Today I head to Israel for a little over a week. I land in Tel Aviv then head to Jerusalem later this week. How crazy is that? Blogging has been such a wonderful and unique career that’s taken me places I’ve never even dreamed I’d see in my lifetime. I’m beyond grateful for your readership throughout the years and how I’m able to connect with many of you beyond just the recipes here.

Lately I’ve been practicing slow, deep breathing to help with some of the chaos I’m feeling; you know the chaos that stems from over scheduling, travel and the busy winter months. I suppose that from afar blogging might seem easy. Like I just whip out recipes, photograph them, write a few paragraphs and pop them into a post.

But we all know appearances aren’t always what they seem. I’m not sure if it’s me always wanting to do more or being in a career that’s growing exponentially, but I can never find myself having enough time during the day, the week, or the months to finish my to-do list. Maybe that’s all of us these days though.

Right now, I’m getting back into yoga because of the ability it has to ground you. I had to stop practicing for a while due to an injury, but now yoga calls to me more than anything else. I crave the warmth of the room and the feeling of appreciation I feel as soon as I step on my mat.

Often I find that being within the four corners of my mat take away my stress. I stop to remind myself how beautiful this life is with each pose and how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life. These two simple things empower my spirit to take things a little slower and to not take on more than I am able.

Food wise, I’m focusing on comforting food. Food that warms me up when the chill comes in from outside. One of my favorite foods to make during the cooler months is butternut squash. I love its versatility and the way you can blend it into a pasta sauce or eat it straight from the oven.

Just the other day I made this butternut squash pasta and slurped it up in a big bowl with peas and a side of crusty garlic bread. I’m not quite sure why I haven’t made a butternut squash pasta sauce before, but I can tell you now that this will be on repeat in our home for years to come.

And the best part isn’t just the fact that it’s healthy and delicious — but that you can also make this dish vegan and gluten free, if desired!

To make the butternut squash sauce, you’ll roast squash cubes with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Then you’ll toss it into the food processor and blend with almond milk and a little cream cheese to make it extra creamy good! I like to use Go Veggie’s vegan cream cheese to keep things vegan. It’s also now Non-GMO Project certified — so you can feel good about adding it to your food & recipes!

After the sauce comes together, simply toss with your favorite cooked pasta (I use brown rice pasta) and peas. Enjoy with salt and pepper, to taste!

I hope you love this recipe as much as I have. If you aren’t into peas, try it with broccoli (just boil a few cups of raw broccoli florets with the noodles)! And if you aren’t vegan, turkey bacon crumbles are delicious on top too! xo!

Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Peas (vegan & gluten free!) 4.5 from 4 votes Leave A Review Print Recipe Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 35 minutes Total Time 50 minutes Serves 4 Savory Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with sweet green peas is the ultimate vegetarian comfort food. The pasta sauce is easy to make and the recipe can easily be vegan and gluten free! Ingredients 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups 1/2-inch cubed butternut squash (from a 2 pound butternut squash)

2 garlic cloves, unpeeled

Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste

8 oz brown rice pasta (or any pasta you like)

2 tablespoons GO VEGGIE! vegan plain cream cheese

3/4 cup-1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk)

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed Instructions Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place butternut squash cubes on a large baking sheet and drizzle olive oil on top. Season with salt and pepper. Use hands to toss the butternut squash and olive oil together, then evenly spread out on the pan. Add unpeeled garlic cloves to the sheet (they’ll roast in the oven!). Roast squash for 20-30 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from oven and set aside a few minutes to cool. Cook pasta according to package directions in a large pot so that it’s al dente (my brown rice noodles take me 10 minutes). While the pasta is cooking you can make the sauce by adding the squash, peeled roasted garlic (don’t forget to peel it), Go Veggie cream cheese and almond milk to the bowl of a food processor (or high powered blender). Process until smooth and creamy, adding additional milk if necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once noodles are done, drain, return to pot and place over low heat. Add thawed peas and butternut squash sauce. Stir to combine. Serve in warm bowls with salt and pepper. If you are a non vegetarian, crumbled turkey bacon is fantastic on top! If you aren't, I recommend adding a little hot sauce -- it's fantastic! Nutrition Servings: 4 servings Serving size: 1 serving Calories: 336kcal Fat: 5.7g Saturated fat: 1.5g Carbohydrates: 64.2g Fiber: 6.4g Sugar: 5g Protein: 7.3g

This post is in partnership with Go Veggie, a brand I’ve worked with for over 3 years. Thank you for supporting AK and the brands that help make this site possible! You rock.