beautiful of pics):

this batch is about a half cup rice milk, 1 ripe mashed banana, palmful of chia seeds, big handful of gluten-free oats, dash of vanilla, sprinkle of stevia, healthy dusting of cocoa powder. And topped with almond butter this morning. Chocolatey and filling!

I made another simple casserole-style dinner last night. Warm, butternut-squashy, creamy while still being vegan… great for a cool cold night.

Butternut Squash Mac

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk (I used light, and it still turned out very creamy. But use full-fat if you like)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped sage, or 2 teaspoons dried
¾ pound brown rice or quinoa elbow macaroni (or any noodle you like)
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts, optional
½ cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9- x 13-inch casserole dish; set aside.Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add squash, coconut milk, salt and pepper and dried sage. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in fresh sage (if using) and simmer 1 minute more.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until tender but still firm, about 8 minutes. Rinse in cold water, drain well and transfer to your baking dish. Pour squash mixture over your noodles. Add walnuts if using, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Top with bread crumbs. Bake until just golden brown and hot throughout, 25-30 minutes.

I peeled, deseeded, and chopped the squash when I got home from work, to save some time since I didn’t get back again until after 8 pm. It came together very quickly.  I didn’t have any bread crumbs, so we put 2-3 slices of bread in the oven while it preheated, then ripped the toast into pieces and pulsed a few times in the food processor. You could easily make this totally gluten-free by using GF bread crumbs.

The coconut milk makes this so, so creamy and good. Mac and cheese without the cheese!

We were a little distracted while making dinner by the arrival of this:

Commence squealing.

(There are three foster puppies at our house this week from the Huron Valley Humane Society.)

I may combine the oats and squash into this yummy-looking recipe from the Kitchn for breakfast this weekend:

Source: the Kitchn

Happy Friday! Can’t wait to go home and eat more butternut squash mac, and to do this tomorrow morning:

Courtesy of beautiful friend Kerri

Also maybe seeing Ides of March or Tower Heist. If you’re going to a movie, I recommend 50/50. It was really good! Any good weekend plans?

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