Thanksgiving: check!

Thanksgiving Supper 2011

I loved these stand-up turkey napkins my mom bought for us to use. Not extremely absorbent but cute!

Stand up Christmas napkins, anyone?

Hopefully, no arsenic.

I worked so hard on this Cinnamon-Dusted Butternut Squash. Really, it's from Whole Foods deli.

I did, however, make Homemade Applesauce. And applesauce does not need sugar. Here is the recipe I used. I was able to use up the last of our 20 lb. box of organic apples, that were starting to get a little soft, from our Azure Standard order.

Thank you again, Whole Foods, for the Brussels Sprouts I did not have to wash, chop, and roast. I did, however add the pomegranate arils after seeing Bobby Flay or someone do that on the news that morning. I think I could add pomegranate seeds to anything and love it.

I worked hard on my homemade stuffing, but I'm not sure it was worth the effort. It was pretty good that night, but it was soggy as a leftover. (I probably messed the recipe up by subbing a couple of ingredients; my main substitution was so dumb, I'm not even going to say what it was).

I did love the idea of making homemade stuffing, and I loved the idea of chopped pears and chestnuts in it. (Although - the canned chestnuts are soft and totally grossed me out. I will use only dry nuts next time.) I also added some chopped Smoked Apple Sage Field Roast Sausages, which might have saved it. My friend's stuffing at Portions of Goodness looked much better. I'll do a better job with your recipe next time, Pam.

Roasted vegetables with our Field Roast and Tofurky Roast. Road's End Gravy (not pictured) on the side. We love the marinade we use for our veggies (potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, and onions) and roasts. It's a version of this Tofurky Baste Option 2, using orange juice, maple syrup, soy sauce, olive oil, and spices.

I had kind of hoped to make a homemade roast this year...but I didn't even go grocery shopping until late Wednesday evening. And they weren't out of Tofurky Roasts, like I'd feared. Maybe one like this for Christmas.

an assortment of rolls from Whole Foods

We LOVED this Cranberry Mandarin Orange Relish, also from the Whole Foods deli. Delicious! I paired it with some plain, cooked millet.

I also took Pam's suggestion for Spaghetti Squash & Chard Gratin from Kalyn's Kitchen. I subbed in tofu, Vegenaise, and Daiya for cottage cheese, egg, and parmesan.

I won't go so creamy and decadent next time and let the squash and chard have more of a voice, but I liked it.

After a whole day of cooking and very little sampling, I couldn't WAIT to sit down and enjoy my meal. And yet...I couldn't finish even half of my plate. What a disappointment. This was the problem of deciding to have Thanksgiving supper rather than lunch: I can't eat very much in the evening, even if I don't eat a lot early on. (I'm 8 months pregnant, for those of you just tuning in.) I covered my plate and stuck it in the fridge.

My 11 year old, on the other hand, was being exceptionally quiet, and we realized it was because he was just shoveling it in.

And although everyone else got to enjoy my pumpkin pie (recipe here)...

...and this girl came back for dessert seconds, in which she asked for "more pie and more Brussels sprouts"...

...my burgeoning belly had to wait until the next day for a piece of pie. I tried staying up late just so it would settle enough for one little piece of pie. But I finally brushed my teeth, telling Ryan I was going to be a big girl and just wait until the next day.

Those of you who like Soyatoo, have you tried the new extra creamy version? I think it's even better.

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And off to get ready for Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The only turkeys eaten in this house today:

Part of our pre-Thanksgiving Meal brunch, eaten with hummus and pumpkin soup.

Idea borrowed from here.

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Idea borrowed from the amazing Fork and Beans.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!! I am truly thankful for all of my blogging friends and those who ever stop by here. Have a wonderful weekend. I'll be by to visit (well, your blogs, anyway) soon.

Vegan MoFo: Thanksgiving Comes Early

Since we are going to be in NYC for Thanksgiving, last night we had a little Thanksgiving-at-home meal with my Dad and sister Tracy. (My Mom was busy, selling houses.)

I have no idea what was going on with the Tofurky! Have you ever bought and prepared a Tofurky Roast? I have - at least 6 or 7 times, and it always turned out the same - as a whole, round roast. As soon as I slit the package, the dough came oozing out. I decided to put it in its own casserole dish, rather than in the vegetables, because I'd never seen it do that before. I guess I picked a good dish; it just filled that baby out. (The spices are what emerged from the marinade, which includes such ingredients as orange juice, organic Tamari, olive oil, and maple syrup - loosely based on the recipe that's on the Tofurky box.) After my initial shock and concern about my Tofurky issues, all was well because the taste was not affected.

Butternut Squash with Millet Stuffing

I mixed the millet with chopped apples, blueberries, walnuts, cinnamon, and a little orange juice/maple syrup dressing.

Cauliflower and Mushroom Pot Pie with Black Olive (Kalamata) Crust

Tracy made this dish from Veganomicon. I've said this before: I love that she always picks the recipes I wouldn't necessarily consider myself. I always lean toward the lasagnas, enchiladas, salads, etc., and everything she makes is hearty, flavorful, delicious. This was a really unique dish; I thought it turned out great.

Green Beans with Shiitake Mushrooms and Slivered Almonds

I cooked a bag of frozen haricots verts in a skillet with a tablespoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of organic Tamari, and minced garlic to taste. I also added chopped shiitakes and slivered almonds.

Cranberry Beans

If you've never made cranberry beans, this is what they look like dry - so pretty!

Roasted Vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips)

I used the same marinade I used for the Tofurky: o.j., maple syrup, organic Tamari, a tiny bit of olive oil, and spices.

The 3rd and 4th pumpkin pies I've made in the span of 8 days - the current addiction of the vegan and so forth family. This piece is a little squished. I didn't have any more Rice Whip from Vegan Essentials, so we used what Whole Foods had - the boxed Soyatoo that you whip yourself. I always find it amazing to watch it take form.

So...I was pretty disappointed that the Tofurky box no longer contains the potato*apple*cranberry dumplings that were always sooo good. In its place was an Amy's mini-chocolate cake. (I added the frosting myself.) Although it doesn't seem exactly Thanksgiving-ish, we do enjoy Amy's cakes. They're perfect for any last-minute, celebratory situations.

a little cuddle time with Aunt Tracy before bed

I'd like to have this shirt.

This Is My Thanksgiving Post

NOTE: THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR MY HOMESCHOOLING BLOG TO A NON-VEGAN AUDIENCE.

For Thanksgiving, we did what we always do (since Tornado was about 2, I think) - honorarily adopt a turkey from Farm Sanctuary. This year, our turkey's name is Mello. $25, which gets us this photograph and certificate, plus membership to Farm Sanctuary.

Thanksgiving is...not really my favorite holiday. Don't get me wrong; I'm all about celebrating anything when the time comes. But I just hate that it's all about the poor little turkeys (and it makes me think of the Native Americans getting their land taken away and everyone who got killed on both sides back then...). I don't really understand why we have a holiday based primarily on eating an animal that suffered. A very smart animal with a good personality. Am I the Grinch who stole Thanksgiving?

Okay, but it's really about getting together with family and having a day set aside to feel thankful for everything, right? I'll try to play along. I really do like the "feeling thankful" aspect. We should really do that more often. And I won't even post the "videos" because I already did that on facebook, but if you want to see how most commercial turkeys are treated, you can see it here. Other than that, please understand my negativity (like I said, it's just not the best for me personally; some people don't believe in celebrating Halloween, Valentine's Day stinks for single people...you know, it's kind of like that for me), and I really do hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving Day.

I did, in fact, have one pretty, little pilgrim at her preschool Thanksgiving program. She very sweetly smiled on stage and every once in awhile she would sing a few words of the song - just when she would look at me, and I would mouth the words animatedly so she would sing, too. She and I ate lunch together after the program with the other kids and parents.

And one brave Indian boy. He did fabulous at his school's program. Papaw, Sissy, and I got to watch him and eat with him afterward. Googie came at the end and about started crying because she missed it.

We stayed put for Thanksgiving dinner this year, and it was just the five of us.

Tofurky is a joke of sorts that gets tossed around at Thanksgiving time. Well, we are one of those families that eats it and loves it. You know what I love as much, maybe even more than the Tofurky itself? The Cranberry-Apple Potato Dumplings that come with it. So good (but there are only 8 of them in the box). I did a lot of prep work for our meal the night before, and at one point I said to Ryan, "...I accidentally ate one of the dumplings." The box even comes with "Jurky Wishsticks" in case you just can't live without that tradition.

You know what I am most thankful for? No, not pumpkin pie, although I seriously LOVE pumpkin pie (I was in PANIC mode when I realized I only had one organic 365 brand crust in the freezer, and I had to MAKE another pie crust from scratch.). I love it so very much. I don't know why I don't make it all year round.

Like every night.

I am thankful for God's mercy and love. I am thankful for all of the many blessings He has given me (and really, there are so many...I don't deserve, and most of the time I feel whiny inside about what I don't have). I don't write that very often. I mostly always think it goes without saying how I feel about my relationship with the Lord. I don't speak enough about it, I think, because I don't want to sound trite or phony. I err by not saying it enough.

What is Tornado thankful for this Thanksgiving? "Googie" was his automatic reply. (That's my Mom.) Don't feel bad if he left you out; he didn't say my name either.

Oh! I'm also very thankful for my warming drawer. Such a non-necessity, but it's such a nice thing to have when I'm making big meals. I love it.

I loved, loved having the kids at home all week from school. I loved, loved that I didn't have to get up every morning in our panicked rush. (I can't wait for a snow day!) We got to snuggle in bed and do little projects together. We made crayons one day in preparation of making leaf rubbings. I have made these before, years ago as gifts. Lots easier when you have 3 eager kids helping. They really participated with this, and I guess it's a good fine motor activity, eh? (And uses up all our nubby and broken crayons.) Sissy loved it most of all, I'd say. Look how serious she was about it. I told her I was proud of what a great job she was doing and pointed out that she was making such a neat pile with her wrappers.

And then Dash asked, "Do you like my crazy pile?"

It just looks pretty.

One of our crayons has a big finger print in it because after I took them out of the oven, and they had cooled for a bit, Dash wanted desperately to touch them. I said, "You can touch it VERY lightly, but it's not completely hard yet. Don't push down on it." Well, of course, he pressed his finger down into that crayon as far as it would go. Of course, he did.

On Thanksgiving Day, while I was busy cooking, Ryan took the kids outside to gather leaves, then they worked on their big leaf rubbing sign, using our new heart shaped crayons.

The kids enjoyed making the sign so much, they made another one. This time they watercolored over the crayon rubbings like they did over at Filth Wizardry (fun blog, by the way).

Sissy, posing with their sign

Our noon meal consisting of rolls, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans almondine, Lemony Roasted Brussel Sprouts with garlic, Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing, Asparagus, Sweet Potatoes with cranberries, apples, and walnuts, and Holiday Rice (Thanks Tofu Mom, for the brussel sprouts and rice recipes!). And of course, the Tofurky roast surrounded in roasted potatoes, turnips, sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions.

I took a picture of Ryan's plate...because I was so impressed at the sheer volume. My plate wasn't that full.

He even went back for seconds.

He's going to LOVE that I documented this. :) Then he had a big piece of pie. Ryan always likes to have dessert or something sweet immediately after a meal. I like to save a little something for later.

The bad thing about consuming all of this food is that we immediately had to clean up and drive 3 hours to see my brother and all of the rest of my family. Ryan said he needed 5 minutes to lie down. I gave him 5 minutes, then it was rush, rush, rush. That's okay, though. Spending time with my family is much better than a nap any day.