Thanksgiving 2010

Hope those of you that celebrate Thanksgiving had a nice day yesterday (and those of you that don't celebrate too)!  It was a busy day for me, but I still got time in to do some walking.

So here's the lowdown on our Vegan Thanksgiving table:

A trio of appetizer dips/sauces (arugula pesto, butternut squash dip, & lemon cashew cheese):

Tofurky Roast and gravy (we saved the dumplings for another time, and alas, no Amy's Chocolate Cake or coupons in the box, apparently I got an older box):

Field Roast Cranberry Hazelnut Roast

Roasted Root Vegetables (around the Field Roast):

Stuffing:

Cranberry Bread:

Whole Wheat Herb Biscuits:

Kale and Carrot Salad:

Pumpkin Pie:

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream:

And of course tart cranberry sauce! Our friends brought some extra cranberry sauce, fruit salad, beer, wine, and some non-dairy ice cream :)

My recipe sources:

Lemon Cashew Cheese (scroll down to download the pdf of all recipes, it's on pg. 4)
Pumpkin Gingerbread (I used all whole wheat flour & unsulphured molasses, also had to do the icing in a food processor  and then put it in the fridge to firm up)
Cranberry Orange Sauce
Kale & Carrot Salad (coming soon!)
Pumpkin Pie (I used a pre-bought crust I had leftover)
Stuffing (my mom's recipe...veganized)
Cranberry Bread (I used whole wheat flour and cut down the sugar a bit, used canola oil instead of shortening and used EnerG egg replacer instead of egg)
Herbed Whole Wheat Drop Biscuits (from "Vegan Brunch", used canola oil instead of shortening, was a bit salty)
Roasted Root Vegetables (from "Local Bounty")

So there you have it. Another year, another Thanksgiving!
We had a couple of friends over to share all the food and we had a good time :)

Yesterday it was 80, today it's 50.  The wind is so cold.....

Another CSN Stores giveaway coming soon!

Eat smart,
T.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I actually had my Thanksgiving last night, because we're going to a friend's house for tonight's dinner, and I always make my own.  So we had an "erev" Thanksgiving! (erev = eve)

We had a few friends from work over and they brought wine and a pecan pie. Oh, and I must admit, I broke down and bought a crust for my pie.  I feel bad, but those things are a pain.  Next time I promise to make my own whole wheat crust!

So here's what we had on our "almost vegan" table:

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (with veg & crackers)

Butternut Squash Dip
Tofurkey
Celebration Roast
My own stuffing (made from my own whole wheat bread)
Root vegetables (leeks,carrots, parsnips, onions around the roasts)
Vegan Savory gravy (that I ordered online)
Maple-Glazed Carrots and Parsnips
Cucumber salad
Cranberry Orange Sauce (A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving)

Sweet Potato Spelt biscuits (A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving)
Whole wheat cranberry bread
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Cupcakes
(Pecan Pie that our friends brought)

I adjusted recipes to my diet...leaving out oil, etc.  The Pumpkin Cupcakes didn't really come out at all like the picture on that blog, BUT, they were really tasty!  I think it's because I left out the oil, and I probably should've added water to replace it.  So my cupcakes were smaller and denser. I decreased the amount of sugar in them, but I could've decreased it even more, because they were still incredibly sweet, especially with the icing on top.

The vegan pumpkin pie was absolutely delicious! Could've cut down the sugar even more. The biscuits were a bit soft, but tasty.  I even heated them in the toaster oven right before eating, but they never did crisp up.

This was the first time eating the Celebration Roast.  It was really good...had a slightly smoky, peppery flavor. And this was also the first time I've ever made my own cranberry sauce.  This recipe was SO good!

I made everything that had flour in it, with whole wheat (except I used spelt in the biscuits). I replaced soymilk with almond milk and left out all oil/butter, etc.

As for the meal being vegan...it really was almost completely vegan.  I'm sure the pecan pie was not and I'm not sure the crust that I bought for my pumpkin pie was.....but I'm pretty sure mostly everything else was.

It was all really tasty and we had a good time! I'm thankful for all you other bloggers out there, without which I couldn't have made this meal!!

Eat smart,
T.

It's almost Thanksgiving!

I won! I won!  Yup, I won a copy of "1,000 Vegan Recipes" by Robin Robertson!!  I won it from Alisa's OneFrugalFoodie blog.  Check it out!

Next on the list is lunchboxbunch. They've got a great Vegan Thanksgiving Recipe Series going on.  This is a great time to go have a look.

VegWeb's got a great Thanksgiving page that you can't pass up!

And now is also a great time to adopt or sponsor a turkey.  Here's a link to Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-a-Turkey project.

And while you're looking at farm animals, check out Windmill Hill Farm's Alpacas (yes, it's my parents' farm!)

I've got cranberry breads in the oven right now! Here's my list so far for my "erev" Thanksgiving:
(long story, I must have my own personal Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday night)

Butternut Squash Dip & Veggies (from LunchBoxBunch)
Celebration Roast
Tofurkey Roast
Stuffing (my mom's recipe, but vegan)
Maple glazed carrots and parsnips (from Vegetarian Times)
Cranberry bread
Sweet Potato-Spelt biscuits (from A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving)
Cranberry Orange Sauce (from A Bountiful V. Thanksgiving)
Cucumber salad
Maybe even some root veggies around the roasts in the oven (turnips, leeks, onions)


Unsure about dessert, maybe pumpkin cupcakes and/or pumpkin pie.  Maybe Orange Clementine Quick Bread.  We'll see....

What are YOU having for Thanksgiving?

Eat smart,
T.

Random

Ok, first of all, today's your last chance to enter this great chocolate giveaway at ChocolateCoveredKatie's blog! So go now and enter! And while you're there, check out Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness.

Found a new blog today that has amazing recipes you could use for your Thanksgiving: thelunchboxbunch
The pictures are so good, I want to eat them off the screen....

On another note, my Daiya Shredded Vegan Cheese started to get moldy yesterday!  So soon...I couldn't believe it.  I salvaged most of it and threw the good part in the freezer for my next pizza.  I was rather surprised....so if anyone buys it, I recommend using it in 3-4 days or freezing it!

More later....

Eat smart,
T.

e-cookbooks

Today I came across a great blog: HappyHerbivore.  I ordered all 4 of her e-cookbooks, because they are vegan and lowfat/fat free!  Please check them out.....they will only be for sale for a limited time, as her first "real" cookbook will be coming out shortly.  You can find her e-cookbooks here.

And then you have Nava Atlas' Thanksgiving e-cookbook, A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving, which you can find here.  Just in time for the holidays!

If you know of any other e-cookbooks that are vegetarian or vegan, please leave me a comment about where to find them and I'll also add them to this post!

Other e-cookbooks:

Hannah Kaminsky (author of My Sweet Vegan, which I own)
Kristen's Raw e-books

Eat smart,
T.

Thanksgiving help needed!

I'm starting to plan my Thanksgiving dinner and am looking for some good food suggestions that are vegan.  I've ordered a great e-recipe book (A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving by Nava Atlas) online here.  It looks great and I will look through it this weekend.

I usually get a Tofurkey and Quorn roast for the main meal.  I was browsing The Vegan Store for things to order and saw a Celebration Field Roast.  Has anyone had that? I might order that with the Tofurkey.  I noticed they have a TON of vegan cheeses.  I need help here.  If you have suggestions of what to order, please let me know, because I'm not really familiar with the vegan cheese selection.

Some of the cheeses they offer:

Sheese & Creamy Sheese
Daiya Vegan Cheese Shreds
Dr Cow Cheeses
Cheezly
Teese
Sunergia Bleu & Feta
FYH (Follow Your Heart)

All suggestions and helpful hints appreciated!

Eat smart,
T.