Our Vegan Thanksgiving

I get to make Thanksgiving dinner this year! I have had such fun mulling over the possibilities ever since our November storage box arrived last week from Driftless Organics. It was jam packed with tons of root vegetables that I plan to transform into a hearty, vegan Thanksgiving. If I were not the mother of a newborn, 2 year old and 4 year old I would probably double the dishes I plan to make. However, I will take it slow this year and imagine the possibilities for years to come. Here's the current menu I plan to make...I'll write post-Thanksgiving with the final recipes and to see how it all turned out.

Shepard's Pie
Beet Salad with Black Spanish Radish, Walnuts and Greens
Savory Dressing
Pumpkin Biscuits

These days...

These days I'm still cooking but with very little time to take pictures, etc. So, perhaps I will still share the meals we are devouring as a family; however, I think I may be writing more about my days. I find myself having conversations with myself over and over again in my head, as I am the only person over the age of four in this house of dudes for the majority of the day. This veggie mama needs an outlet.

I'm now the mama of three dear, sweet boys. Three! I still find myself in shock from time to time that I am responsible for the safety and livelihood of these guys. They are amazing. They are beautiful. They are a handful. I've never been so tired in my life. We start our day by 5:15am nearly every single day. 5:15! Daylight Savings actually has been a gift to me. I love the early sun and the early sunset. It actually grooves well with our daily rhythm. Most days I've been incredibly productive before 8am and already been spit up on or peed on a few times.

Life is blurry but life is good.

Dinner tonight: Sweet Potato Maafe

Vegan French Toast

I've never had true success with vegan french toast. Every recipe I tried I had issues keeping whatever I used as the egg replacer on the bread or cooking well enough. It just came out sloppy and wet. As I was figuring out what I wanted to do for Father's Day, I came across an Overnight Maple French Toast recipe. I had never heard of overnight french toast, and I thought this would be my perfect solution! No frying in the pan and getting annoyed that the flaxseeds won't stick or cook. I "veganized" this recipe, and it actually turned out pretty great. Even made it for extended family this weekend, and it was eaten quite quickly.

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance
1 loaf of french bread, cut into 1-inch slices
3 Tablespoons of ground flaxseed
9 Tablespoons of water
1 1/2 cups plain, unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
fresh fruit, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
-Combine brown sugar, syrup and Earth Balance into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil for one minute. Pour into a greased (I just use more Earth Balance) 9x13 baking dish. Place bread slices into dish (I can fit most if not all).
-Combine ground flaxseeds and water and blend until thick and creamy. This can take up to one to two minutes. I use a hand blender in a plastic 16 oz cup (I got it with the blender), and it works SO much better than anything else I've tried.
-Stir the soy milk, applesauce, vanilla and salt into flaxseed mixture. Pour evenly over bread.
-Cover and refrigerate overnight.
-Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake uncovered at 400 F for thirty minutes.
-Garnish with fruit, if you wish and eat! We served with rosemary hashbrowns and Gimme Lean patties (two breakfast faves for the veggie papa).

White Bean and Tomato Soup

We've got a cool, rainy day, and it looks like the weekend will be much the same. This White Bean and Tomato Soup comes from cucina nicolina, and it has become a standard in our kitchen. It comes together incredibly fast and with so few ingredients - most you may have stashed in your cupboard right now and the rest you can grab from your garden or the farmer's market.

If I'm going to be gone during the afternoon and will not have time to make dinner, I will throw this in the crock pot right after lunch. When going this route, I use kale instead of spinach, because it sits much better in the heat. When I am whipping this together and wanting to have it on the table in thirty minutes or less, I use beautiful fresh spinach.

Make a quick loaf of beer bread or Irish soda bread, if you're in the mood to turn on the oven. This summer, you may just want to have a wonderful fresh salad on the side. Enjoy!

Raspberry Leaf Iced Tea with Lemon

This iced tea is great and is loved by all people - not just pregnant mamas (although there are great benefits to expectant and postpartum moms). I enjoy it most with lots of ice and a thick slice of lemon. This can treat a craving for any sweet drink but provide you only with benefits. The amount of loose leaf tea you use is up to you. I find myself going back and forth between 2-4 tablespoons per quart.

DIRECTIONS:
-Bring one quart (4 cups) of water to a boil.
-Place in heatproof container (I like using my one quart Pyrex measuring cup) with 2-4 tablespoons of dried loose raspberry leaves. Seep for 10 to 15 minutes.
-Strain tea into a storage container (I use a simple one quart Kerr canning jar).
-Let cool and place in the refrigerator.

To serve:
Pour tea over ice and serve with a thick slice of lemon.

Here we go!

Wow...I haven't blogged in nearly TWO and a half MONTHS! The reason for this is that I am nearly 16 weeks pregnant with my third "veggie" baby. :) This pregnancy has been much more difficult than the other two thus far. I've felt sick every day since I found out. Therefore, my presence in the kitchen has been sparse - mostly just running in and out to avoid the smells of dirty dishes and most foods. I have seen improvement in the last week or two (as well as bought a dishwasher), so I'm excited to get back to cooking and helping myself recuperate by feeding myself well. I've got iced raspberry leaf lemon tea as my assignment this week. I thrived off of it during Aksel's pregnancy and look forward to enjoying it for many months to come. Best!

Cabbage Pasta

My new favorite quick fix for lunch when there seems to be nothing around is Cabbage Pasta. This was inspired by Urban Vegan's Quickie Halushki. Since fall, we've had an abundance of cabbage in our house from our CSA, and it is still incredibly cheap at the co-op. Plus, cabbage and pasta are two of my fave foods. This is perfect.

Ingredients:
1 cup pasta (penne, as pictured, isn't great for this. Choose something thinner like macaroni or noodles)
1 quarter of a cabbage, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
couple dashes of tamari
couple dashes of Srircha sauce (optional)

Cook pasta in boiling water for 8-10 minuets. Saute cabbage with salt and pepper to taste in olive oil until soft. Add garlic until fragrant (30 seconds). Add tamari and Srircha. Stuff your face.

That's Why We Don't Eat Animals

I recently began my search for a simple, clear children's book about vegetarianism. I wanted something more than a story about an unrealistic, cartoon animal, as well as a story that touched on the environment and American factory farms (the main reason why we are strict vegetarians). I was really happy to find That's Why We Don't Eat Animals by Ruby Roth.

My three-year-old found the pictures to be very interesting, but he wasn't completely enthralled by the story...I think he may be a tad young to fully understand it. I hope to buy it and have it as our main vegetarian book, so the children can read it when they've got questions as to why we don't eat meat. It's hasn't been an issue yet, and I feel fortunate to live somewhere where my children's eating habits will barely shock a soul. However, they're still going to be different, and I hope to have many resources to help them figure it out.

I personally enjoyed the story, because it made me think more about the animals and how they were made to live. I often just get caught up on ethics of the American factory farms and how it's so hard on our world. Being reminded that we are all "earthlings" really resounded with me, and why it's difficult for me to eat animals and why I never will again.

On my list of many things I want to do this year, writing a reflective essay about raising a vegetarian family is one of them...let's see if it happens.

PS - Another fun find has been the final track on Alphabutt: Sunbeams and Some Beans by Kimya Dawson. It's a simple story about the injustice of our current food system. Again, it's not all gloom and doom, but just an honest story with some hopeful steps of how you can make a difference.

Vanilla Crunch Granola

I have shared other favorite Cathe Olson recipes in the past, and alas I fell upon another on the internet I have come to love! Vanilla Crunch Granola is a great quick, crunchy (love the steel cut oats) breakfast that is slightly sweet but not filled with tons of sugar like many store-bought granolas. This is incredibly easy and fast to make. Everyone in our family loves it! I follow her directions exactly; however, I do use golden raisins and think about throwing in some chopped dried apple next time.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!