Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up, I typically spent the day with my dad, and we'd go to either my grandmom's house or one of my aunt's houses. As much as I like eating lots of yummy food, seeing my family has always been my favorite part. Thanksgiving was one of the few days of the year when everyone got together - all six of my dad's siblings, all five of mine, and the dozens and dozens of our cousins.

This year, however, I opted to stay in Baltimore with Mom. My (big) little brother came up (with the kittens), and it was really nice. While Thanksgivings are usually loud and crazy, the quiet change of pace was enjoyable. I liked spending the day with just my mom and my brother (and the crazy kittens).

I created a feast. I thought I'd be able to eat everything on my plate, but I was seriously mistaken. That's okay, though, because I've got lots of yummy leftovers for the weekend! I made sweet and mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, pumpkin sweet bread, and a variety of veggies. A pretty deprived vegan Thanksgiving, right?

The cornbread stuffing is a Mama Pea recipe. I used her Cowgirl Cornbread (from the book!) recipe as the basis for the stuffing and omitted the mushrooms. This dish was really savory and flavorful, and the dried cranberries added a nice tart, sweetness.

Ingredients (6-8 servings)

• 1/2 of a large onion, chopped
• 1 c. portabella or crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 1 t. minced garlic
• 6 oz. package of Lightlife Smoky Tempeh Strips, prepared according to package directions or 1 batch homemade Tempeh Bacon, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 5 sage leaves, chopped
• 1 1/2 t. poultry seasoning
• 6 c. cornbread (i.e. Cowgirl Cornbread), cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 c. dried cherries or cranberries (unsweetened, if possible)
• 2-3 c. low sodium vegetable stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place a large skillet spritzed with oil or cooking spray over medium high heat. Add onion and mushroom and sauté 4 or 5 minutes or until softened and starting to brown.
• Add chopped bacon to pan and continue to cook until heated through.
• Add garlic, sage and poultry seasoning and continue to cook for an additional minute or until aromatic.
• Cube your cornbread and place it in a large bowl.
• Add cherries or cranberries to the cornbread.
• Continue to add tempeh bacon mixture to the bowl.
• Pour in vegetable stock a little at a time and stir until fully moistened. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour dressing into a 1-quart baking dish that has been lightly greased.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, until dressing is firm and browned.

An excellent neck warmer.

Squirt!

Ozzy in the recycling bin.

How did you spend your Thanksgiving? What's your favorite part? And are you crazy enough to brave Black Friday shopping? I, obviously, am not. :)

Butternut Mac & Cheese

The more I eat butternut squash, the more I love it. In fact... I fear in may be edging out sweet potatoes as one of my favorite foods. When I saw this ah-mazing recipe on Oh She Glows, I knew I had to try it. It was so delicious and yummy; it was tough convincing myself to not eat it alone for dinner. So I paired it with some sloppy joes from Veganomicon.

Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze (Vegan with Gluten-free & Nut-Free options)

Yield: 4 servings or 1.5 cups of cheeze sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 fresh butternut squash* (peeled and chopped) OR 1 cup canned butternut squash OR canned pumpkin
• Extra virgin olive oil, S & P
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacer)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened & unflavoured almond milk (revised from 1 cup)
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
• 6 tbsp nutritional yeast, or more to taste
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2-3/4 tsp kosher salt (or to taste) & ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 servings brown rice macaroni (8oz or half a 16oz package) makes 3 1/4 cup cooked
• Mix-ins of choice (e.g., kale, spinach, broccoli, peas, pumpkin seeds, etc)

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a casserole dish with tin foil. Mix chopped squash with EVOO, S & P. Roast for about 40 minutes, uncovered, or until tender.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the cheeze sauce in a pot on the stove top. Add Earth balance over low-medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together milk and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch or flour) until clumps are gone. Add into pot and whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast, Dijon, garlic, S & P) and whisk over low heat until thickened (about 5-7 minutes or so).

3. Cook your pasta according to package directions. The sauce makes enough to cover 4 servings of pasta.

4. In a blender, blend the sauce with 1 cup of roasted squash (or if using canned, simply stir 1 cup into the pot).

5. Add cooked, drained, and rinsed macaroni into pot, along with cheeze sauce & mix-ins. Heat and serve.

Stuffed Biscuits

Halloween, hands down, is one of my favorite holidays. I love absolutely everything about it, and it also happens to be Dakota's birthday. I've got loads of Halloween-inspired recipes coming up this week and I'm super excited to share them with you!

First up are stuffed biscuits. I can't remember how I stumbled across this recipe, but I immediately fell in love with it and wanted to try it. I didn't have any kids to share this cute and fun food with... but my excitement over this more than makes up for it. I followed this recipe pretty much to the tee, but added some baby carrots and a stalk of celery to the onions while sauteing. Yum!

Cutting faces was tough; I was lazy with some of them.

Now it's Monday Night and the Ravens are on MNF. Are you ready for some football?!?!

Dakota's ready.

Moroccan Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is essentially how I judged this recipe and deemed it worthy of sharing with you:

• easy? Yes.
• yummy? Most definitely.
• ingredients easily found at supermarket? You got it. (I had most everything in my pantry, actually. Win!)

And here we are.

You'll need:

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 large acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 cup garbanzo beans, drained
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14 ounce) can veg broth
• 1 cup uncooked couscous

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Arrange squash halves cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, or until tender. Dissolve the sugar in the melted butter. Brush squash with the butter mixture, and keep squash warm while preparing the stuffing.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, celery, and carrots, and cook 5 minutes. Mix in the garbanzo beans and raisins. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper, and continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.

Pour the vegetable broth into the skillet, and mix in the couscous. Cover skillet, and turn off heat. Allow couscous to absorb liquid for 5 minutes. Stuff squash halves with the skillet mixture to serve.

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?

Beanloaf Muffins with Kale & Carrots

Beanloaf Muffins from Peas and Thank You, Balsamic Glazed Kale and Carrots from 1000 Vegan Recipes, and a baked potato. The muffin recipe says it yields 4 muffins; I made five, but probably could have made it into six smaller muffins. Pretty quick and easy.

Thai Quinoa

Things I love: cilantro. PINEAPPLE. Quinoa. Cashews. When I found this recipe, I knew I had to make it. I think I incorrectly measured the coconut milk or something, because the quinoa was a bit moist, more than I thought it should be. Other than that, this was delicious and quick and easy. Y'all know I like quick and easy. ;]

Tempeh Helper

Borderline brain dead, so this is all you get. Tempeh Helper from Appetite for Reduction. A pretty good homage to a meal from my childhood!

This week. Ohh, this week. I'd be lying if I said I were sad to see this week pass. It rained all week. All. Damn. Week.

The pond at my job flooded.

This video was shot about five minutes from my job.

301 in PG County. This is about an hour from my house; I take this road to get to my daddy's house!

Getting out of bed when it's cold, dark, and raining took more will power than I thought I was capable of. Especially when a natural light show (read: lightening storm) kept you up most of the night. Until about 5PM this evening, I hadn't seen the sun in four days. I hadn't walked my dog in just as many days, and spent too much of my time bailing water out of my flooding basement. The lack of sun and excess of water and humidity put me in a weird funk. It put my students in a weird funk. It was just bad news bears.

Given my general state of grumpiness, I craved warm, yummy, comforting food. And who came to my rescue? Mama Pea! I made her chickpea and dumplings, and my tummy and heart felt so good! This dish has a savory, delicious flavor, and the dumplings were the bomb.