But where's the turkey?

This year marked my third full on vegan Thanksgiving meal. It's become second nature at this point. Over the years people ask me what do vegans eat at Thanksgiving and I always tell them it's similar to their...but without Turkey/Ham/Lamb/Duck/Chicken/Beef. This year we had mashed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, mashed garlicky yucca, a Harvest Field Roast, vegan Ham (yuck actually.. more to come on it later), butternut mac n' cheese, dressing/stuffing, green bean casserole, pumpkin cornbread, apple pie, and vegan chocolate pumpkin  Plus don't forget the mushroom gravy and cranberry sauce.

Don't these plates remind you of a traditional "American" Thanksgiving. They sure do to me. My parents who are meat eater joined in the festivities and embrace a full vegan Thanksgiving, even though I offered to get them a turkey. My parents couldn't believe how the food reminded them so much of a normal Thanksgiving food.

My Sister-in-law from Chicago didn't get this who concept either I feel based on my mother-in-law's story. What I mean by this is, that she didn't know how to make mashed potatoes without the butter and milk. How do you make desserts without cream or oils?

This is when I realized, there are still many misconceptions of what it is to be plant strong/vegan/dairy-free/egg free/and more. I started this blog just to fun out of encouragement from others to share what I have learned and that is why I am still writing. I feel I am not alone and others have experience similar feelings about holidays or pot lucks. Who says food cannot be healthy and tasty but vegan? I challenge and encourage each one of you to explore good eats and share your food with others. Until later, my readers. I will post more with recipes and reviews.

Cranberry Loaf

Earlier in the week, the Monster and I were at Costco. We were picking up some fruits and veggies in bulk when we saw that they had 2lbs of cranberries for $3.00. I was shocked that they had them so earlier in the year in bulk, that I become hypnotized to buy them.

Well fast forward to now and I am trying cook with them. I have already made Rum Cranberry Sauce but still have plenty of left overs. I started looking for recipes online for desserts with cranberries. I kept seeing things with orange juice, lemon zest, and orange zest. Well I don't have any of those in my pantry presently. Back to the drawing boards I went and found a recipe from Mlive.com, where one of their writer made a recipe from the Happy Herbivore cookbook. Luckily, I had everything in the pantry and I went on my way baking.

Overall, I am beyond satisfied with this and may have just found a new holiday dessert to make. I have modified the recipe from 1/4 cup of sugar to maple syrup. You could use honey. Also, I found in my oven it wasn't ready in 38 minutes, so I let it go for an additional 20 minutes. Here is the original recipe and my modify one below. 

Cranberry Loaf 

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of dairy-free milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup or honey
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 cup of fresh chopped cranberries-wash them first before chopping

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Pour mixture into bread baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes depending how your oven runs. Happy Baking!!!