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New for the Thanksgiving menu this year....

 I found this roasted cabbage at Eat Something Vegan blog and instantly added it to the list.

Ingredients

• 2 small cabbage heads
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ tsp. salt or to taste
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tbsp. garlic powder

Instructions

• Cut the stems off the cabbage heads and then cut each one in half, then in half again. You should have four flat discs of cabbage that are about ¾ to 1 inch thick from each head. Place the cabbage steaks on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper, allowing some space between each one to even cooking.
• Brush the cabbage with the olive oil, coating them thoroughly. Then generously sprinkle the salt, garlic powder, and paprika on the cabbage steaks. Flip the cabbage over and repeat, brushing them with oil and sprinkling the seasonings. Then add a pinch of red pepper flakes to each one, if desired.
• Bake the cabbage steaks at 400°F for about 25 minutes, until the leaves are browned and the center is tender. Serve hot out of the oven.

Almost time for Tofurky....

 

Looking forward to family Thanksgiving....

 

Image and recipe link here.

Still a little conflicted over this holiday....

as you can read in my other blog post or by looking up the dark side of Thanksgiving but I am grateful for my friends and family.  Without that, what do you actually have?

Thanksgiving plans are stacking up.....

We are so grateful for friends and family.

Holidays....

"Fake" history.........

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, lets talk turkey, well, I guess we should talk lobster since that was on the menu and tryptophan-packed turkey was not.

For Americans, the fourth Thursday of November is a day celebrated with too much food, too much football, and a dessert full of lies.

First a little nugget of info.  When you read the definition of the word pilgrim, you will find that it is a person or people who journey to a sacred place for religious reasons.  While it is true many people from "the old world" did flee to North America for religious reasons and to escape the king, they were actually Puritans and Separatists but for the sake of this blog post, I will continue to use the term pilgrim as that is what they taught us in school, and I do not want to confuse anyone. These people were 100% altruistic.  In fact, they basically annihilated the Native Americans and stole their land because they wanted it.  A good definition of this would be genocide.  I am guessing you did not learn that fact in school either.

In school, they teach this holiday as being a positive exchange between the pilgrims and the Native Americans sharing a feast.  The week leading up to Thanksgiving, children make paper turkeys, fashion headbands out of feathers, make wreaths out of corn shucks, and making Pilgrim hats out of Oreo cookies (psst...The pilgrims did not wear those stupid black hats in the illustrations that we have all seen a million times, they did not wear buckled shoes either).  Sounds like fun but what they do not teach in school is the fact that the Pilgrims and Native Americans were in a constant war with each other.  Who knew?

For some reason, Americans take pride in sugar-coating the truth for unsuspecting children.  Columbus is another fine example of this dumbing down of American school kids.  We are lead to believe that Columbus discovered America, but did he? (Read this blog post if you want to know).  And, please do not even get me started on the whole Santa Claus charade, just don't!

I know, you are probably thinking what is the harm in editing the truth, well, everything!  I personally do not want to breed ignorance and with all the whitewashing of true history, that is exactly what is happening.  The true history of Thanksgiving is not the heart-warming tale in textbooks but rather a hypocritical holiday.  I am not trying to rock the Mayflower but the pilgrims and Native Americans were not working side-by-side planting corn as school books suggest.  Just letting you know.

A few more random facts.

Factoids:
~The native people around the Plymouth Colony had lived there over 10,000 years before the Europeans arrived.
~The natives that were not killed were sold into slavery and sent back to the old world.
~Did you hear the story of how the pilgrims literally set the natives on fire while they were sleeping?
~The first "real" Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1541 in Texas when Franscisco Vasquez de Coronado and his crew held the celebration in Palo Duro Canyon.
~Baby turkeys are called poults.
~Domestic turkeys cannot fly.
~Can you believe turkey fossils have been found across the US dating back 5 million years?
~Jingle Bells composed in 1857 was originally a Thanksgiving song.
~The first Thanksgiving football game was in 1876.
~America was not the first stop on the pilgrim voyage.  They moved from England to Holland and when that did not work out, they sailed to America.
~Oceanus Hopkins is the only baby born on the Mayflower.  He only lived to be 6 years old unfortunately.
~By the end of the harsh winter, almost half of the pilgrims died.  The bodies were buried at night so the natives would not figure out the number of pilgrims was quickly dwindling.
~The drink of choice for the passengers of the Mayflower was beer, and they brought plenty with them.

Today's public service announcement.....

Try to buy local, always buy organic! 

So beautiful!

Friends and family is what it is all about.....

Hurry up Thanksgiving.....

Also on the menu, roasted veggies.

Basically, I just make this up as I go.

This is red potatoes, zucchini, and Brussels sprouts.

Wash and chop the veggies, season with olive oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic.

Toss veggies and seasoning until coated.

Put into a baking pan, cook for 30 to 45 minutes at 400 and done.

Grateful for my family.......

New Thanksgiving ideas......

I found this roasted vegetable pasta salad recipe at Rabbit and Wolves Vegan Comfort Foods, and it looks so delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Brussels sprouts, halved or quartered
• 1 Leek, sliced
• 1 Cup Sweet potatoes, chopped(about 1 small one)
• 1 Cup Mushrooms, halved or quartered
• 4 Cloves Garlic, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 16 oz. Pasta

Vegan Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing

• 1/4 Cup Vegan Mayo
• 3 Tablespoons Olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons Apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Agave
• 1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 Tablespoon Poppy seeds
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Onion powder

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Cut all the vegetables and garlic and put them on a sheet pan. Then pour the olive oil on top and sprinkle the salt on top and toss the veggies to coat them all in oil and salt. 
3. Now, roast the veggies at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and the veggies are getting a bit brown. I like to toss the veggies around after about 10 minutes. 
4. While the vegetables are cooking, boil the pasta. Cook according to package directions. Drain and let cool. 
5. Next, make the poppy seed dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients to a small mixing bowl. Whisk together until fully combined. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. 
6. Then, when the veggies are done roasting, remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. 
7. Now, add the pasta to a large mixing bowl, then add in the veggies and then pour the poppy seed dressing on top. Toss to coat everything in the dressing. Serve immediately, or chill and serve later! 

Thanksgiving meal #2 for me and the girls............

I did not eat breakfast today which explains why my plate is so full.  So what is all this?  An Artisan French roll, a slice of Field Roast, one Gardein Turk'y cutlet with gravy, homemade cauliflower mash (I will add the recipe later but so good!), corn pudding, hash brown casserole, and unstuffing-i.e. all kinds of veggies roasted together in olive oil and seasonings.  C18 kept pointing out that this is not unstuffing, its just vegetables but unstuffing sounds better.

 And Oh My Gawd Peach Cobbler with Steve's nondairy Burnt Sugar Vanilla frozen dessert made with organic coconut cream.  This was heavenly.

One more Thanksgiving meal to go.  We are just about on the brink of explosion but food and family is what the holidays are all about.  Speaking of family, the girls have been asking nonstop since they got a very generous invitation to Cali yesterday to stay with our cousin as long as we like all paid with use of his car, whoo hoo....Plus since he works as an actor he may be able to open a few doors for the girls, at least show them around the best places.  I guess we better slow down on the food and get in shape before we head out.

More new Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday goodies to try. Out with the old, in with the new......

We have two more Thanksgiving dinners to go, lucky us!  We had lunch with my family today, tomorrow we have our own dinner, and Saturday dinner with more of my family.  The two Hollywood boys from the Hartley side of the family were discussed a little bit today, we talked to one on the phone, and we got an offer to come out to stay with him in California for free and as long as we like.  In case you are unclear, Jeff and Justin Hartley.  Pretty cool if I say so myself.  Anyhoo, I digress.

So I am revamping the old menu and adding some new dishes to see what happens.

The green bean casserole was successfully replaced by green beans almondine, and I am going to attempt these adorable stuffing muffins with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy to replace plain old dry stuffing and mashed potatoes swimming in full fat butter with some kind of gravy that has internal organs of a once alive chicken chopped up and thrown in (gag).

Now lets replace a dessert.

Out with the old done-to-death-can't-eat-anymore-pumpkin bread and replacing it with; drum roll....... chocolate banana bread.
love banana chocolate chip bread but I am thinking I am going to love this equally as much.

I found this fabulous recipe at Two Peas and Their Pod blog.
Here is whatcha need:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 large brown bananas  (1 1/2 cups mashed)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/4 cup canola, vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg (I am going to use an 
• egg replacer b/c eggs are *****)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 
  
• Here is whatcha do:

Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg replacer and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. 

Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter. Check at 50 minutes, just to be safe. Oven times vary.
Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.

I will be back with an update as soon as we give these a try.  It is fun starting new traditions and trying to do things differently.  Same=boring and in this family, we do not have time for same or boring.  

Please check out my Vegan/Vegetarian Thanksgiving and Christmas board on Pinterest.  Lots of healthy choices, lots of variety. 

And Please check back for an update on the food switches to see how they worked.  So far, so good!

Happy Thanksgiving 

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My girls and the fact that we have overcome the wrongs that have been done to us by another and are better than ever.  Kids need positive parental role models, especially considering the fact that kids will emulate the same sex parent, luckily I have girls!  You cannot teach a kid how to be the right kind of person if you yourself are not.  Lead by example.  Be strong!

Thankful for my family

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New for Thanksgiving.........

I have found so many vegan/vegetarian recipes for the holidays, I could not decide where to start but then I found this stuffing, mashed potato, and gravy combo, and it spoke to me........Swoon!  I mean what is not to like about stuffing and potatoes with gravy on top?

Head over to The Colorful Kitchen blog to find this one.

Here is whatcha need:

8 cups bread cubes (about 1 loaf)
3 tbs vegan butter
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 cups celery, diced
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg replacer 
2½ -3 cups vegetable broth
oil for greasing muffin tin

Here is whatcha do:

Preheat oven to 375°. Spread bread cubes out on baking sheet. Bake until toasted (about 10-15 minutes). Transfer bread to large bowl.
Heat vegan butter in pan on stove at medium heat. Add onion, garlic and celery and sauté until vegetables are soft (about 15 minutes). Add mixture to bowl with bread cubes.
Stir thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper and egg replacer into bowl.
Slowly add vegetable broth, being careful not to make bread too soggy, and stir. I added 1 cup at a time and let it absorb for a minute before adding more.
Grease mini muffin tin. Spoon mixture into each spot, packing it down and filling it slightly above the top. Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes, until edges are browned.
Remove from oven and let sit until cool enough to handle. Add a scoop of mashed potatoes on each muffin and top with gravy.

I also decided to cut out the standard green bean casserole and try green bean almondine, fancy way to say green beans with almonds.

Most of the recipes were generally the same so I am using this one from   Beyond the Chicken Coop blog.

Here is whatcha need:

1 pound fresh green beans washed and trimmed
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Here is whatcha do:

Cook beans for 2 minutes in boiling water. Water should be at a rolling boil before you add beans.
Drain beans in a colander and then cool in a bowl of cold water. Once cooled drain beans again. Remove all excess water from beans.
In a large saute pan, melt butter. Once melted add almonds.
Cook over low heat until slightly browned. 3-4 minutes. Remove almonds.
In same pan add garlic and beans.
Let cook until beans are heated through.
Add almonds. Stir.
Turn off heat, squeeze 1/2 lemon over top.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately

Cannot wait!

Buy one year, get the second year for free.........

Click here for more details.

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