Sunny With a Chance of Thanksgiving!

So our Annual Friendsgiving was a blast! Great friends (old & new) came out to play and we served a feast for everyone. We like to provide all the food and just ask guests to bring beverages to share. And share they did! We had loads of wine, beer, spirits, juice, cider, coffee donated to the party-it was lovely. We served the following menu (all of which is 100% vegan):

Apps:
-sundried tomato dip with homemade bread
-herby tofu dip with homemade bread
-grilled cheeses (made with 3 different kinds of Daiya and homemade bread) & tomato basil soup shooters

Salads:
-Caesar salad with homemade dressing & croutons from scratch
-warm spinach salad with a maple balsamic dressing

Mains & Sides:
-vegan short ribs in & red wine sauce
-vegan pork chops with spinach, sundried tomato, & soy goat cheese schmear with gravy
-mashed potatoes and gravy
-Cuban style sweet potatoes
-sweet potato, banana, & pecan casserole
-garlicky green beans
-brussell sprouts with granny smith apples & red onions
-cranberry chutney
-chestnut stuffing

Desserts:
-homemade pumpkin pie with homemade crust & coconut whipped cream
-apple crisp with vanilla soy ice cream
-peach & blueberry crumble with vanilla soy ice cream
-almond thumbprint cookies with homemade raspberry jam

Needless to say EVERYONE was STUFFED. And it was all animal friendly & I adopted a turkey named Gable this year from Farm Sanctuary that everyone loved. We posted her story on the dessert table so everyone knew who they were supporting by eating a vegan Friendsgiving. We also have a tradition where you have to name at least one thing you are thankful for before you can eat and let me tell you they were wonderful things to be thankful for. I teared up a few times. I am grateful for such a wonderful holiday with friends! It was a blast and we cannot wait to do it again next year! :D

 Here has been my week of gratitude posts:

Today I am thankful for officially being on Joe's insurance and submitting it to the doctor so the surgery can be submitted to the insurance company for approval. One step closer. Day 20 in my Month of Gratitude. [SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!]


Today I m thankful for silliness. It saves my life everyday to be silly and have silly people in my life. Anytime things have been hard (hello all year) the thing that makes me feel betters SILLY. Day 21 in my Month of Gratitude.

Today I am thankful for family & friends near & far, of this earth & those who have passed. I am thankful for the health of those people still here. I am thankful for the feast Joey has been preparing like mad, I am thankful for the turkey I adopted named Gable who was saved and now lives on a Farm Sanctuary. I am thankful for my pups who woke me with snuggles and kisses. I am thankful to be having surgery soon. I am thankful for a nephew due any day now. I am thankful for so many reasons today. Happy Thanksgiving to you all and know I carry my gratitude of you with me throughout the year! Day 22 in my Month of Gratitude.

Today I am thankful for days in bed, setting up our tree, watching White Christmas, snuggling my pups tight, and a husband who loves me. Pretty great day! Day 23 in my Month of Gratitude.

Today I am grateful for someone who indulges my love of all things Christmas. I bought 6 new holiday movies & he is supporting me about more from Amazon & Disney.com, buying a tree skirt, 3 stockings, more ornaments, bought snowflake placemats & and getting a wreath. Thankful he is patient with me about this obsession... Day 24 in my Month of Gratitude.  



 It's been a pretty great week off of a previously pretty great week (thanks to an amazing shoot with the one and only Michael Madsen and some amazing friends & crew mates). Cannot complain my dear chickens. Hope all is well with you in your worlds. Joe and I are now gearing up for our big birthday week (12/1 I am 28 & 12/5 Joey is 30!)-Disneyland and a big USO themed party. It should be a hoot of a time. I am excited for what this next year is bringing: surgery, healed back, a vow renewal, adventures, and who knows what else! Grateful gal here, really and truly.


 Xs and Os dear chickens!

 

Vegan MoFo Day 7!

Today we share Joey's most FAVORITE recipe EVER! His bread recipe:

RECIPE:

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp earth balance butter
1/2 tsp. salt
2.25 tsp. instant dry yeast (1 package)
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees Fahrenheit)

Dissolve yeast & sugar into warm water. Let the yeast proof for 5 minutes, a thin layer of of foam will form letting you know the yeast is active. In a stand mixer/food processor combine flour, salt, & earth balance. Pulse/stir to incorporate. Turn on machine & slowly add the water mix. Keep mixing until the dough pulls cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Knead for 60 seconds (or 1 minute-oy Joe!). Form into a ball. Transfer to a clean, lightly sprayed with cooking spray bowl. Cover with damp kitchen towel or saran wrap & place in a warm draft free spot. Let dough rise for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size. Punch down, form into a loaf, transfer to a lightly sprayed with cooking oil 9" bread pan. Cover with damp towel or lightly sprayed with cooking oil saran wrap. Allow to dough to rise another 1 hour or until bread begins to reach the top of the pan. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until top has nice golden brown color (usually 25 minutes). Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove, let cool for 45 minutes on a cooling rack. Slice & enjoy!



















REVIEW:

Alex: This bread is delicious! I like it so much more than many of the store brand vegan breads & it's very light and fluffy & makes great fluffernutter sandwiches! My favorite parts of making it are adding the yest to the food processor & punching the dough so Joe always lets me do those. :)

Joe: I was sick of eating terrible bread from the grocery stores so I decided to make my own. The only downside to this recipe is that it takes 3 hours from start to finish (but most of the time is sitting waiting for the dough to rise). Some of the best bread I have ever had! :D

Hot With a Chance of Sweaty!!

Hello my friends! Another installment of Good For The World Wednesday-HOORAY! Today, as suggested by my sweetie, we're going to talk homemade bread. Mmm, bread...*drool*

So here it is, making your own bread not only tastes DELICIOUS but it is also great for the planet and your wallet! Here's why it's amazing for the wallet:

1) buying the ingredients for bread is literally dirt cheap. It's all bulk items or water. Seriously-a bi ol' bag of flour runs $3-20. We just a bought a HUGE bag at Smart & Final for $.

2) the second most important ingredient is water. I'm pretty sure you all have a tap. And if you're very particular you have a brita (or similar brand) filter. Enjoy that y'all. Yay for water!!!

Here is why baking your own bread is good for the planet:

1) You are not buying useless plastic. You might not think that plastic or paper wrapped-loaf within a plastic bag is a big deal but it really adds up. And plastic bags like that take about 10-20 years to break down. Help mother nature out y'all!

2) You aren't buying something that was probably made many, many miles away that took quite a bit of fuel to ship it to your grocery store. Cut out all that needless waste!

Plus this is one of the easiest things in the world to make-promise!

Here is my honey's recipe for all things bread (including hot dog & hamburger buns!):

For 1 loaf, or 8 hamburger/hot dog buns
-3 cups flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 tbsp earth balance buttery spread stick, cubed into 1/2 tbsp sizes.
-2 tsp dry yeast
-1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
-2 tsp sugar


Note: 2 tsp dry yeast is less than one package of yeast, which is 2.25 tsp. I doubt it makes any difference.

Combine water & sugar, then add yeast to proof for 5 minutes. A layer of foam should form, indicating the yeast is still active (alive that is!) Mix the remaining ingredients in food processor with dough blade attachment and pulse to incorporate the Earth Balance.

With machine running, slowly add water until the dough forms and peels away from the sides. Continue running to knead for 60 seconds. The dough should be slightly sticky still, but not unworkable.

Form into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel and let proof in a warm, draft free spot for 60 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and transfer to a lightly oiled 9" bread pan and cover again. This is the bench proofing. Let the dough proof for another 45 minutes or so, until the top overtakes the top of the pan and begins to resemble a loaf of bread. Place into a pre-heated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for at least 30 minutes, until the bread is a light golden brown.

Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes and then it should come out with no problem! Set aside to cool for 30 minutes and enjoy!

Notes: I found the bread begins to be inedible due to staleness after 3 days, despite my best efforts to keep wrapped.

To make buns, simply portion and shape into 8 pieces after the first rise. Hotdog buns are about three times as long as they are wide and hamburger buns are round of course! Bench-proof on a parchment lined baking sheet, covered with a towel as before.

That is straight from Joe (I really made him type it-you can tell by his silly side remarks, he prefers me to call them his "witty rejoinders"-NERD!). ;)

Now enjoy this deliciousness out of your own kitchen-just be sure you want to eat it up pretty quick! Have a great Wednesday chickens! :D