Thanksgiving Desserts

Have you finished making your Thanksgiving menu yet?  Come on buddy!  Get on it!

There is still time and more than enough ideas for you in the blogosphere!  I thought I would give you guys a  list of some of my recipes to help give you some ideas.

This is a series of posts with desserts bringing up the end.  See the appetizer, salad, side, and main dish posts here.

Ok, so youve eaten wonderful and healthful foods for appetizers, salads, sides, and the main dish.  It wouldnt be too bad to eat a SAD dessert, right?  Wrong!  Dont go there!  There are tons and tons of healthful dessert options for you!

Here are a few ideas from my recipe stash:

Banana Ice Cream

Brownie Batter Dip

Berry Coconut Chia Pudding

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies

Here are a few of my favorites from around the blogosphere:

Pumpkin Pie from Helyns Healthy Kitchen

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie from Helyns Healthy Kitchen

Healthy Apple Pie from Healthy Girls Kitchen

Deep Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies from Produce on Parade


Happy Thanksgiving,

Amy

Read More..

Thanksgiving Sides

Have you finished making your Thanksgiving menu yet?  Come on buddy!  Get on it!

There is still time and more than enough ideas for you in the blogosphere!  I thought I would give you guys a  list of some of my recipes to help give you some ideas.

This is a series of posts, so stay tuned for the main dish and dessert posts to come!  See the appetizer and salad posts here.

Now on to my favorite part of Thanksgiving!  The sides!  My favorite sides are usually potatoes.  In recent years my favorite side has been baked sweet potatoes.  They are easy, simple, sweet, and delicious!  To roast sweet potatoes preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Wash the sweet potatoes and poke several times with a fork.  Place the sweet potatoes on a pan lined with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning halfway though, until tender.

For some other side ideas try one of these recipes:

Nutty Green Bean Casserole

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Apples and Walnuts

Creamed Kale and Onions

Colcannon with Kale

Along with these sides, a soup is another side that is warming, delicious, and easy to make on the stovetop, in a slow cooker, or in a pressure cooker.

Pumpkin Basil Soup

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Katies Creamy Potato Leek Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

Amys Favorite Lentil Soup

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Happy Thanksgiving,

Amy

Read More..

Thanksgiving Salads and Dressings

Have you finished making your Thanksgiving menu yet?  Come on buddy!  Get on it!

There is still time and more than enough ideas for you in the blogosphere!  I thought I would give you guys a  list of some of my recipes to help give you some ideas.

This is a series of posts, so stay tuned for the side, main dish, and dessert posts to come!  See the appetizer post here.

Ok, Ill admit, salads are usually not what most people look forward to most for Thanksgiving, but they can be a beautiful, delicious, and nutritious part of the meal.  A basic green salad is a good way to go to please everyone so they can have a salad dressing of their choice.

Basic green salad ingredients could include:

• Mixture of greens: romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, ice burg lettuce, spinach, arugula, savoy cabbage, green cabbage, kale, baby kale, collard greens, swiss chard, beet greens, turnip greens, mustard greens,  spring mix
• Colorful veggies: cucumber, bell pepper, radishes, carrots, corn, tomatoes, broccoli, snow peas, fresh herbs, red cabbage, avocado, cauliflower, beets, black olives, mushrooms
• Add some pizzaz:  peppercinis, artichokes, red onion, green onion, dried cranberries, green olives, kalamata olives,  pomegranate arils, apple slices, and slices of oranges, lemons, or limes
• Add some crunch: walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, roasted chickpeas (like this, minus the oil), croutons made from whole grain bread

Now for the dressing, give one or a few of these a try:

Vegan Ranch Dressing

Vegan Caesar Dressing

Vegan 1000 Island Dressing

One-Two Dressing

Cranberry Dijon Dressing

Orange, Carrot, and Cashew Dressing

If a green salad with dressing isnt fancy enough, perhaps give one of these salads:

Superfood Salad

Pomegranate Wheat Berry Salad

Sweet and Savory Wheat Berry Salad with Brussels Sprouts

Happy Thanksgiving,

Amy

Read More..

Thanksgiving Menu 2014

Are you guys ready for Thanksgiving yet?!  This year we are going to my parents house for Thanksgiving across the state in eastern Washington.  Thankfully, as I have mentioned many times before, my parents are also nutritarian, so healthful and delicious foods will not be hard to come by this holiday!  We will have a few dishes on our menu not nutritarian-friendly for my husband, brother, and sister-in-law.

Here is our lineup:

For the night before Thanksgiving as everyone is getting into town, we are having a simple dinner of Vegan Red Beans and Rice with a simple side salad.  Find my recipe for red beans and rice here.


Thanksgiving Day

Breakfast: Moms Whole Grain Waffles/Pancakes

Appetizers:

Grandmas Garlic Dip - A recipe deep in our family tradition, but not nutritarian
Layered Taco Dip - My mom recipe she has used for years, although she has modified it to nearly eliminate the bad stuff (cheese and sour cream)
Amys Hummus - This has become a family favorite in recent years.  Find my recipe here.

Veggies, fruit, crackers, pita bread

Sides: 

Pomegranate and apple salad - inspired by this recipe, but we will be making our own oil-free dressing
Mashed potatoes - the traditional kind with butter and milk for the non-nutritarians at the feast
Mushroom Herb Gravy - healthier version of gravy, recipe here
Baked Oriental Sweet Potatoes - This is my new favorite type of sweet potato.  It has a pink/purple skin with white insides.
Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffing, with Roasted Brussels Sprouts - recipe here and here
Traditional Stuffing - for the non-nutritarians
Macaroni and Cheese - for my husband mainly, recipe here
Whole Wheat Rolls - my moms recipe

Mains:

Vegan Cabbage Rolls - recipe here
Small turkey with traditional stuffing

Desserts:

Marrionberry Pie - store bought
Pumpkin Pie - traditional homemade crust, with this vegan pumpkin filling 

Is our Thanksgiving line-up perfectly nutritarian?  Of course not!  But it is miles and miles more healthful than most of the Thanksgivings we grew up with.

Did I mention that I get to see these two butterballs next week?  I just cant wait to see my nephews!

Whats on your menu for Thanksgiving?

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Read More..

Thanksgiving Main Dishes

Have you finished making your Thanksgiving menu yet?  Come on buddy!  Get on it!

There is still time and more than enough ideas for you in the blogosphere!  I thought I would give you guys a  list of some of my recipes to help give you some ideas.

This is a series of posts, so stay tuned for the Dessert post to come!  See the appetizer, salad, and side posts here.

This is often one of the hardest transitions for those going WFPB for Thanksgiving for the first time.  However, just because a dead animal isnt in the center of your table doesnt mean you have to suffer, but it does mean no turkeys have to suffer. :)

I dont have too many main dishes to suggest from my past blog posts, but Ill give you a short list of my recipes, and a longer list of recipe ideas I would recommend giving a try.

My Recipes:

Sweet Potato Macaroni and "Cheese"

Greens and Beans with Rice

Easy Vegetable Pizza

Stuffed Artichokes

Other suggestions: Keep in mind some of these recipes might contain some ingredients that make them not quite nutritarian-perfect, but some simple adjustments, replacements, and eliminations can fix that.

Stuffed squashes like this one, this one, or this one.

Grain/legume based loaves like this one, this one, or this one.

Risotto and other decadent grain dishes like this one, this one, or this one.

Hearty casseroles like this one, this one, or this one.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Amy

Read More..

Thanksgiving Appetizers

Have you finished making your Thanksgiving menu yet?  Come on buddy!  Get on it!

My mom and I collaborated earlier this week on our Thanksgiving line-up this year, which is made up of mostly Nutritarian-geared dishes and a few traditionally made dishes for the non-nutritarians.  I was rather silly and actually made a spreadsheet with the list of recipes, links to those recipes, and a grocery list down to the exact amount of each ingredient we needed.  Hopefully my super organized mom found it helpful and not too neurotic!

However, if you dont have your Thanksgiving dinner planned down into an overly obsessive spreadsheet, dont fret!  There is still time and more than enough ideas for you in the blogosphere!  I thought I would give you guys a quick list of some of my recipes to help give you some ideas.

This is a series of posts, so stay tuned for the Salad, Sides, Mains, and Dessert posts to come!

For some appetizers to start out, a variety of fresh vegetables are always a great go-to.  They are low in calories, high in fiber, and wont fill up your guests too much before the meal.  But what do you serve with the veggies?  Try one of my many hummus/bean dips.  For a fun experience for your guests, try making a half batch of your favorite 4-6 bean dips and ask your guests to debate on which is their favorite!

Hummus with Roasted Pine Nuts - This is always my familys go-to recipe for basic hummus.  I made the recipe for my dad a few years ago as a Fathers Day present.  To do this I did a side-by-side comparison to Sabre Pine Nut hummus (my dads favorite) while I was making it.  We couldnt tell the difference once it was done, and have opted to make my low/no-oil, low sodium version ever since.

Fresh Chive Hummus

Spicy Buffalo Hummus

Green Split Pea Dip

Lentil-Cashew Dip

Coconut Curry Dip

Happy Thanksgiving,

Amy

Read More..