It's a wrap!

So it's the end of another year! A time that we all seem to sit back and reflect on.
I have to say with the issues of the economy and how's it's affected so many of us. I actually think that it has brought more people in the communities together. People seem to be stepping up to help others out and I think that is a great thing. It also makes you think about what is really important. Wants or needs?

I'm sitting here typing and I'm getting a bit emotional because this year I've seen my son who will be turning 12 next month grow up so much! He has made some really good friends up here in our new town of just over a year. He started 6th grade at a new school that he loves and that is accommodating of his academic needs and is forming these kids to be kinder, giving and confident. His love of playing guitar has really increased as well, which I noticed in September. Even though he is becoming more independent he still loves to cuddle with us, hold our hand and give us a kiss in public. I'm hanging on to all of that.

My husband has found a dealership that actually appreciates him and is finally letting him make good changes for them. He no longer comes home not wanting to go to work. It's nice.

I don't really make any resolutions but there are some things I hope to do.
Taking even better care of myself. Try some new things. Try to be more confident, be more positive and enjoy life more! Also I hope my husband and I can become friends with some couples, even one, that we can hang out with.

A new love this year, Mighty Leaf African Nectar. My son was very happy to see this in his stocking and since it's on the pricey side I haven't had one cup, it's all his. It's so good though. You must try!

I hope for the animals this next year that people will WANT to be more informed about how animals are treated and that animals do feel. There have been some great books out this year and more in the news about the factory farms and how animals are treated. One question still remains. Is there such a thing as "humane" treatment of farm animals for food? I'll leave you with that thought and continue next year in another post.

Thanks to everyone for all of your comments on my blog and also for sharing your blogs with lot's of great food and information.

I also want to thank my girlfriends and those who have come to visit us in our new town! Love you all!

Have a very Happy New Years Eve!

Yummy holiday treats....

Howdy everyone! I'm running on lack of sleep today, who isn't right now eh? Yesterday I was busy making cookie dough, doing errands with my hubby and shopping. Then last night baking for my son's teachers. More coffee please!!! No I don't really need the caffeine from the coffee but the warm and strong taste hits the spot. Here are some of the baked goods I whipped up.


Pistachio spiced brittle. I'm really not a big candy eater. I do love a good dark chocolate, mabye a bit of caramel and I do love peanut brittle. I've tried to make brittle in the past but it was frustrating and burned just a bit. I was determined to try it again after seeing a picture of Hannah's Chai brittle on her blog. I found this awesome peanut brittle recipe and I got to tell you, this was so easy to make and didn't take long at all! Click here for the recipe. Alterations on the recipe were that I subbed Earth Balance for butter, golden syrup for corn syrup and used organic sugar.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies(Martha Stewart) & Rumnog cookies(VCON).

I so look forward to making and eating these ginger cookies every Christmas. If you love ginger well these use fresh & powdered ginger, and then chocolate!!!! Oh they they make my mouth happy! :) The only change on the recipe is using Earth Balance to replace the butter. There are no eggs in the recipe. I hope you try them you won't be dissapointed!

My next post I'll be teasing you with some pic's of some recipes I've been testing out out for Celine and Joni's new cookbook they are working on. Yes another cookbook from those wonderful girls.

The day after....

To all of you out there who woke up early to go shopping you are very brave! I'm not one for waking up that early and dealing with the crowds especially when we got home late last night. So i'm drinking some coffee and trying to stay warm.
I hope everyone had a nice visit with their family and friends yesterday. We drove down to the in-laws and had Thanksgiving with them. My sister-in-law, father-in-law and husbands' birthdays fall between Nov. 20-30th so we celebrated them all and had 3 different desserts for them.

Since the main course was not such a compassionate one (you know what I'm talking about)my son and I had a cruelty free Field Roast(below).


When I had asked my mother-in-law to buy a Field Roast I didn't specify a Celebration Roast but we had this Smoked Tomato Field Roast instead. It had plenty of flavor and could actually feed at least 3 people. I made a vegan gravy as well. One of my favorite Field Roast Sausages is the Smokeed Apple Sage.yum!

This was the dessert I made and it turned out perfect! It's a Pumpkin Cheescake and the recipe is from Just the Food blog but is also in the new vegan cookbook 500 Vegan Recipes. I actually baked this in a springform pan and made a pecan shortbread crust. Here is the recipe below with my changes but you can see the original recipe by clicking Just the Food blog . It's pretty rich so you don't really don't need a big slice.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:
Pecan shortbread crust (or any one you choose)
2, 8oz containers of vegan cream cheese
1, 15 oz can of pure pumpkin(organic)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp Cornstarch(I ran out of arrowroot powder)
1 tsp cinnamon (ground)
1/2 tsp ginger (ground)
1/4 tsp nutmeg (ground)
1/4 tsp cloves (ground)

Pecan Shortbread Crust:
1 C. toasted pecans
1 1/3 C. spelt flour (you can use your choice)
1/3 C. organic sugar
1/2 C. Earth Balance

Directions: First preheat oven to 350.

In a 9 inch spring form pan wrap the bottom at least half way up the sides with aluminum foil. (You'll see why you need this when you bake with the filling).

In a food processor add pecans and pulse until coarsely chopped. YOU DON'T want to pulse into a fine meal. You want to make sure you have a nice crunch to the shortbread. Pour into a medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

Next in the food processor add flour, sugar and EB and pulse until a dough forms. Once that happens pour into the pecans and stir together.

Press dough into the spring form pan and bake for about 15 minutes. It will puff slightly but you don't really want it to brown. Take out and let cool for a few minutes.

Directions for the filling:
Beat all ingredients together in a food processor or electric mixer until smooth. Pour into crust. Place a pan or drip pan full of hot water (about 1" deep) in the middle rack of the oven. Place the foil wrapped spring form pan onto the drip pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove and let cool, place in refrigerator until ready to serve, and to set even more.


Note*The reason for the foil is so that the water doesn't seep into the cheesecake and wet the crust. The reason for the water is so the top of the cheesecake doesn't crack.



This dessert you see here is my husbands' favorite that he grew up eating. My mother-in-law makes everyones favorite cake or pie that they like for their birthdays. This pie is a pudding pineapple cream cheese pie. I'm not a big fan of it but the rest of the family loves it and she made it vegan this year. Here is the recipe, it's real simple. Would be a great summer dessert.

Pudding pinapple cream cheese pie:

1 graham cracker pie crust

1 lg instant vanilla pudding box

1 lg can crushed pineapple, drained (squeeze out as much liquid as possible)

2 1/4 c. non-dairy milk(soy was used)

1 8 oz. tofutti cream cheese

In a large bowl pour in a packet of instant pudding mix. Next pour in milk and mix until thick. Beat in cream cheese until smooth. Finally stir in crushed pineapple. Once thoroughly combined pour into graham cracker crust, put in refrigerator until set about a day or overnight.

Corned Seitan and Cabbage

For St. Patty's day my mother-in-law used to make my son Corned beef and cabbage in his pre-vegan days. So his first year as a vegan I found a vegan recipe for it and it was just okay. This years recipe is a keeper! I've never eaten it before so I didn't know what it really was supposed to taste like, but I was given the thumbs up on this one.
I used the "Vegan Corned beef" recipe from
Vegan Dad, but added some fennel and a bit of molasses to it. This recipe is so good, my son said it tastes so much better than last years recipe.
Then I used Susan's recipe at Fatfree Kitchen for the rest of the recipe. I boiled some potatoes and added it to it at the end.