My Thanksgiving Dinner

A quick post to share my Thanksgiving with you all! 

My mom always makes the most beautiful table setting. 

She even has pom-pom turkey name holders that she made a few years ago. Aren’t they cute?

My family has a tradition of making stuffed celery appetizers for all the holidays. Even though its such a simple recipe, we all go nuts for it. Since the stuffing is made with cream cheese, I decided to make my own with hummus. Just as good! 

My Mommom and I. 

My cranberry sauce came out so good. I used this recipe but added fresh ginger, vanilla powder, maqui berry powder and orange stevia. I’ve been adding the leftovers to raw kale – sooo yummy. 

My mashed roasted garlic cauliflower came together really nicely. I loved it so much that I didn’t miss my mom’s delicious mashed potatoes.

Here was my all vegan/high raw thanksgiving dinner. 

For dessert, I decided to skip making something and instead bought this delicious little raw maple apple pudding cup from a local raw restaurant. It was soooo delicious. 

For lunch yesterday I mixed leftover mashed cauliflower with gravy and quinoa and added kale and broccoli and topped with cranberry compote. This was a great combo of flavors! 

Hope you all had a warm and loving Thanksgiving. Be back soon with good eats!

My Vegan Thanksgiving Menu

As tradition, I am going to my parent’s for Thanksgiving. Usually its a small gathering but this year we have extended the invitation to our cousins.  I am excited to have a larger then usual crowd. I’m also particularly excited to see my brother, who I don’t often get to see since he moved down to VA. It will be good to have him home for a long weekend. 

Ok, let’s talk food. My mom surely puts out a huge decadent spread of food. Its a meal that shouldn’t be missed! Well, except for me. I have one Aunt who is vegetarian, otherwise I am the only Vegan who will be eating separately from the rest. It’s ok though! My meal plan is just as exciting! I think I will be the only one with energy at the end of the meal too 😉

Thanksgiving Meatless Loaf

My main dish will be this delicious meatless loaf. It got many rave reviews saying it tasted a lot like “stuffing” in a loaf form. Its filled with healthy things such as sweet potatoes, beans, tofu, quinoa flakes….

(I am serving it with homemade Vegan Rosemary gravy that I am buying from a local Vegan restaurant called From Seed to Sprout.)

If I were to make my own gravy this is what I would be making: 

Easy & Amazing Gravy

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mash

A great alternative to potatoes. 

Cauliflower is an excellent source of vitamin C, manganese and antioxidants.

Brussel Sprout & Kale Salad 

with almonds

You can even add some crisp apple slices to this if you’d like.

Cranberry Goji Compote

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

1/2 cup mandarin orange juice (or juice of regular oranges)

5 drops stevia

1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1-2 drops orange essential oil

1 1/2 tablespoons chia seed

2 tablespoons goji berries

Blend all but the chia and gojis, in a food processor or blender, leaving a little texture, if desired.

Pulse in the chia seed just to mix it in, but avoid breaking it down.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in the goji berries.

Chill in the fridge for a few hours. The chia will soak up some of the liquid, causing the compote to thicken.

Clean Green Bean Casserole

To help my mom, I have to make one “regular” dish. I was assigned the green bean casserole but I am not making the cream-soup filled dish that usually appears on the Thanksgiving table. Here the creaminess comes from pureed parsnips! I’m hoping it passes the test from my family of picky eaters! 

Pumpkin Seed Cakes with Lime Mousse

I had a very hard time choosing a dessert for myself. I chose this one because of its simplicity and ease to make. Since I will most likely be the one enjoying raw dessert, I will half the recipe. Instead of yogurt, I will make a cashew lime cream. 

What are you having for Thanksgiving? 

Getting back to normal after Sandy

I’m back! Boy, its been a very hectic few weeks. I reside on the Jersey Shore, and as you know, Sandy was not nice to us here.  I was one of the few fortunate ones who did not get any damage. I did however lose power & heat for over 10 days. I lost all my food and there was some damage to the floor under my fridge where water leaked. I can’t complain though because I personally know some people who lost everything. It was a dark, trying and cold week to say the least. During such devastating times, it can often make you realize what you have in your life. I feel so fortunate to have my supportive family, friends, and a roof over my head. I hope all of you are safe and warm wherever you are! Always count your blessings.

Bowie and I trying to stay warm during the power outage. 

My friend’s and I served homemade hot food/drinks to people in need in a local beach town that was hit hard. My tray of quinoa wasn’t too popular. No one knew what it was! Everyone played it safe and ate the pasta with sauce 🙂

We also set up a charging station for people’s phones and laptops. 

A lot of people were appreciative of this! 

If Sandy wasn’t enough,  we got then hit with a Nor’Easter. Luckily my honey and I had a little getaway planned prior. What perfect timing! I don’t get to travel as often as I used to so I was really looking forward to getting away for a short little trip…especially away from a cold house without power!!! 

I was so excited to be staying right across the street from this place but they had odd hours and was never open when we were around at the cottage. 

One of my favorite places we stopped at was the Butterfly Conservatory. It was an AMAZING experience. Hundred’s of butterflies fluttering around you with colorful exotic birds, flowers, trees, turtles…I wish I had one of these in my backyard! 

These little partridge looking birds were along the path everywhere – so cute!

Overall we had a great trip. By the end though, I wasn’t feeling too well. There were little Vegan/raw options for me and the amount of cheating I was doing caught up with me. My body gets stressed when I’m on a plane and also when I’m away from home. With Crohn’s its tough to be away from your comforts. I knew I had to be strict with my eating when I returned home. 

So I ate high raw most of the week, upped my probiotic intake along with my turmeric & boswelia and bounced back to my old self. This was my dinner one night – a plate full of raw veggies, flax crackers with hummus that was topped with raw pumpkin seeds. 

I brought salads to work all week. What a fun way to pack up a salad! Everything stays fresh too this way. A very easy grab and go kinda meal.

That little jar can be deceiving! 

Huge bowl full of artichokes, tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. 

I made a bunch of raw sweet potato mushroom “sliders” for the week. They were really easy to make and very yummy! Heat them back up in dehydrator before serving for a warm chewy burger. 

I had a major sweet tooth one morning so I went to Organic Avenue and bought a raw Cinnabon and a Vanilla Cashew Shake. Both, were the BEST I ever had. I think I will be buying some more this week. 🙂

My friend Lauren has been drinking this Longevity tea and swears by how good it is. I had to buy some. It is super-yummy! Supposed to help with anti-aging. I have been drinking it with Manuka honey which is very healing. 

NEXT POST:

My 

Vegan Thanksgiving 

menu!