The Collegiate Vegan

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! And to those of you who believe in the magic of the craziest retail shopping day of the year, Happy Black Friday!! I spent a total of zero dollars today (combo of self control and not leaving the house, the first to do the second) and made a total of zero dollars today. Still, bitter about the latter.

It's so frustrating being a nanny and working your schedule into the schedule of the family you work for; but the WORST part is when they cancel last minute on you. I love the kids I watch and adore their parents, but it's getting to the point where I want to make plans in addition to nannying because then I know at least one will happen (However, in the odd chance that I did that and then I had to work, flaking on plans is never okay, so that plan has it's faults). Anyways, so the family I nanny canceled last minute on me which was kind of nice because now I can stay home a little longer (and my clothes wouldn't have been done drying by the time I would have had to leave).

Thankfully, when I came over to my mother's I brought some of my own food with me because I figured there wouldn't be much for me to eat. So, since I had time to make dinner, I had to improvise with what I had: butternut squash.

Here's what I ate:

caramelization at it's finest

mmmmm

• 1 small butternut squash, about 1-2 lbs
• 3 tbsp honey (to make truly vegan, use maple syrup instead)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh ground sea salt

• Preheat oven to 450º F.
• Peel and cube squash. (Need help? No problem, click here.)
• Mix cubed squash, honey, oil, and salt in a bowl until squash is well coated.
• Move squash into a baking dish; cook for 35 minutes uncovered stirring every 10 minutes so as not to burn the squash. *Note: A larger squash will require more time, add 5 minutes and check. It will be done when it is tender.
• Serve as a side, or as I did on top of some plain cooked oats. 

sloppy presentation, I'm no culinary decorator!

This combination of squash and oats seems bizarre, I know, but it was good. It was sweet because of the caramelization of the squash, but filling because of the cooked oats. I imagine this also being good with some spicy fried rice (next time...)!