A Vegan Thanksgiving

Now that that "Nasty Nasty" has left our home and we're finally back to some normalcy, and now that I can actually talk about food again, I thought I should blog about our Thanksgiving this year. Eating vegan now, we knew the holiday centered so much around food would be difficult, but as our perspective on food is changing, it became a bit easier. And actually, when the day itself came around, it wasn't difficult at all.

We were in Tennessee with John's entire family, which rarely happens. His dad even dropped in on his way to Virginia to spend it with his sister. We had a wonderful time together---and the focus was much more on being thankful that we were together and the conversations we were able to have.

Still, I knew it would be fun to get creative and create some Thanksgiving-type foods vegan, gluten-free, all-natural style. And I was VERY happy with the outcome. I'll give a brief description of each below, and if you want the recipe for anything, let me know. :)

I realize the pictures aren't the best quality....I didn't think about taking pictures until after everyone dug in, so not only is everything half-eaten, but the lighting wasn't good. This at least, though, gives you an idea of what we had:

Sweet Potato Casserole.

My original recipe calls for eggs, cream, and sugar. I just baked the potatoes, mashed them with almond milk and brown rice syrup, toasted the pecans and added some honey, and put the casserole back in the oven for 30 more minutes.

Green beans and bell peppers.

Sauteed in a little EVOO with garlic & sea salt. Simple as that.

Cranberry sauce.

Cranberries cooked on the stove with honey, apple cider (I just juiced my own apples), cloves, cinnamon, and a bay leaf.

Corn muffins.

These are adapted from a fairly basic recipe, but substituted with rice flour, honey, flaxseed meal (for the eggs), and almond milk. The other ingredients included baking powder and baking soda, xanthan gum (to replace the gluten), potato starch, and cornmeal.

Not pictured: cabbage cooked with vegetable broth that my mother-in-law made. Also delicious.

And dessert was my favorite.

Pumpkin cake.

YUM. I adapted it from this recipe. I substituted almond milk for the soy, my rice flour/ xanthan gum/ potato starch mixture for the all-purpose flour, agave for the sugar, and coconut oil for the canola oil. I also used my cashew frosting (cashews, water and agave in a blender) instead. I added some walnuts too.

Like I said, the food turned out nice, but the best part of the trip was spending time with John's whole family.