"CHEESY" SPINACH & BUTTERNUT BAKED SHELLS | V & GF / November 14, 2019 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

we’re coming in to the homestretch of the year, and with that brings all the holidays. my aim this holiday season is to create simple recipes to ring in the holiday season, that are approachable, allergen-friendly, and (importantly) delicious. first up, is this creamy pasta bake that my family adores. this is the kind of dish that pleases just about any customer. #1: there’s pasta involved, and who doesn’t love a chewy, warm carb? #2: the creamy “cheesy” sauce will make you think you’re eating a traditional mac ‘n cheese drowning in dairy, when you’re actually not. #3: it’s kid-friendly! amesy, who doesn’t like pasta, will eat this dish with actual glee. so i’m quite sure any other child out there (picky or not) will love it as well. and lastly #4: it’s super easy to put together (you could actually make the sauce and cracker crust ahead of time) and makes a bunch of leftovers (especially if you’re single or a small family). have i convinced you to make this yet?

the sauce is butternut squash-based which gives it that nostalgic mac ‘n cheese color, while also providing flavor and nutrients (yay!). instead of flavoring the sauce with pantry items to make it taste cheesy, i actually add a good bit of plant-based cheese to really give it the depth of cheesy flavor we want in a baked pasta situation. and i can’t overstate how much i love Thrive algae oil here as well. i use it in the sauce and the cracker crust. with the highest level of good-for-you, heat-stable monounsaturated fats and the lowest level of bad fats of any cooking oil, it provides everything we need, without affecting the “cheese” vibe one bit - it’s completely neutral in flavor, despite what you might assume about algae! plus, it gives the sauce that lush and velvety texture that’s so satisfying. (i also love that it’s so widely found in grocery stores across the US, and easily accessible online as well.)

my intention for sharing this recipe is that it makes for a great weeknight meal of course, but that it’s also reliable and sturdy enough to serve alongside your thanksgiving staples as a vegan AND gluten-free option for guests that lean that way. but i’m also sure that folks around the table that don’t have a specific dietary restriction will love it all the same! and can i say that this makes for a healthy-ish dish too? i use chickpea pasta here (protein), the butternut squash sauce is mixed together with a healthy amount of fresh spinach (fiber), and the sauce is also mixed with algae oil replacing saturated fats found in other cooking oils with
all those good monounsaturated fats our bodies need and love. it’s a well-rounded meal without even really trying to be. aren’t dishes like that the best? i hope you love this one as much as my family and i do :)

xo!

this post was created in partnership with Thrive Algae Oil. all opinions, as always, are my own. thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep dolly and oatmeal running.

cheesy spinach & butternut baked shells | gf & v

| serves 4-6 |

butternut sauce

1 1/2 cups butternut squash puree
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup thrive algae oil
4 ounces vegan mozzarella
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

cheesy cracker crust

2/3 cup gluten-free cracker crumbs
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons thrive algae oil
leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme

pasta bake

1 pound gluten free pasta shells
kosher salt
2 1/2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
fresh herbs (i like sage and thyme), to garnish

method

preheat oven to 425°F, and oil a 10-inch baking dish.
make the cracker crust. combine the cracker crumbs, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, and thyme in the container of a blender and pulse everything together until combined. transfer to a mixing bowl, and use a fork to mix in the oil until the mixture looks wet and sandy. set aside and wipe out the blender container.
make the butternut sauce. in your blender container, combine the butternut squash puree, milk, oil, cheese, garlic, salt, onion powder, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. whiz everything together on high, stopping to scrape down the sides, until the sauce is smooth and creamy. taste and adjust, adding more seasonings, if needed. (add the additional 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes if you prefer more heat, if not, leave as is.) set the sauce aside.
cook the pasta and spinach. fill a large pot with water, add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to a boil. add the pasta and cook until al dente (it’s going to cook later on, so don’t overcook it. i usually cook it 2 minutes less than what the package instructs). 1 minute before the pasta is finished cooking, add the spinach. drain the pasta and spinach.
to your prepared baking dish, add the pasta and spinach. pour over the sauce and use a spoon to mix it together. use your fingers to evenly sprinkle the cracker crust over top.
bake in the center of your oven for 10-12 minutes, until golden and bubbly. cool 5-10 minutes, then serve.

similar recipes:

vegan hasselback potato & shallot gratin

vegan alfredo w/ caramelized shallots & kale

butternut squash chili w/ cilantro yogurt

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CAKE (GLUTEN-FREE/DAIRY-FREE) / October 30, 2019 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

i’ve been meaning to share this post for weeks now. amesy turned 3 years old (!!!) at the end of september. we had a small gathering with family - there was a little dinosaur egg hunt (naturally), a cardboard castle, dinosaur masks, water painting, shake shack burgers and fries, and this chocolate chip cookie cake! amesy is an equal opportunity cookie lover, but his absolute favorite is chocolate chip. naturally, a chocolate chip cookie cake was where my mind went. i’m still not sure where this last year went. while it was one of the most emotional and trying in some ways, it was also such a special year of getting to know my growing little boy as more than a baby, but a little human with interests and ideas, and questions, and curiosities.

i’ve been making amesy’s cakes for 3 years now, and each year they’ve inevitably had a dinosaur theme because, well, he loves dinosaurs! i’ve tried to switch it up each year. for his 1st birthday i went with more dinosaur decorations on the cake - cookie “dirt”, teeny plastic dinos and tropical trees. his 2nd birthday, i made cut-out marzipan dinosaurs to place on the top and sides of his cake. and this 3rd birthday, i opted for the simplest amazon-purchased dinosaur cake topper because i decided to give myself some relief with having my newborn joey and all. and each year i've tried to keep the cake as low in sugar as i possibly could without it tasting like “healthy” cake. when it comes to sugar i usually stick to a few sweeteners: coconut sugar, monkfruit sweetener (both the granulated and the powdered), maple syrup, honey, and stevia. those are what i generally stick to for kids cakes. and just so everyone can partake in the cake eating, i make them gluten-and-dairy-free as well.

in my haze as a mom to 2 kids, one being a newborn, i opted to use google to find myself a chocolate chip cookie cake recipe. the recipe i landed on was grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free cake that looked great! i made a few minor adjustments - using almond butter instead of tahini, swapping out some of the coconut sugar for monkfruit sweetener, and omitting almond extract. i also used store-bought vegan icing, because, if i’m honest, i hate making frosting, and i wanted to cut the time down since i was making the cake while joey napped which didn’t give me much time. i also made the cake layers a couple days ahead of time, and frosted and assembled the cake the day of. this makes it easier to frost (pro-tip: when your cake layers are cold you get less crumbs in the frosting). then i took it out of the fridge about 1 1/2 hours before i was ready to serve it. it couldn’t have been more of a crowd (and amesy) pleaser :)

method

preheat oven to 350°F. oil three 6-inch round cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment rounds.
in a large bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients until combined.
in a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. using a rubber spatula, add the dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time until fully combined and the batter is smooth. fold in the chocolate chips.
divide the batter evenly between the 3 pans, using your spatula to smooth the tops. bake for 18-25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. remove cakes and set them on a cooling rack. once they are completely cool wrap them tight in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours (or overnight).
the day of, frost cake one layer at a time. then lightly frost the top and sides of cake. refrigerate until 1 hour before serving. then slice and serve!

chocolate chip cookie cake | gluten-free | refined-sugar free | grain-free

| makes one 3-layer 6-inch cake |

recipe adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

wet ingredients

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup monkfruit sweetener
1/2 cup coconut sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened almond butter
1/2 cup melted (and cooled) coconut oil, plus more for pans
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

dry ingredients

2 cups super fine blanched almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips (i love Lily’s), plus more for decorating

frosting

two 10 ounce containers vanilla frosting (i used this brand)

this was two.

this was one.

similar recipes:

strawberry rhubarb chocolate cake w/ coco whip

PUMPKIN SEED PESTO SPAGHETTI SQUASH BOWLS / October 23, 2019 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

PUMPKIN SEED PESTO SPAGHETTI SQUASH BOWLS | dolly and oatmeal

we’re heavy into pumpkins at the moment here at our house. amesy is in full-on halloween mode - listening to a halloween album non-stop, asking to watch “it’s the great pumpkin, charlie brown” again and again, and spotting each and every pumpkin on doorstops and grocery stores like it’s his job! which is all to say that the halloween/spooky vibe has never felt so spirited than before, and i’m going with it full throttle. i remember counting down the days until halloween, planning what my costume would be, and i can imagine that’s what amesy is feeling to a certain degree (as much as 3-year old can, of course). for a while there he wasn’t understanding what a costume was, and didn’t want to dress up. then, all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago, all amesy could talk about was wanting to “skooky punkin” (aka, spooky pumpkin). when i asked him what his baby brother should be, he said: a pumpkin. when asked what me and my husband should be, he said: pumpkins! suffice to say, ames is all about the pumpkins, so we’re rolling with that this year (even though i have a sneaking suspicion he’s really going to want to wear his dinosaur costume from last year…we shall see). in any event, i can’t wait to see how halloween unfolds for him - being witness to his enthusiasm for holidays, and life in general, is the greatest gift.

i’m trying (very slowly it seems) to keep up my end of the bargain and cook all things pumpkin, pumpkin spice, etc., etc. but with all the pumpkin everything recipes out there, i thought i would share an equally festive, but savory use of pumpkin, that is: the pumpkin seeds. today we’re making a vegan pumpkin seed-based pesto. we add a bit more seeds than a traditional pesto calls for as that’s where a lot of the full-bodied, nutty flavor comes from. the pumpkin seeds provide a lovely toasted essence and really creamy texture. we also add a mixture of basil and arugula (a combination i love), your typical garlic, lemon juice, and salt, too. i use here Thrive Algae Oil too. since olive oil is what’s typically used in pesto, and because it offers a distinct flavor, i wanted to see if algae oil would be just as good. turns out it is!! not only does the oil let the other flavors shine (algae oil is flavorless!), but it offers the pesto a kind of luscious texture that almost felt buttery, and i don’t have to sacrifice nutrition for better taste and consistency. thrive algae oil actually has more good fats and less bad fats than olive or any other oil, with 90% heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. needless to say, i will be reaching for it anytime i make pesto going forward, and i nudge you to as well! algae oil is widely available at grocery stores nationwide, and online as well.

*this post was created in partnership with Thrive Algae Oil. all thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own. thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep dolly and oatmeal going!

PUMPKIN SEED PESTO SPAGHETTI SQUASH BOWLS | V & GF

feel free to serve this pesto over spaghetti or any pasta of choice. alternatively, if you’re in a warmer climate, zucchini noodles would be wonderful as well. we generally like to add some protein to the mix here. i love a piece of roasted wild salmon, personally. but you could add ground or roasted chicken (or turkey), chicken sausage, chickpeas, or cooked lentils.

print the recipe!

| serve 2-4 |

1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise
Thrive Algae Oil spray
2 cups fresh basil, plus more for garnish
2 cups baby arugula
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 clove garlic, smashed
fine sea salt & freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup Thrive Algae Oil

method

preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
spray the cut sides of the spaghetti squash with oil, and place cut-side down on the baking sheet. cook for 40-50 minutes, until squash flesh is tender. remove from the oven and set aside.
while the squash is cooking, make the pesto. in a container of a food processor fitted with a metal “s” blade, combine the basil, arugula, toasted pumpkin seeds (reserve a few for later), lemon juice, garlic, a few big pinches of salt, and a couple grinds of pepper. with the motor running drizzle in the oil until everything comes together to form a fluid paste. taste and adjust, adding more salt, lemon juice, and/or oil. set aside.
once the squash has cooled enough to touch, use a fork to scrape the strands from each squash half. transfer strands to two bowls, and season with salt and pepper, give it a good toss. add a few tablespoons pesto to each bowl, garnish with chopped basil, and reserved pumpkin seeds. serve with protein of choice (optional), and enjoy warm.