Thanksgiving

    I do believe I have been bitten by the thankfulness bug. Today, I am thankful...
... for my Savior who paid the price for sin, though he himself was perfect.
... that God saw fit for me to be born into a country of freedom so that I am able to serve him freely.
... for my God fearing parents who have raised me to know him, love him, and to serve him.
... for a wonderful husband who loves God and me.
... for friends and family who are faithful prayer warriors.
...for God's word that he has chosen to give to us in order that we might have a glimpse of who he is.
...for the luxuries that I have been blessed with, but are in no way necessary.
    My list could go on forever and it really should. I should have a running stream of thankfulness directed towards my God, every single day. Thanksgiving seems to be our annual reminder that we have so much to be thankful for. Its too bad the thankfulness bug doesn't live year round.
    I had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Steven and I got up and went down town to see Chicago's Thanksgiving Day Parade (which we have done every year that we have lived here) for the last time as Steven will be graduating in the spring. We started off with our tradition of stopping at Dunkin Donuts for some blueberry coffee. After grabbing our piping hot drinks we made our way down the road to sit on the curb to wait for the floats to come our way.
    We left the parade early so we could head out to Indiana to spend Thanksgiving with some friends. It was a wonderful and relaxing day full of food and fun. We stayed the night and the next morning we ventured out to do some Black Friday shopping. It really wasn't a crazy or hectic shopping spree. We got what we wanted and had some fun while were at it!
    I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here are a few pictures from the Thanksgiving parade:

Steven was trying to convince me to do my hair like this...
What do you think?

Now on to Christmas!

Taco Pie Memories

    I'm not Mexican, but boy do I love tacos! Not only do they taste amazing, but I also have many fond memories with Steven and tacos. Our first "real" date (after prom), was to Taco Bell. When I think about the delicious Mexican meal I get this warm, happy, and awkward feeling as reminiscence about our first date.
    In addition to my memories of being with Steven while eating tacos, I also have memories of my mom making a wonderful taco pie. For those of you who have never had taco pie: you are missing out! It's one of those foods that I forget where I'm at while I'm eating it because every part of my brain is concentrated on all the textures and flavors being enjoyed by my mouth.
    Anyway, I had a craving (I seem to have a lot of those) for taco pie a few days ago, so it made it's way onto my meal list for the week. Of course I had to figure out a way to make it vegan (which seems to be getting easier and easier). A little bit of researching and shopping around and Bam! A beautiful taco pie.

Vegan Taco Pie

Crust:

1 cup corn flour

1 tbs olive oil

3/4 cup warm water

salt

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together and onto the bottom and sides of a pie pan.

Filling:

1 can of black beans rinsed

2-3 tbs taco seasoning

1 tbs water

6 oz Tofutti's "better than sour cream"(sour cream substitute)

4 oz Lisanatti Foods "The original Almond cheese alternative Cheddar style"

Directions:

In a frying pan, place the black beans, taco seasoning and water. Cook at medium heat for about five minutes. Put the beans on top of the crust in the pie pan. Next, cover the beans with the "sour cream" and grate the four oz of cheese on top of that. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Toppings:

1 medium tomato

1 cup of shredded lettuce

1 handful  of corn chips ( made my own with this recipe)

Enjoy!

Busting Out the Christmas

    Last night Steven and I went downtown to see the Magnificent Mile Lights Parade...er rather watch the hordes of people stomping all over each other to get a glimpse of the sparkly floats. It was seriously of the most crowded events I think I've been to since my arrival in Chicago. We went last year, but for some reason it didn't seem quite as crowded. After attempting to find a decent spot to see anything, we settled for some good quality people watching, and boy was it a good night for it. I think one of our favorite parts was getting to walk in the middle of the road down all the main streets, as they were all blocked off-yes, I know, we are easily amused.
    So the main point of this adventure was to get Steven in the Christmas spirit so I could bust out all my Christmas decorations. It worked! We went home to our nice toasty apartment, lit some apple spice and cinnamon candles, and pulled out all the Christmas decorations. After we transformed our little home into a Christmas wonderland we turned out the lights and sat down to view our handiwork and all the sparkling lights.
    Growing up when the time would come to set up the Christmas tree we had a party (because my family used any excuse we could to have a little party). Dad would go out to the store while we set up the tree (I'm pretty sure he just didn't want to be recruited for the job) and would buy some eggnog, a spread of cheeses, meats, crackers and peppermint ice cream. By the time he got home the house would be decorated and the tree would be up and ready to be trimmed with ornaments from the past. We would turn out the lights and gather around the lit up tree to hang our precious trinkets. We would share memories from the past that were linked to each ornament and laugh at each others funny stories. Finally when the tree was finished we would run for the kitchen to gorge ourselves with all the delicious treats that dad had purchased for the occasion. The family would once again return to the tree to stare in awe at the beauty that had long been anticipated.
    Though I am no longer able to be with my family to partake in the tradition, I still hold those memories close to my heart. I wanted to have a little bit of that tradition here in my own little home. The funny thing is, now that I'm eating a vegan diet, the only thing I can eat out of that list of goodies that dad brought home, is the crackers. I wasn't really in a cracker mood so I decided to try to relive the eggnog tradition in the form of a latte. It's a little bit of a stretch, but we need to create our own traditions now anyway, right?
    Last year Steven and I bought Bigelow Eggnogg'n Tea and it was really good. It had a nice strong eggnog flavor. I decided to get a little creative and here is what happened:

Eggnog Latte

Ingreidents:

1/2 cup almond milk

espresso (or coffee)

1 Bigelow Eggnogg'n tea bag

1 tsp Stevia (or sugar)

Directions:

Brew your espresso  (or coffee) and pour it into your cup. Stir in the Stevia (or sugar if you prefer) and then plop the tea bag into the espresso to seep. Meanwhile steam your milk and when it's finished stir it into the coffee, and finally, don't throw away the foam! It's the best part-plop it right on top. It will make your mind think it's whip cream.

Vegan Cinnamon Raisin Bread

    Last night I made an incredibly delicious treat that has been occupying my mouth all morning: Cinnamon Raisin bread! When I worked at Panera I had a bread card that all employees received so we could get a free loaf of bread every week (I also had a 65% discount), so needless to say, I ate a lot of bread. One of my more popular loaf purchases was the Cinnamon Raisin Bread because it is AMAZING. Since then I haven't had any and it probably has stuff in it that I am no longer eating anyway-so I decided to make my own.
     My recipe is actually an adaption of a recipe that was adapted from another recipe-this poor little raisin bread recipe is either getting very beat up or is receiving a much needed makeover. If you are interested in checking out this recipe in it's original form you can do the backtracking yourself. I got my recipe here.

Vegan Oatmeal-Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup warm water

2 tablespoons molasses (I used Blackstrap because that is what I had, but any kind would work)

1 tablespoon applesauce

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups oat flour (blend 3 cups of oats)

3/4 cups oats

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon wheat germ (I used raw wheat germ or you can use bran)

1/2 cup raisins

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

Swirl:

1/4 cup brown sugar 

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl (except for the brown sugar and cinnamon). Put it onto a floured surface and roll out flat (it might be sticky at first so just add some flour). Roll it out according to the length of your bread pan. Now take the cinnamon and sugar and cover the surface of the rolled out dough. Once it is covered start rolling up the dough (make sure it's fairly tight). Pinch the ends and put it into a greased bread pan. Bake at 350 until it's hard when tapped. Take out and let cool-don't wait too long to have your first bite though, it's fantastic when it's hot!

Acorns

    Less than a week till Thanksgiving! I'm so excited. To be honest I'm not exactly sure if I'm excited for Thanksgiving or if I'm excited that in a week Thanksgiving will be over and I can march right into Christmas with no shame. Not that I don't like Thanksgiving, but Christmas just has a bit more going for it.
    In light of the quickly approaching Thanksgiving, and all the holiday food hype that goes with it, I've decided to add another little recipe that i enjoyed making last week. It's quick, delicious (and good for you too) and makes a great little snack to munch on all day long because of course you must take advantage of the one day a year that you are able to lay off that diet and eat nonstop.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate-Pecan Acorns

Ingredients:

Pecans

Chocolate

Peanut Butter

Sesame Seeds

Flax Seeds

*Note-I don't have specific amounts because it really

all depends on how many you want, and it's pretty easy

to figure out yourself.

Directions:

(1) Take whatever chocolate you have decided to use (you don't need a lot) and put it in a double broiler or microwave or whatever ingenious way you come up with to melt it. (2) while your chocolate is melting you want to look through your bag of pecans and match them together according to size. (3) put some peanut butter on the backside (the flatter side) of the pecan and the smoosh it together with the backside of the matching pecan. (3) Once the chocolate has melted, you want to dip the wider ends of the pecans into the chocolate (being careful that the chocolate doesn't drip down the sides). (4) right after dipping it in the chocolate dip the ends covered in chocolate into a mix of sesame and flax seeds. (5) place them on a tray lined with wax paper and put them in the freezer till the chocolate and peanut butter become firm. (6) Remove from freezer and Nom Nom Nom!

Portobello Burgers

    I know summer is long gone and no one wants to think about it right now (unless of course you are one of those weird people who can enjoy the holidays without snow), but I'm going to rewind a few months to a nice warm summer day with the grill all fired up. One of my favorite things to do in the summer is grill all kinds of delicious foods. I'm pretty sure the most popular food to grill in the summer is a burger-everyone seems to love this heated ground up animal. I was never a huge fan of hamburgers because they are greasy and fatty and not at all good for me. Steven, on the other hand is a huge hamburger fan. He goes to restaurants that serve good food, and what does he get? A hamburger. Having said all that, I decided to make Steven some "hamburgers" this week (vegan of course).
    Portobello mushrooms are incredibly meaty and the perfect hamburger substitute. I've seen recipes and pictures for portobello mushroom burgers before, but never tried them, but let me tell you-they are delicious!

Cooking Directions:
I coated my mushrooms in olive oil and balsamic vinegar then popped them in the oven at 350 for about five minutes. We ate them with homemade wheat buns, onions, peppers, marinara sauce, garlic, and a little horseradish. Of course you can use whatever you want-treat it like a hamburger!

Pumpkin Pie Makeover

    Tis' the season for pumpkin pie! I absolutely love pumpkin pie- i'm pretty sure it has always been my favorite. It is also one of those foods that I convince myself is good for me because there is pumpkin in it. Unfortunately the nutrition label tells a different story: There are 2594 calories in a 9 inch pumpkin pie which puts one piece (1/8 of the pie) at 323 calories. Yikes...this pumpkin pie needs a makeover.

My Version of Pumpkin Pie:

The entire pie is 700 calories which puts 

1 piece (1/8 of the pie) at 87.5 calories.

Crust:

1 cup of Dates

1/4 cup of Mixed Nuts

1 tbs Water

Mix all the ingredients together in the blender until they are crumbly, but stick together. Press into a pie pan. 

Unfortunately you don't get to see the beauty of the entire
pie because once I took a sample bite I couldn't stop!

Filling:

1/2 cup of Almond Milk

1 cup of Pumpkin

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tbs Raw Honey

Blend all the ingredients together and pour into the pie crust. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. 

*Keep in mind that I am on a vegan diet, so there are no eggs in this recipe to make it stand the way normal pumpkin pie does. If you want it to stand put in two eggs which adds 180 calories to the recipe.

Muffins and Coffee

    I've never been much a breakfast person because I’ve never needed to get up early and therefore it’s just an easy meal to ignore as lunch is usually only a couple hours away. But now that I have to get up at 5:30 every morning I’ve gotten into the practice of eating breakfast. I am now a huge breakfast fan! I mean I always loved breakfast foods, so breakfast for dinner was always one of the greatest ideas ever, but now I eat breakfast for breakfast (crazy right?)!

    Last week we had raw flax pancakes with natural peanut butter for breakfast everyday and they were AMAZING! Seriously, I would sit down for breakfast and get excited for breakfast the next day. You can get the recipe here.

 This week I made some date and nut muffins that are so very very yummy. Here is their recipe and here are my modifications:

• 2 cups quick oats

* 1 cup unbleached white flour * 1 cup oat flour (just blend 1 1/2 cup of oats)

• 1/2 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup unbleached cane sugar or brown sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts - walnuts and/or pecans*3/4 cup mixed nuts (it's much cheaper and just as good)
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil  1/3 cup coconut oil

    Since the weather has gotten colder these past couple weeks I have been walking to the nearest Starbucks with Adam (the boy I nanny) for a nice hot treat. It’s a nice way to pass away a few of the morning hours. The Starbucks we go to has a little “kids corner” with a bookshelf full of kids books (which Adam loves) so it’s a win situation for both of us! He gets to look at books and I get to drink a soy peppermint latte-yum! So now I find myself craving this creamy-minty-coffee treat ALL the time. But unfortunately it really isn’t good for me, so I decided to try to make my own. I am proud to say that I have succeeded! It really didn’t take too much creativity-its way easy.

Peppermint Latte

½ cup Almond Milk

1 ½ drops Peppermint extract

1 tsp Stevia

Espresso

oops-somehow I ended up with
the "Mr." cup?

    Unfortunately for those of you who don’t have espresso machines-it won’t actually be a latte, but you can totally just make this with your regular coffee. Brew your espresso or coffee, mix the stevia and peppermint into the espresso, steam your milk (or just pour in your regular milk) and pour it into the coffee while stirring. You’re finished! Enjoy! I went from a small Starbucks peppermint latte with 150ish calories (if not more) to 30 calories with my homemade version. 

Three Day Weekend!

    Crisp air, peppermint goodies, pine scents, and Christmas decorating is what I had in mind for my three day weekend. However, it just doesn't seem right to decorate for Christmas when it's 60 degrees outside and raining...sigh...so I decided to simply do some cooking instead.
    Yesterday morning when I got up I had a really random craving for crepes. I say random because I've only ever had them once and that was years ago when I was still in elementary school and decided to do some cooking from my Kirsten cook book. I really don't know why I never made them after that because they were incredibly delicious!
    Anywho, needless to say, I was going to use my not-decorating time to make some fantastic crepes. However, I found after looking up a few recipes that they require a fair number eggs and as you have read in other posts I am experimenting with a vegan diet (which is going fantastically by the way-I'll write about it briefly at the end of this post) so eggs were out of the question. I actually just ended up using a vegan pancake recipe. You can see the recipe I used here.

 *Here are my modifications:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1 tbs soy flour

1 tbs white sugar *1 tbs raw sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soy milk *1 cup almond milk (the extra milk helps to make it a little more liquidy)
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Mix all the ingredients together and cook in a lightly greased pan (i just used a little coconut oil)
try to spread it out as much as possible so that you have a very thin pancake. Cook until golden brown and then flip
and cook till you get the same result. 

    After I found a "crepe" recipe, I needed to figure out what I was going to fill them with! This decision really wasn't too difficult-I thought about buying expensive berries, but in the end I decided I was more in the mood for some good fall flavors AND they don't hurt my pocket so much: Apple and pumpkin.

Apple Filling:

2 apples of your choice (I'm actually not even sure what kind I used-I got them at the farmers market last week)
1 tbs brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs water

Direction: 
Core and chop up the apples into tiny pieces, combine the apples pieces with the rest of the ingredients in a pan at medium heat, cook until the apples are soft (it smells so good!)

Pumpkin Filling:
1/2 cup pumpkin (real or canned-doesn't matter, but I used real)
1 tsp maple syrup (the real stuff is best)
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend till combined.


Now all you have to do is fill the crepes-put a little filling in the middle and role them up. I ended up having the odd number of 7 so I had two pumpkin and five apple. They were oh so yummy. Go make them!

    Now a quick update about my new eating style-like how I said that? It's a diet, but not the kind that most people think of-sure I might lose a couple pounds if I have a couple pounds to lose, but that's not the point. A diet is simply what you eat-everyone has a diet. Anyway, I also didn't say vegan or vegetarian because I wanted a chance to explain first.
     A vegetarian is someone who just doesn't eat meat, but consumes other animal products such as dairy and eggs. I am not this kind of person because I am also not eating dairy or eggs. A vegan is more of a religious kind of things because not only do they usually not eat animal products, but they also don't wear any clothes made from animals (animal rights and all that jazz). I'm not a vegan in this sense because I am all for killing animals to eat them-God has given them to us to eat.
    I am simply trying to eat in a way that is good for my body in order to increase energy levels, metabolism, and to make me a happier person? Haha, I don't know how else to say it. When I don't eat right, then I'm tired which causes me to not be so happy and a bit lethargic. So far I am feeling great! I have more energy-naps are no longer a necessity (though I still go to bed early), I haven't been sick, and  I just feel happier. *Note that this is also combined with good daily exercise and vitamins.
    Also, this isn't one of those things where I'm being super strict with myself and saying "I will never eat meat again!". If in the future I am offered meat or I'm really craving it or something, then I'll have some. It just isn't on my list of things to get from the grocery store anymore. I also don't know if this is something that is practical and will last forever-that is why I'm experimenting. This isn't something that is supposed to stress me out and keep me on a chain-it's supposed to be relieving! I just eat what my body craves and needs.