Sweet Potato Pasta with Butternut Squash Sauce

At the DC VegFest a few weeks ago, I bought a bag of sweet potato pasta. If you know me, you know I am obsessed with sweet potatoes, and will eat it in just about any (vegan) form. This pasta was no exception.

I also love butternut squash, so I thought this would be a delicious pairing.

And I was right. But that's nothing new.

The sauce was really easy to make. I saw a variety of recipes online, but just kind of put this together because I was feeling lazy. I roasted the squash before peeling it, but removing the skin after roasting was obnoxious, so I'd recommend peeling it first.

Butternut Squash Sauce

You'll need:
- 1 medium butternut squash
- 3/4 to 1 C almond milk
- 1 tsp sage (or to taste)
- salt & pepper to taste

1. Peel, deseed, and cut butternut squash.
2. Roast at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. (This is a guess based on the fact that you'll cut the squash before you roast it. It's ready when a fork easily pierces the flesh!)
3. When squash is cool enough to handle, put into food processor with almond milk and spices. The amount of almond milk you use will depend on your preference for consistency. I used a full cup.
4. Serve warm over sweet potato pasta!

Unfortunately, I was unable to find anywhere to buy this particular pasta, but if you come across it, I highly recommend it!

National Apple Harvest Festival & Pumpkin Penne

I spent my weekend in Gettysburg visiting my friend Julie. She lives about 20 minutes away from the fairgrounds where the National Apple Harvest Festival is held, so we spent most of Saturday there. It was cloudy, insanely chilly, and a little rainy at some points. Still, we braved the weather to indulge in as many apple goodies as possible.

They sold apple everything. There were the usual suspects: apple butter, apple jelly, apple juice, apple sauce, apple cider. And then there were other apple things that I wasn't really expecting (and most of it wasn't vegan friendly): apple syrup, apple daiquiris, apple funnel cakes, apple fudge, apple cookies, apple cake. There were loads of autumnal decorations, too, and I loved every bit of it.

We met a bee and an apple along the way. Yeah, my eyes are closed. I'm good for that.

Just when I thought my hands were going to fall off, we found the hot apple cider tent. No way in hell was I settling for cold apple cider in 50 degree wet weather.

We saw a dance performance by the Hanover Children's Ballet Theater, too, and it was really cute.

There wasn't a whole lot of vegan-friendly to eat while at the festival, but it definitely sparked my interest in trying to veganize some things I saw (this is your warning). I was able to pick up some things to bring home, though!

Cinnamon apple syrup, apple butter, apple jelly, an apple scented soy-based candle,
doggie treats in the apple container, and apple syrup. 

Back at her apartment, we made pumpkin penne. Julie was a fantastic chef, I was a less than stellar photographer.

Garlic & Onion 

Crispy Sage

How was your weekend? What did you get into?

Cheezy Pasta & Veggies

I bring you another recipe developed by Angela at Oh She Glows. This is such a yummy recipe, and it's SO unbelievably easy. Ease of preparation and clean-up plays a huge role in how often I'll make a meal - the quicker the prep and clean-up, the more likely I am to make it. And her cheezy sauce? So. Good. My favorite cheeze sauce so far. Another bonus? It tasted just as good as leftovers.

If you give this a try, let me know how you liked it and what veggies you used!

Pasta with Garden Veggies

I had a couple zucchini and tomatoes on hand, and when my mom brought home some yellow squash from a co-worker, I decided to make a simple but yummy pasta dish. I sauteed a zucchini and a yellow squash in a tiny bit of olive oil. I served brown rice pasta with the veggies plus some grape tomatoes and fresh basil, sprinkled (heavily, I'm obsessed) with nutritional yeast. So simple and so yummy!

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Kale

Mary over at This is Vegan raves about this dish. She's posted/tweeted about it several times, and each time I see it, I think, "Hmm, I should try that."

And finally, I did.

And now I know why Mary loves it so much. It's spicy and sweet and peanutty and just so yummy! And the kale and brown rice pasta add loads of vitamins and minerals. I will forever be grateful to Mary for introducing this meal to me!

I found an online recipe here. I don't know if I didn't add enough water to the sauce or if I had too much kale, but I ended up making a double batch of the sauce.