My Vegan Holiday..

Wow!!  That was CRAZY!! 

A vegan holiday to remember.. From Green bean casserole to tofurkies!  Sushi to Sweet Potatoes!  I could not have been happier about what foods I chose to eat! 

Vegan Mushroom soup:


1 package of mushrooms.. (your choice)
1 medium onion
2 celery stalks
mimic cream (almond heavy cream) 1 cup or so..
earth balance vegan butter
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Water
Flour

Saute mushrooms, onions, and celery in a Bit of your earth balance, Add about a quart of water maybe a bit more if you want more mass to your soup.  Add about a cup of mimic cream salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.. bring to a soft boil.. in a separate dish warm a stick of earth balance until it is liquid, then whisk in flour until it becomes goopy and sticks to your whisk.  Then turn down your soup to simmer and whisk in the rue to thicken your soup!  Taste and see if if needs more salt and pepper! 

I NEVER follow a recipe.  So I'm always altering EVERYTHING that I make.  This is pretty basic and will be your base for the Green Bean Casserole!  Gotta love that holiday favorite!!

dinner for one.

STARVING!  Thats how I felt when I got home today!  I was up at 6 greeted by a snowstorm and a WONDERFUL husband who stayed up late shoveling the driveway so I could leave in the a.m.  Got to work by 7:30 made some coffee and FULL SPEED AHEAD!  The store was TRASHED!  Many busy holiday shopping days piled up on top of one another finally did the store in..  I got to cleaning.. Deep cleaning.  Breakfast??? Who has time for breakfast??  Coffee.. COFFEE!!  Thats all I need!  Thanks to the snow things were slow enough this morning to get finished with all the cleaning and stocking that needed doing!  Then the place filled up!  Cinnamon, tofu, rice, flour, yeast eggs..All were flying out the door!  Made a quick salad for lunch. Spinach, sunflower seeds, onion, aminos, vinegar and a dash of dressing.. Then from work went to a local shop downtown and finished my Christmas list!  Then to the Y for spin class with Ms. Sandy! Then to CLHA for yoga with Mr. Rohr!  When I stumbled through the door this evening I was thinking tempeh!  Tempeh lightly fried in coconut oil with local onions, and local cabbage!  Drizzled with Liquid aminos and INHALED!  Now Im nibbling some local popcorn popped in coconut oil, dusted with cracked celtic sea salt.  ahhhh bliss.. Well.. the martini helps too!!

merry christmas everyone!

Homemade Vegan Cream Cheese!

1/2 lb Raw Cashews (I used organic)
1 tbsp. miso

Soak Cashews for at least 4 hours. (mine soaked for 8)
Drain, pulverize in the food processor or a high speed blender with your miso and enough water to keep it moving.  Then dump into cheese cloth and let it drain at room temp for 2 full days.  (fermentation!!  YUMMY)  I also pressed mine but you do not have to do that. 

after two days open add some fresh cracked sea salt and enjoy on crusty homemade bread or crackers or add herbs to make a dip!!  It is FANTASTIC!!

stranger in a familiar land.

That is how I feel right now.  With work stuffs mostly..  Maybe Im just feeling uncertain.  Not sure how things are going to go.  Feeling out of the loop.  Feeling dispensable.  Feeling unappreciated. 

too busy these days.

im feeling the pressure..  work.. remodeling.. work.. volunteering.. work..

i need a vacation.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I woke up this morning with a MISSION!  I need to make vegan alternatives for me and one of my sisters.  So...  I got to cooking!! (my favorite thing to do!!) 

Of course Payton wanted pancakes for breakfast first!! 

Vegan stuffing!  I bought a bag of Arrowhead Organic Stuffing mix from the co-op, I heated 1 cup chopped local onions, and 1 cup organic celery and 1 1/5 cup of veggie broth from the soup I made last night for dinner.  Saute all the veggies in olive oil, add the stock bring to a boil and add the mix.  Stir it all together and let it rest for 5 min.  Ill heat it up at my Dads. 

I also decided that waking Christian up would be easiest with the smell of pumpkin pie baking!  So.. Took some squash out of the freezer and whipped it up into pie filling.. Using coconut milk instead of egg and condensed milk. The crust I made with coconut oil, spelt flour, sea salt, vinegar and water.  Should be DELICIOUS! 

Ive got all my goodies ready for the pickle tray Ive been instructed to bring.  With TONS of goodies from Moreys markets! (man.. i love that place).  Marinated mushrooms, olives, pickles, asparagus spears, and pickled herring are just a few items that will be on our platter! 

Ive also got a Field Roast thawing for my sister and I to feast on.  That I will just brown on the stove top, and stick it in the oven for half an hour or so.  Pretty simple and they are soooo darn tasty and moist!

Whatever your eating today, I hope you eat it with intention and gusto! Remembering where it came from.   And... I hope your day is full of stories, laughs and some tears, as Im sure mine will be.   

Lunch today!

I was STARVING AT WORK today.. I did not have time for Breakfast, and then by 1pm it was getting pretty serious!  So.. I took a small pumpkin, a turnip, a bit of fresh ginger.  I fried it up in olive oil with a shake of 5-spice powder, a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper, and a 1/4 tsp. of garlic then finished with a tablespoon of honey!  IT WAS AMAZING!!! and I was stuffed!  If only I had some fresh cranberries to toss in there at the end. Then it would have been PERFECT!  Thank goodness we are getting a fresh batch in on Wednesday!!