The 7th Day of Christmas - Swans of Swimming Soup

On the seventh day of Christmas I made my loved one Swan wings of Swimming Soup is swimming with vegetables and farfalle (wing shaped) pasta. This recipe is altered from Oh She Glows

Six Chocolate eggs

FIVE Golden Onion Rings

Four Calling non-bird pies

Three French Crescents

Two turtle candies

And a pear muffin

Ingredients:

For the soup:

• 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked
• 6 cups vegetable broth, divided
• 1 tablespoon vegetable broth
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 diced sweet onion 
• 1 heaping cup peeled and chopped carrots 
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped butternut squash
• 1 heaping cup chopped celery (about 2 stalks)
• 1 qt canned tomatoes, with their juices
• 1 to 2 tablespoons Homemade 10-Spice Mix, to taste
• Fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 to 3 cups baby spinach 
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or other beans, drained and rinsed
• 12 oz farfalle pasta (we added)

Homemade 10-Spice Mix (makes 1/2 cup):

• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric (we added this)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Place cashews in a bowl and add enough water to cover. Soak the cashews overnight, or for 8 hours. For a quick-soak method, soak the cashews in boiled water for 30 to 60 minutes. Drain and rinse the cashews.
2. In a blender, combine the soaked and drained cashews with 1 cup of vegetable broth and blend on the highest speed until smooth. Set aside.
3. In a large pot, heat the broth over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add Herbamare or sea salt if needed.
4. Add the carrots, bell pepper, potato, celery, and diced tomatoes with their juices, the remaining 5 cups broth, and 1 to 2 tablespoons 10-Spice Mix (to taste). Stir well to combine . Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Season with salt and black pepper.
5. Simmer the soup uncovered for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and black pepper. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, stir in the cashew cream, spinach (or kale), and drained beans. Add more 10-Spice Mix, to taste.
6. To freeze, ladle the soup into containers (leaving 1 inch for expansion), cool completely, secure lid, and place in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.

The 6th Day of Christmas - Chocolate Eggs

On the sixth day of Christmas I made my loved ones Chocolate Eggs using the recipe from Peta.org

FIVE Golden Onion Rings

Four Calling non-bird pies

Three French Crescents

Two turtle candies

And a pear muffin

Chocolate Eggs
Ingredients:

1 8-oz. package nondairy cream cheese (Daiya), softened at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Decorations, e.g., chopped nuts, unsweetened cocoa, toasted flaked coconut

• Beat the nondairy cream cheese in a mixing bowl until it is smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until it is well blended. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and mix well.
• Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
• Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls or egg shapes and roll them in the nuts, cocoa, or coconut. Store the finished chocolates in the refrigerator.

The 5th Day of Christmas - Onion Rings

The Fifth Day of Christmas I made my loved ones FIVE Golden Onion Rings. This recipe is altered from allrecipes.com. These were served with Snobby Joe's and a kale salad (kale, dried cranberries, walnuts, diced apple, pine nut based Parmesan cheese with a honey mustard dressing - 1 TBS Dijon mustard, 1/2 TBS honey, 1 TBS olive oil, 2 TBS water, 1 1/2 TBS apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper)

Four Calling non-bird pies

Three French Crescents

Two turtle candies

And a pear muffin

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup aquafaba

• 1  cup almond milk, or as needed
• 
  
• 3/4 cup gf dry bread crumbs
• seasoned salt to taste
• 
  
•  air fryer
• 
  

Directions

1. Separate the onion slices into rings, and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Dip the onion slices into the flour mixture until they are all coated; set aside. Whisk the egg and milk into the flour mixture using a fork. Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat, then place on a wire rack to drain until the batter stops dripping. The wire rack may be placed over a sheet of aluminum foil for easier clean up. Spread the bread crumbs out on a plate or shallow dish. Place rings one at a time into the crumbs, and scoop the crumbs up over the ring to coat. Give it a hard tap as you remove it from the crumbs. The coating should cling very well. Repeat with remaining rings.
3. Place on wire tray in air fryer. Set heat to 400 and timer to 5 minutes. Season with seasoning salt, and serve.

The 4th Day of Christmas - Calling Non-Bird Pies

The Fourth Day of Christmas I made my loved ones 4 Calling Non-Birds Pies. This recipe is altered from the one from Outdoor Life
We omitted the crow, as well as all the remaining animal based ingredient. We also made this is jumbo muffin tins for individual servings, I didn't want to make 4 large pies. We served this with the remaining French Crescents. There were enough vegetables to make another 8" pie, so we did.

Three French Crescents

Two turtle candies

And a pear muffin

INGREDIENTS

1 Honeycrisp apple, or similar variety
2 Yukon Gold potatoes
1 cup whole mushrooms (any kind you like)
1 bunch rainbow carrots (available at farmers markets or Trader Joe’s)
1 cup sugar snap peas
3 celery stalks, diced
10 fluid ounces of apple cider
2 cups vegetable broth
1 leek (from our garden)
1 small bunch fresh parsley (from our garden)
12 sprigs fresh thyme (from our garden)
1 egg worth of aquafaba (1/4 cup)
vegetable broth
Salt
2 TBS gluten free flour

3 prepared or homemade piecrusts
For the muffin pies, we 1/4 one prepared pie shell and used it to line the muffin tin and make the top. The remaining two pie shells were used for the 8" pie.

Heat 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add vegetable broth. Sauté leeks and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes to cook off the water in the vegetables. Add carrots and more broth, as needed. Add about ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook another 5 minutes.
Next, throw in the peas, apple and potatoes. Mix.
Hit with ¼ teaspoon of salt, and about 2 tablespoons of flour and mix. Add approximately 10 fluid ounces of apple cider. Add the parsley and thyme, and mix.
As the mixture simmers, slowly add some broth in 1/3-1/2 cup increments. We are looking to thicken the mixture to a gravy-like consistency. You have to feel your way through this step. Just think Grandma’s Thanksgiving gravy. This step will take about 30-45 minutes.
Once the mixture has reached it’s silky thickened state of deliciousness, turn out the whole works into a bowl to cool while you prepare the crust. Turn on the oven preheating to 350 degrees.
Into a pre-chilled 8 or 9-inch cast iron skillet spray with oil, and sprinkle lightly with a little salt. This keeps the piecrust from adversely interacting with the cast-iron.
Once your base crust is in the pan let it sit there for 5 minutes to stretch and relax. While the crust is settling into the pan, roll out your second crust. Put an x in the middle to create a small opening for the pie bird, if you have one. This old fashioned pie bird will let out steam as the savory non-crow pie bakes in the oven.
Now it’s time to add the cooled mixture into to the skillet. Set the ceramic birds in the middle, top with second crust, fold under and pinch the edges however you want.
Just be sure to seal the crusts to one another, and pinch the dough to ceramic pie bird to seal there, as well. We want as tight a seal as possible before putting in the oven.
Beat the aquafaba and liberally brush onto the crust. Pop the pie onto the lower rack in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Time can vary depending on how thick you made the crust, the size of your skillet, and the accuracy of your oven, so keep an eye on things and adjust as you go. If your crust is brown before the veggies are done, cover loosely with aluminum foil to protect from burning.
For the individual ones we baked them for 30 minutes.

The 3rd Day of Christmas - French Crescents

The third day of Christmas i made my loved ones Three French Crescents

Two turtle candies

And a pear muffin

INGREDIENTS

Dough

• 3 cups gluten free all purpose flour mix
• 1¼ cup + 2 tbsp milk of choice
• 1 rapid rise red star yeast packet or 2½ tsp
• 3 tsp xanthan or guar gum (omit if mix already contains gum)
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp melted vegetable shortening + extra for parchment paper

Garlic filling/topping

• 3 tbsp shortening
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Heat ¼ cup of milk to 100 degrees. Add yeast and set aside for until foaming.
3. Topping: Crush garlic and mix with shortening. Set aside.
4. Mix all dry ingredients for the dough. Combine yeast, melted shortening and remaining milk.
5. Mix ingredients by hand for 5 minutes to help activate gum.
6. Lightly grease a sheet of parchment paper the size of a baking sheet. With greased hands, gently press out dough to form a rectangle approximately 14x18 inches.
7. Evenly spread topping along the entire dough.
8. Divide the dough in half (length wise) using a pizza cutter, cut in half again. Slice the extra long rectangle into triangles.
9. Gently roll each triangle staring from the largest end. If dough breaks, simple press together with a little water. Cover and allow to rest about 10 minutes before baking.
10. Bake at 375 degrees for 13-14 minutes or until golden brown.

December 2017 Whole Food Plant Based Potluck

For the month of December we go out to eat. This year we went to Sassool with our annual White Elephant exchange. This has been an amazing year with all of you!
January 6th's theme is whole food plant based soup and salad.

The 2nd Day of Christmas - Turtle candy

 The second day of Christmas I made my loved ones 2 turtle candies.

and a pear muffin 

I made a second batch (for me, neither pecans nor oil). That recipe is at the bottom

Ingredients 

chocolate:

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (vegan)
• 1-2 Tbsp virgin coconut oil

Date Caramel:

• 10 Medjool Dates (I used Natural Delights)
• 2-3 Tbsp warm water (as needed to blend)
• 2 Tbsp virgin coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp coconut milk cream
• pinch of salt (optional)

Also

• 1 cup whole raw pecans
• parchment paper lined (small size) baking dish or tray

Instructions

1. Pit your dates. Soak them in warm water 2-3 minutes.
2. Add all caramel ingredients to a high speed blender, including the soaked dates. Discard soaking water.
3. Blend the caramel until smooth. You will need to stop blender to scrape down sides a few times and use a tamper if using a Vitamix. Use the tall skinny container if you have one.
4. When caramel is done, spoon it into a small bowl and place the bowl in the freezer to chill. Also place the baking sheet you will be using for the turtles in the freezer to get cold.
5. Create a double broiled for melting you chocolate. Melt chocolate until silky sooth. Pour chocolate into a small bowl and place that bowl in the freezer to cool a bit.
6. Pull your baking sheet from the freezer and line it with parchment paper.
7. Pull the caramel and chocolate from the freezer as well and start assembling your turtles. Create a turtle design with the pecans. Then add a dollop of caramel to each turtle. Then top with a spoonful of chocolate. The cold caramel and cold pan will help so that the chocolate does not spread too far when poured. Continue until all turtle are done. Note: If you are using a small baking pan -- you will probably need two pans for all your turtles.
8. Place the turtles back in the freezer and in 5-15 minutes they will be fully hardened and ready to enjoy! Store leftover in the fridge or freezer.

Cindy's version for walnut (oil-free) turtles

Ingredients 

chocolate:

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (vegan)

Date Caramel:

• 10 Medjool Dates (I used Natural Delights)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt (optional)

Also

• 1 cup whole raw walnuts
• parchment paper lined (small size) baking dish or tray

Instructions

1. Pit your dates. Soak them in warm water 2-3 minutes.
2. Add all caramel ingredients to a high speed blender, including the soaked dates. Discard soaking water.
3. Blend the caramel until smooth. You will need to stop blender to scrape down sides a few times and use a tamper if using a Vitamix. Use the tall skinny container if you have one.
4. When caramel is done, spoon it into a small bowl and place the bowl in the freezer to chill. Also place the baking sheet you will be using for the turtles in the freezer to get cold.
5. Create a double broiled for melting you chocolate. Melt chocolate until silky sooth. Pour chocolate into a small bowl and place that bowl in the freezer to cool a bit.
6. Pull your baking sheet from the freezer and line it with parchment paper.
7. Pull the caramel and chocolate from the freezer as well and start assembling your turtles. Create a turtle design with the walnutss. Then add a dollop of caramel to each turtle. Then top with a spoonful of chocolate. The cold caramel and cold pan will help so that the chocolate does not spread too far when poured. Continue until all turtle are done. Note: If you are using a small baking pan -- you will probably need two pans for all your turtles.
8. Place the turtles back in the freezer and in 5-15 minutes they will be fully hardened and ready to enjoy! Store leftover in the fridge or freezer.
9.