Resolutions & Stuff

My resolutions for 2011 aren't very exciting or deep:

1. When we eat out at restaurants, I'm only ordering water. We rarely eat out, so I know this will be manageable and I rarely drink anything but water at home anyway. So this should be easy!
2. Seek out more volunteering opportunities... I started working on this the past few months and it's going well!
3. This is the big one: learn a foreign language. The two languages that I sort of know are Japanese and Latin. Neither of which are super useful living in Northwest Arkansas!

My dear husband's resolution is to be more awesome. Yeah... you can always count on Mike to be super serious about these things. ;-)

I've also updated my vegan links section, so check them out!

Last Minute Thanksgiving

Before I head off to the grocery to fight off last minute shoppers I wanted to blog my Thanksgiving decorating pics and a fun little survey I saw on another blog. 

1. Well normally I cook standard Thanksgiving stuff--all vegan-ized of course: green bean casserole, mashed potatoes & gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, stuffing and instead of turkey, a Field Roast Celebration Roast. This year however, we're totally changing it up and having Thai food with my family! I am so excited to do something completely different.

2. We usually alternate between my family and Mike's family. If it's a year with my family, they drive to Arkansas and celebrate here with us. If it's a year with Mike's family we head to Chapel Hill, NC.

3. The one tradition I have is to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade while I cook.

4. I look forward to dessert! Last year I made a caramel apple pie, a pumpkin cheesecake, and a pumpkin pie. This year I'm making chocolate peanut butter cups (sinfully delicious!), pumpkin pie and a caramel apple pie.

5. It will be a small celebration this year, just four of us-- me, Mike & my mom and dad.

6. I usually decorate on Black Friday but this year I changed it up and started on Monday. The entire house is almost finished!

7. I always Black Friday shop-- but we only get up at an insane hour if there's something specific we're looking for. This year I plan on sleeping in and hitting up the stores with my mom in the afternoon.

8. Something comfy! Usually jeans or leggings and a top.

9. Negative.

10. I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner on my own since I got married. Very proud of that! ;-)

A few Thanksgiving decor pics:

can you see the creepy cat in this pic? Scary!

Hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Winter Wonderland Date Night

On Saturday Mike and I went to the Winter Wonderland Lighting of the Square event in Bentonville. It was so much fun! It was also the grand opening of the new ice skating rink-- (we decided to watch this time, not skate)  plus lots of music, vendors and Christmas lights. 

Such a great day.

 Mike being a dork as usual :)

  

 After checking out the rink, we headed to dinner at our favorite Thai place right off the Square. We still had some time to kill before the lighting so we headed over to a new frozen yogurt place-- which also happens to have two vegan sorbets! It might not sound like much, but any place to get a vegan dessert in our area is a big deal! This picture of Mike cracks me up:

I got a mixture of the mango and the valencia orange... so freaking good!

Okay, back to the Square! Can you tell we live in Arkansas?? 

 one of my favorite restaurants is shown in this pic--- Table Mesa. Fantastic Mexican food!

 The first W@l-Mart-- it's a museum and it's currently being remodeled. 

  no town square is complete without a courthouse:

 the sun finally went down and it was time for some Christmas lights!

  

Stuff I've seen, bought or want

Ahhhh, Eclipse. It was amazing! My favorite of the books and by far my favorite of the movies. I might have already seen it twice...

I just bought these boots. Faux suede (so they're vegan!), knee-high and comfy. I've already tried them on with leggings and my skinny jeans. Love love love them! Way cuter in person. And if we're friends in real life, you'll get to see them since these are probably the only shoes I'll be wearing this fall/winter. :-)

My mom and dad came up to stay with us for the 4th of July and mom took me to the MAC counter for my birthday. I started wearing MAC last year and I'm addicted. Love just about everything they make.

and I had to include this because, well because it's ridiculous and awesome all at the same time.

Food Rules

I picked up a great little book today- Michael Pollan's Food Rules. It's a really quick read- only 112 pages and mainly just common sense stuff, but it's fantastic. I highly recommend his other books if you're interested. 

Here's the info from amazon.com:

A pocket compendium of food wisdom-from the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food.  Michael Pollan, our nation's most trusted resource for food-related issues, offers this indispensible guide for anyone concerned about health and food. Simple, sensible, and easy to use, Food Rules is a set of memorable rules for eating wisely, many drawn from a variety of ethnic or cultural traditions. Whether at the supermarket or an all-you-can-eat-buffet, this handy, pocket-size resource is the perfect guide for anyone who would like to become more mindful of the food we eat. 

Here are just a few of his rules:

See, not earth shattering stuff, but definitely makes you think! Tomorrow kicks off the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart. "Based on research by Neal Barnard, M.D., one of America’s leading health advocates, this program is designed for anyone who wants to explore and experience the health benefits of a vegan diet. Low-fat vegan—plant-based—diets are the easiest way to trim excess weight, prevent diabetes, cut cholesterol, lower blood pressure, prevent and reverse heart disease, and reduce cancer risk. They even trim our carbon footprint." 

I'm participating even though I already follow a vegan diet. I think it will be a great way to get some new recipes and to learn more about how to easily incorporate the vegan diet into my lifestyle. If you're interested, here's the link: 21-Day Vegan Kickstart

Valentine's Day Swap

I participated in a fun Valentine's Day swap and had such a great time picking out stuff for my swap partner Kristin. I received my package this week and wanted to share!

I received a cute mug, a headband, some lip gloss and some fun nail polish. There was a candy bar too (and it looked yummy!!) but it wasn't vegan so I couldn't eat it. I'm sure I wasn't clear enough in the swap questionnaire, but since I am vegan I don't eat any animal products. That means no meat of course, but also no dairy products like milk or butter. No worries though, one of my husband's co-workers was more than happy to take it off my hands. :-)

So, a big thanks to my swap partner Kristin-- it was so fun!! I hope she liked everything I sent her and I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!

Thanksgiving Desserts--- Vegan-ized.

The countdown is on for Thanksgiving and I'm so excited! Mike and I alternate holidays with our families and this year is a Bull (aka my family) year. We'll spend Christmas with Mike's family (ummm on a freaking fabulous Caribbean cruise, but that's for another post!!). Normally for Thanksgiving I make a huge turkey, and all the typical dishes.. but since this is our first Thanksgiving as vegans, the menu is being modified a bit!

My parents are bringing a few seafood dishes, since they're still meat eaters and it will travel better than a bird. I'll be making some side dishes, and most importantly desserts! I have cheated a bit and ordered a vegan organic carrot cake from our favorite local co-op store, but I'll actually be making the other desserts. I thought I'd share the recipes:

The Best Vegan Pumpkin Pie Ever

SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS
1 can (16 ounces) pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice, optional
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
2-3 tablespoons cornstarch to firm up the pie filling
1 package (10-12 ounces) silken/soft tofu
1 9-in unbaked vegan pie shell

STEPS
Preheat oven to 425 F. 
Blend the pumpkin and sugar.
Add salt, spices, cornstarch and tofu, mix thoroughly. 
Pour mixture into pie shell and bake for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 350 F and bake for another 60 minutes. 
Chill and serve. 
NOTE: Don't use the low fat tofu, then the pie tastes like it was made with tofu.
We'll be topping it with some non-dairy whipped cream. YUM!


Pumpkin Cheesecake with Candied Cranberries

Candied Cranberries

INGREDIENTS
2 Cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained

2 Cups sugar substitute (either maple syrup or agave nectar, whichever you prefer)

STEPS 
Prick each cranberry several times with straight pin.

Bring sugar substitute and water to boil over medium heat.

Cook until sugar reaches 230 F on candy thermometer.

Add cranberries, and cook ten minutes or until syrup gels a bit.

Remove berries with slotted spoon and lay out on plate.
Save in refrigerator for adding to top of cheesecake later.



Crust 

INGREDIENTS
Pre-made organic vegan graham-cracker crust (for ease)
or, if you prefer to make your own
10 sheets vegan graham crackers

1/4 tsp salt

2 oz Earth Balance butter

STEPS (if you aren't using premade)

Process crackers and salt into fine crumbs in food processor.
Add Earth Balance and pulse to combine.

Press mixture into bottom and half way up sides of 9 inch spring form pan.



Cheesecake Filling

INGREDIENTS 
12 oz. silken tofu

8 oz. vegan cream cheese

3/4 can Whole Foods Organic Pumpkin Pie Filling

1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon



STEPS
Puree all ingredients in food processor until very smooth, about 3-5 minutes.

Pour into crust and bake at 350 F for 50 minutes.

Chill completely in refrigerator at least 3 hours, up to overnight.

Garnish with candied cranberries, slice and serve.


I can't wait to make both of these! A big thanks to The Kind Life for being such an amazing online community and resource for vegans- both recipes and pictures from the site.

spelt flour? weird name but sooo good.

finally found a recipe for AMAZING vegan pancakes. I'm not kidding, best pancakes ever! They're quickly becoming our weekend tradition...

I had to snatch the picture before Mike ate them all! haha

Here is the super easy and super yummy recipe- all my substitutions are listed.

1 1/2 cups Organic Spelt Flour (we get ours from War Eagle Mill- a local mill, and they do deliver!)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs. honey (we use organic brown rice syrup, but non-veggies can use honey)
1 tbs. vegetable oil (we use coconut oil or olive oil because I never seem to have vegetable oil in the house)
1 1/4 cup soy milk (you could use regular milk too)

These cook fabulously- quick, easy and so good! We put a little bit of Earth Balance vegan butter and some maple syrup on top.