Vegan Sausage Stuffing
Vegan Sausage Stuffing is honestly the BEST EVER! My exe used to make this for me every year. He’d dry out the bread for days and do it old school. Always perfect! I know I promised this recipe a day or two ago; however, it has been absolutely fucking crazy to say the least. And, for the first time in two years, I can say “crazy” in the best of ways. It feels amazing. If you follow the blog, you’ll have some semblance of the woes in which I am referring to. Alas, ’tis Thanksgiving and it is a time to be thankful, grateful, and full of deliciousness.
Imma gonna keep this short and sweet since this post is in the 11th hour. I’m chillin’ with the kiddo, cooking for tomorrow, and writing this post. I’ve just been given a 30-minute performance from Grey where he “conducted,” performed magic, danced, and sang. So sweet!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Click the name of the recipe/post below for more amazing vegan Thanksgiving recipes. Gooble ’til you wobble, friends!
A Bob Marley T-day tune for you…
Vegan Sausage Stuffing
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients –
8 cups unseasoned stuffing cubes (or dry bread out for a few days prior!)
1/2 C vegan butter
1 1/2 C onion – diced
1 CÂ celery – diced
1/2 C carrot – diced
4Â garlic cloves – finely chopped
1 pound vegan sausage – (I am a FIRM believer that Lightlife’s Gimme Lean Sausage is the BEST for this recipe – roll into small balls)
2 3/4 C veggie broth
1 Tbl fresh rosemary – chopped
1 Tbl fresh sage – chopped
1/4 CÂ fresh parsley – chopped
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Directions –
Preheat the oven to 350 F and use olive oil or vegan butter to grease a baking pan
Place the stuffing cubes in a large mixing bowl
In a large pan, melt the butter. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook over medium heat – stirring occasionally, for about 8-10 minutes
Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes
Add the vegetables to the bowl of stuffing cubes
In the same pan, cook the sausage over medium heat for 5 minutes
Add the sausage to the mixing bowl
Add the veggie broth, herbs, and pepper to the mixture and mix until the bread is soft
Transfer the stuffing to the baking pan and bake for about an hour to an hour and 10 minutes OR cook in pan on medium-low heat until everything is combined (about 5-10 minutes)
Done!
CLICK ON RECIPE TO BRING YOU TO LINK!
The BEST Vegan Thanksgiving Menu Ever!
Vegan Autumn Salad
Vegan Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Vegan Lentil Nut Loaf
Vegan Creamy Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower & Gravy
Vegan Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Vegan Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Gravy are crazy easy and delicious. Honestly, mashed potatoes win all the time. I like mine creamy and garlicky, too. I picked some fresh garlic chives from my patio garden for this recipe. So perfect!
I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, the company, the drinks, the music, and the “becoming one with my couch.” Being vegan doesn’t mean my Thanksgiving is any less carb and food heavy/delish than any other T-day. There are SOOO many meals you can make. Click HERE for a list of Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes.
OMG… COVID! Preventing family/friend soirées across the world. UGH! This year, it’ll just be me, my sis’, my nephew, and of course, G-dog. It’ll be amazing, no doubt. However, I am so pissed at the stupidity of people. This past year, human stupidity, in mass quantity, has become incredibly evident through both COVID and the election. I mean, what the fuck, people? Is putting on a mask too difficult? Is putting on a mask and following basic rules of socialization too freedom-restricting? Why can’t we all agree, despite our opposing beliefs, that this virus fucking sucks, and that if we all follow VERY easy and basic rules, we might have a chance of getting over this hellacious hump earlier than a down-tick next summer? Let’s all cross our fingers for this vaccine being readily available with access for everyone – like ASAP. Okay, that’s my diatribe for today. I felt the need to put it in this post since holidays are super-spreaders.
Anyway, Vegan Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Gravy are the bomb! I hope you enjoy! Live well, eat well, mask-up well, friends.
For your cooking delight… I LOVE this version…
Vegan Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Ingredients –
For the mashed potatoes:
3 1/2 lbs of potatoes – I usually use russet; however, this time, I use red potatoes and loved it! Also, I keep the skin ON!
2 C vegan milk – I prefer oat milk for this recipe
1/4 C vegan butter
5-7 cloves of garlic – diced (depends on your level of garlic and size of cloves)
2-3 Tbs garlic chives – diced (save some for a garnish)
Salt & pepper to taste (salt for boiling potatoes, too)
For the gravy: (feel free to double this recipe – I usually do)
2 C vegetable stock
2 Tbl soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 C flour
Optional – 1-2 Tbl ground flax
Directions –
For the mashed potatoes:
Cut the potatoes into quarters. Place in a large pot, add salt and cover with water
Bring to boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat once boiling. Cook until potatoes are tender – about 15 minutes
Drain and place back in pot
Heat the milk, butter, garlic, and garlic chives in a pan over medium heat until simmering – remove from heat
Mash and add the mixture from pan, plus salt and pepper
Garnish with a piece of butter and chives
Done!
For the gravy:
Place all ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil
Whisk often over medium-high heat for a few minutes until the gravy thickens to your liking
Done!
Wine pairing –
White – Chardonnay
Red РBarbaresco, Chianti Classico, C̫tes du Rh̫ne.
Beer pairing –
Blonde ale
Vegan Creamy Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower & Gravy
Vegan Creamy Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower with vegan gravy is a Thanksgiving go-to for me over the past three years. Honestly, sometimes I serve both mashed cauliflower and mashed potato. Why not? These pics are from about two months ago. I was craving them! I ate them with the Buffalo Chickpea Wraps from the last post I made. Total awesomeness together!
Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am hoping G and I will be living in Shenzhen, China by then! We are getting SOOO close to our move! I can’t wait. Grey asks every day when we are moving. It makes me so happy to know that he is as excited as I am. Truly hoping that we can do our two-week quarantine in Shanghai. Yes – two weeks, in a hotel room, not being able to leave it AT ALL, with a 5 (maybe 6 at that point!) year old. Please pray for me. LOL. 😉 I’ll take any suggestions anyone may have regarding fun activities to assist in evading extreme boredom, and to help maintain some “mommy sanity” until we are released from the confines of our hotel box! Then, it would be my dream, that Alana is the first smiling face I see! Hence, why I want to quarantine in Shanghai. CAN’T WAIT TO FUCKING SEE YOU, ALANA AND FAM!
Okay, back to Vegan Creamy Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower with bomb gravy. It’s easy, delish, is great by itself, as a side dish, and of course, to ramp up your vegan thanksgiving recipes.
I was just telling my sister, the amazing Danella, who flew here to represent me via Pro Hac Vice (the most insane thing ever that we managed to make happen with literally zero time) – you’re my fucking hero, D – that I’ve had this song stuck in my head for a week. She begged me not to sing it so I didn’t do the same to her. Not sure if I’ve heard it recently or if it is simply because China is on my mind, but here you go! For your listening/cooking delight! … And, to my freedom from an absolute year of hell. Hopefully, I will never be harassed, threatened, and stalked to the point of absolute insanity ever again – or that my friends, family, my son’s school, etc., will not be harrassed and threatened from him any longer. FREEDOM!
Vegan Creamy Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower & Gravy
Mashed Cauliflower
Ingredients–
1 large head of cauliflower
1 Tbs vegan butter (I use Miyokos or Earth Balance)
1/4 C vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti)
*Optional- 1 Tbs vegan shredded parm OR 1 tsp vegan parm
1/4 cup vegan milk (I prefer soy for this recipe)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
*Optional- fresh parsley – chopped loosely
Directions –
Boil water with salt and cut cauliflower into medium-sized florets. Once water boils, add cauliflower and cook on a medium boil for about 10 minutes or until semi-soft
Drain cauliflower and rinse with cold water – let cool for a few minutes
Heat butter and garlic on medium-low for about one minute
In your food processor or Vitamix, add cauliflower and all other ingredients
Puree ingredients until smooth, place in bowl, and add optional parsley on top
Done!
Vegan Gravy
Ingredients –
2 Tbs vegan butter
1/3 C flour (1/2 C flour if you want it thicker)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbs tamari or soy sauce
4 C vegetable broth
2 Tbs dry white wine
Pepper – to taste
Directions –
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat
Add flour, garlic powder, pepper, thyme, sage, and rosemary and cook for 1 minute
Slowly whisk in the broth, until smooth and bring to a boil
Add wine and tamari/soy sauce
Next, simmer and cook, whisking, until smooth and thick, about 1 minute
Remove from heat
Serve immediately
Done!
Beer Pairing –
Pilsner
Wine Pairing –
White- Oaky Chardonnay
Red – Oaky Cabernet
The BEST Pumpkin Seeds Ever!
The BEST Pumpkin Seeds Ever! Are Italian Style and crazy delish. As with all pumpkin seeds, the recipe couldn’t be any easier. I wanted to post this yesterday, as per my Sunday & Wednesday food posts, however, my little man with his Halloween fun came first – hands down. We were by our lonesome yesterday, his baba was away for business, so I made it extra special. We started our day with pumpkin pancakes in shapes of all things Halloween, first costume of the day & trick-or-treating and face painting at his school, out to dinner at his favorite restaurant, costume change #2 and out in the ‘hood, then finished it up by completing our Halloween movie from the night before. I was fucking SPENT this morning! It was all worth it. 😉 Below, I’ve added pics of our day because shit, G is just too damn cute. Especially in costume!
I am not including an exact recipe here. Honestly, it’s just too easy. Combine the ingredients below to your liking and voila – done! Enjoy the Italian style pumpkin seeds that will no doubt become an annual Halloween event. -FGG
 
 
The BEST Pumpkin Seeds Ever!
Ingredients:
Olive oil
Dried oregano,
Salt (I prefer Himalayan)
Vegan Parmesan or regular for you non-vegans! (I use Follow Your Heart’s Vegan Parm – I think it’s by far the best out there that I’ve tried thus far)
Directions:
Be sure you seeds are rinsed and dried, toss your desired amount of all ingredients together in a bowl with pumpkin seeds, bake at 300f for approximately 30-40 minutes (pending upon how well done you’d like them)
Done!
My Morning Through Snack Daily Food Routine (shed those lbs & still eat well)!
Well, it’s official. I’ve finally decided that to make my goal weight by mid-June I am officially going to have to kind of… err… sort of… uugghh… maybe diet a bit! Yuck! That tasted bad evening writing down that hateful “d” word. I made it 6 months while staying on target or even getting ahead of my chart and have hit the longest of plateaus over the past 3 months. If I plan on “making it” to the finish line I have to actually cut back a bit. I’ve also just revamped my workout. In previous posts I had mentioned the glory of Jillian Michael’s Shred It Level 1. Well, now it’s Level 2 in addition to her 6 Weeks to 6 Pack Abs (if you want to die a painful workout death… do this. It’s killer! But amazing), and I am taking hour long Latin dance classes every Friday. I feel the combo should get me to where I need to be in the short bit of time I seem to have left. Sigh, sigh, and sigh again… however, I feel great! So, that’s the silver lining, and the hope for total “svelte-ness” is my dangling carrot. In my mind it’s super model status, however, reality strikes in the form of a possible thinner thigh, arm, and a true dream of 50% of Jillian Michael’s abs. We dream big here my friends. I mean BIG. I do indeed, dare to dream.
I start every morning with my G’s Oatmeal Smoothie recipe. My little man (Greyson) LOVES them, as do my husband and myself. Berries mixed with oatmeal, coconut milk, and yes, spinach! Don’t let this scare you! The spinach is masked by the coconut and the sweet fruit. An incredibly healthy and satisfying start to your day. Not to mention, I make it the night before so the oats have been fully soaked, it will be cold without having to add ice, and let’s face it, one less step to slow down your morning. Sold! Next, I arrive at work and have a small snack of almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and a clementine. I love all of them and they keep my belly content until a later snack or early lunch. I swallow this down with a cup of chrysanthemum tea with a dash of cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and an ever-so-small squeeze of agave. This is incredibly refreshing and easy to drink. After this, I return to the caffeine with a Jasmine Green Tea (I have a black coffee as soon as I arrive at work). For a small lunch or hefty snack, I have a whole wheat slice of bakery bread loaded with all kinds of delicious seeds, and I smother it in my homemade Classic Hummus after smashing some avocado on the bread (sometimes with a tomato or some cheese as well-all depends on how crazy I feel that day!). If I want to make this more of a lunch, I will have a heftier slice of my bread and it’s toppings plus I’ll tack on a salad or soup, like my Pesto Mushroom Salad or my Creamy Vegan Broccoli Soup. I’m not trying to pack the calories in but I definitely want to feel satisfied and really enjoy my food. What’s eating if we don’t love it?! My goal is to fuel my body with the “best” and enjoy it in the making. Simple, happy, delicious. Join me in my not-so-new morning mantra!
