Chocolate Pie

I saw this on the Today Show years ago-- maybe around New Year's.

Anyway, I skipped making the crust and just bought a vegan one .

This is SO easy and delicious-- I make 2 pies at once.

It is supposed to be served warm, but I really prefer it chilled:

1 crust (bake it 10 mins)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup milk (I used almond milk)
8 oz 365 brand chocolate chunks chips
2 eggs, beaten

Heat a pan and add milk & cream.
Once it boils, take it off heat and whisk in the chips till totally melted and mixed.
Add eggs and completely mix in.
Scrape into pie shell and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  (If it's jiggly in the middle and you want to serve it warm, bake longer-- if you want it chilled, allow it to cool, then chill at least 1 hour.)

Our Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu

We love Vegetarian Thanksgiving!  Honestly-- I think we get more veggies in (compared to the traditional meal) by about 200% and still feel so full we take a family nap in the afternoon!

More than half of our Thanksgiving meal is vegan-- but all of our desserts are vegetarian and my two little ones' favorite dish on Thanksgiving is mac & cheese.



 We may try to slowly veganize that mac & cheese, but over the last 10 years we went from full out turkey and everything to vegetarian Thanksgiving, and now (mostly) vegan.  So these recipes were slowly added in and eventually the ones I grew up with became unappealing to me after a few years of Thanksgivings.

Take a peek (or taste!) at all the recipes that end up on our Thanksgiving table and see if there's anything you can replace to start having a more plant-based Thanksgiving holiday.

Our Thanksgiving Menu (scroll down for recipes):

• 365 brand vegan stuffing
• Vegan gravy
• Mashed potatoes
• Mac & cheese
• Big chunky salad (avocado, nuts, greens, cranberries)
• Green beans almondine
• Roasted veggies
• Cheese plate

Dessert:  

• Vegan pumpkin pie (vegan crusts)
• Chocolate pie (vegan crusts)

I can honestly say-- I have never tasted a better gravy than this vegan gravy.  And having a huge chunky salad instead of a turkey feels so much better in my body.  And it was hard for me to part with Pepperidge Farm stuffing a couple years ago-- but HOLY COW-- 365 brand vegan stuffing BLOWS IT AWAY!  Like, but a LOT!  Better tasting AND no crap added.

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  Vegan stuffing:

  In a hot pot, melt 1 stick Earth Balance

  Saute 1 cup finely chopped celery + 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion

  Add 2 cups water + 1 vegan Rapunzel boullion cube
  Add 2 bags 365 brand Vegan Multigrain Stuffing and mix
  Bake 25 minutes at 350 and serve!
  
  
  

  Vegan gravy:

  1. • 1/2 cup oil (avocado, oil, grapeseed)
     • 1/3 cup chopped onion
     • 5 cloves garlic, minced
     • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
     • 4 teaspoons nutritional yeast
       
     • 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
     • 2 cups vegetable broth
     • 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
     • 1/2 teaspoon salt
     • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
     
     
     1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the broth. Season with sage, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened
     2. 
        
     3. Mashed potatoes:
     4. 5 lbs (1 bag) russet or yellow potatoes
     5. 1/2 stick Earth Balance
     6. 1/2- 1 cup 365 brand unsweetened almond milk (to desired consistency)
     7. Real Salt to taste
     8. Boil potatoes (put cut in large pieces in a pot of cold water, then turn on high)
     9. Put Earth Balance & milk in large bowl. Once potatoes come apart when you stick a form in them, scoop with wire skimmer into the bowl. Mash with hand masher.
     10. 
         
     11. Mac & cheese recipe is here
     12. 
         
     13. Big chunky salad (avocado, slivered almonds, greens, cranberries, arugala, kale, goat cheese, purple cabbage)
     
     
       Optional: Roasted veggies: Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, sweet potato-- toss in avocado oil, salt and roast at 400 for 35 mins
     1. 
        
     2. Green beans almondine:
     3. Fresh green beans
     4. Slivered almonds
     5. Lemon
     6. Salt
     Steam beans-- toss in the rest!
     
     Roasted veggies:
     Chop up cauliflower, Brussels sprouts-- any other veggies you like (carrots, sweet potato, onion, etc)-- toss in avocado oil & salt-- roast for 35-45 min at 400
     
     Pumpkin pie-- I use Minimalist baker's recipe, but with pre-bought vegan crusts
     
     Chocolate pie, click here

The foods we eat at Mother Daughter Book Club

I'm part of a fabulous Mother Daughter book club based on Her Next Chapter.
Every month, we read a book, then we get together and each bring a food that was mentioned in the book.  I think that might be the best part! 
For November, we read Tortilla Sun and had some of the delicious foods featured in the book. The recipe for vegan homemade tortillas is here.
Homemade tortillas – I am no Nana, I could not get them round like the sun!… Slow cooked black beans, avocados, tortilla chips… All kinds of goodness. This was a great book to end the year on and we are excited for our book throw down next month to pick our 11 books for 2018. 📚📚

Pebble Meditation Bags

We had a cozy little family meeting early last weekend in the backyard. We read this wonderful book on pebble meditation. We wish we had learned about meditation as children, so we want to start planting the seeds with our kids. We read the book, each made our own pebble meditation bag, and practiced the four meditations together. A Handful of Quiet is a wonderful book to get started with little ones on meditation.