What's on your Thanksgiving menu?

Wondering if any of you have traditions, or special things that every year since before you could remember  you always had on the holiday? One thing I remember is the traditional green bean casserole every year- yum! My mom went all out, there was ham AND turkey and every other side dish you could imagine. Pies and sweets not so much since my mom was not the greatest baker ( wonder why I struggle with baking so much? ) We would order out for the pies which we always had to have some sort of cream pie to die for! My hubby's dad makes this fantastic pumpkin chiffon pie that he makes every year...wouldn't be the same without it! ( although this year since changing my diet radically, I will only be looking and smelling.) And really the no turkey part has not bothered me really the last few years ( tofurky really isn't that bad, it took me like 3 years to get the courage to try it! LOL)
Just got me to thinking though, it isn't about the food as much as the feelings we have when we sit down to something made with love by mom or grandma. And the sharing a meal with the ones we love, isn't that the best feeling? No matter how much fun is put into our dys"fun"ctional families, we wouldn't trade it for anything.Now that my parents have both passed on, sometimes the holidays get a little emotional. I am trying to recreate some of those things, as well as make our own family traditions. It does get difficult though when two married people have totally different traditions, I just make mine to bring and share and hopefully everyone will enjoy them and we can start a new better tradition.
Our new traditions starting this year will be a vegan thanksgiving. I am thankful that we do have so many options for our food choices and the resources to be able to have what we want.
So... what will we be having? For starters, in place of the turkey ( which I have also been thinking about, why do those of us who are vegetarians have to replace the real thing? It will never be exactly the same, and sometimes we are only substituting something lesser to satisfy some sort of need - kind of like our relationship with God- which I won't get into right now, but something to think about even if you aren't looking for ways to have a thanksgiving meal without meat or dairy.)
So, I have been a busy girl this week preparing food to be able to take to our meals we have been invited to, not just for myself (which of course if I want to eat I should bring something, I cannot expect others to cater to me) but also I hope to turn others onto delicious new things that are better and healthier for them. Prompting them to maybe make a small change in a positive direction, even if it's just a side dish along with the turkey ;)

So, on our menu this year will be:

Caramel Apple Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole (of course- but with a twist , I personally think it's yummier)
I admit I cheated on my stuffing though- I bought a bag of organic vegan stuffing mix with cranberries at Whole Foods... it is way good and I will definitely buy it again.
Opted out on the tofurky this year, and bought (once again at Whole Foods) a savory stuffed "turkey breast" from Gardein (which I have had their stuff before so it will probably be yummy) it has stuffing inside already and a little packet of gravy for each breast in the package
Creamed peas and pearl onions
Making a delicious pumpkin bread for dessert
and we also made squash rolls ( which I obtained from Jeremy's aunt who makes them every year, I just substituted non-dairy milk and no butter , boy are they good!)

So I won't be missing out on anything at all, after all, like I said before , the focus should not be on the food as much but on the people and the blessings of God around us. Every day not just once a year.

I would love to hear your traditions, your special things that you love to partake in on the holiday that make it special too. I wish you all the many abundant blessings of God for you and your families. Enjoy each other, enjoy every moment together, take time to relax!

Here is one of the recipes if you want to give it a try, I will post the rest later on.

Caramel Apple Sweet Potato Casserole

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice  
• 5 TBSP Earth Balance nondairy butter   
• 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups) 1 lb tart apples, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (2 cups) .
• 4 cups whole wheatbread cubes (1/4inch)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 9 by 13 baking dish
2. In a 1-qt heavy bottomed sauce pan, cook the sugar, without stirring, over medium heat until it starts to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the sugar turns a deep golden caramel color.
3. Remove the melted sugar from the heat and stir in the apple juice, 2 TBSP butter,1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. The caramel will bubble up,harden and steam vigorously) Return to medium low heat and cook, stirring, until the caramel is dissolved. Let the caramel sauce cool for about 10 minutes
4. In a large bowl, toss the caramel sauce with the sweet potato and apple cubes; transfer to baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake, stirring once, until the apples and potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes
5. Meanwhile in a large skillet, melt the remaining 3 TBSP butter over medium heat. Add the bread cubes andb 1/4 tsp salt adn pepper and toss to coat evenly. Cook the bread cubes, stirring occasionally until they are lightly toasted
6. Uncover the casserole and sprinkle the croutons on top. Bake until deep golden, about 10 minutes longer. Garnish with fresh parsley.

"What do you eat if you are a vegan and can't have...."

This is question I have been asked so many times I cannot count. I guess most people's preconceived notion is that all I eat is salad and eat like a bunny ( although I sometimes do if I am at a potluck and that is all there is) I also think that if most people, including myself "ate like a bunny" even once in a while, they would be quite a bit healthier.
I always struggle for an answer to try to explain myself and my choice, but now I can say " pumpkin spice cupcakes with creamy chocolate frosting" =) and really shock people
Unless you live under a rock, you all knowThanksgiving is coming in a few days, and this year I decided to make something different. I stumbled upon the cutest turkey cupcakes on a website that I frequent. My first thought was, oh boy those are great, but I know how great I bake... lol My husband does too.... it's always fun in our house when I am trying to make the "perfect" holiday cookies. I also tend to bite off more than I can chew... I love to play in the kitchen, and especially around the holidays, you must keep me away from the magazine aisle- first of all, we would go broke because I would want to buy EVERY magazine to make every cute thing I saw on the covers, second I would make everyone around me crazy because they would never be as cute or tasty! So there is much restraining when I go into the grocery store..."step away from the magazine rack, how many cookie recipes do you need? "
Well, this time I followed through and I did make this my own ( the original recipe didn't tell you what kind of cupcakes, etc. just how to make them gobble) I decided pumpkin would be the best because it is still fall, even though in the stores it looks like Christmas already!
So, I hope if you have extra time this Thanksgiving, you can try these. It took me about half an afternoon, and I am certainly NOT an accomplished baker!! Or save this for next year, or better yet just make the darn cupcakes without the cute decorations, you will not be sorry! (I almost had to make a second bowl of the frosting because my hubby was eating it out of the bowl!) I know when we take them, people will never guess they are vegan, which for me is the most exciting part! If you want to leave out the vegan part because it scares some people ( I dont tell people until AFTER they eat it! ) honestly they will never know the difference!
Before I give you the recipe, I want to add one more thing. I hope that all of you will be able to spend this holiday with your favorite people, whether it be family or friends (we get to do both, super blessed!) and take time to remember the things we are all thankful for. Take the time to honor those around you, to serve them, to maybe help out at a local food pantry, or shelter for those less fortunate. Just focus on God and the blessings He has given us all. I know I am super thankful for friends who prod me on to do something greater than me, and to stop thinking of myself and I know I am better off for that. The best way for me to get out of that funk that sometimes we all get in this time of year, mostly because we overextend ourselves ( am I the ONLY one that does this? I prefer to think not... it keeps me saner!) trying to make everything perfect for everyone else. I read an article recently that said to love more stop caring. Be you, be who God made you, and when you stop caring about what others think, you will be better for it.
Happy Turkey Day ( at our house it's unturkey day) and enjoy your blessings! I know I am going to!

                                 
                                                             VEGAN PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

• 1/4 cup plain almond milk or soy milk
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup granulated vegan sugar
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt                you can use pumpkin pie spice instead of all the different spices if you want
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree ( on sale at stop and shop for only $2, cheaper than non-organic)
• 1/2 cup canola oil   - you could also use 1/2 the oil and put in some applesauce for the other half
• 1 tsp pure vanilla

      Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 . Line a 12- cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside
• In a small cup, combine almond milk and vinegar. Allow mixture to rest for 5 minuts
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugars, and spices. Set aside
• In another bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, oil, vanilla and almond milk-vinegar mixture from before. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just combined. Divide the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full.
• Bake 16-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

                                              CHOCOLATE FROSTING

• 1 cup vegan margarine ( I use Earth Balance), room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar ( you can actually make your own by blending sugar and cornstarch, I wasnt this brave I used the store bought kind )
• dash of salt
• 2 TBSP vanilla
• 4 TBSP nondairy milk
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

     Preparation:

• Blend margarine until mushy
• Add all remaining ingredients , if you want to add more milk to make it smoother not too much.
• Blend all together- that's it!

                                                HOW TO MAKE THE TURKEYS

       Supplies Needed

• Chocolate Hershey kisses
• Wilton candy melts in orange, red and yellow
• Chocolate Sprinkles
• Wax paper

      Instructions

• Place 20 or so candy melts into a freezer baggie and melt in microwave ( ours has a chocolate setting because it's trying to be all fancy... but if you don't it took about a minute and a half stopping half way through to smush it around to melt it easier)
• Cut a very small hole in the corner of the bag to make a tip  ( they also sell little plastic squeezy bottles but this works just as good, I just didnt want to spend the extra money)
• Line baking sheets (measure to make sure they fit into the freezer for later) with wax paper
• Create feathers onto the wax paper by squeezing chocolate into loops, 5 for the red and orange and 3 for the yellow ( this took me some practice, so you should make extra for that purpose and also because they WILL break)
• Roll the edges of the cupcakes into the sprinkles
• Add the chocolate kiss for the head, piping a small bit of red for the "gobbler"
• Place feathers carefully onto the cupcakes