Thanksgiving 2015

Rich and I had our own little Thanksgiving this year and although it was turkeyless, we enjoyed a feast filled with deliciousness and lots of gravy!

Regardless if I'm looking for two or for a party of 15, prepping the day before makes life a heck of a lot easier and less manic. I did all of the washing and chopping of the veg, marinated my chicken, made the sauce, gravy and soup well before Thanksgiving day. Everything gets put in zippy bags and mason jars until it's time to cook dinner!

I always cover everything in foil and parchment paper, because nobody wants to do dishes after a heafty meal. It's time for dessert; not time to fuss about clean up.

Brussles Sprouts and carrots, tossed in a little olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper. They end up super flavourful and caramelized from the maple.

Potato wedges with secret seasonings, which is basically all my favourite spices and a little olive oil. Paprika, granulated garlic and onion, dehydrated vegetable mix, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and a dash or two of cayenne. We makes these on the regular in the autumn, because they're so yummy and easy to make. Plus, potatoes are cheap this time of year! Like, a dollar for 10 pounds cheap.

Mashed sweet potatoes. Super easy to make, because all you need to do is peel them, cut them into cubes and plunk them in a Pyrex bowl with a generous splash of water. Cover it up with a Pyrex lid, and microwave until super soft. Then either mash by hand or blitz it in a food processor with a little vegan butter, real butter or coconut oil, some salt and a little maple syrup!

I decided to change it up a little and not use cranberry sauce. Instead, I took out a jar of lingonberry preserves from Ikea and a jar of cherry jam I had sitting in the fridge. I mixed the two together, added a little water for the right consistency and a couple pinches of citric acid to taste. Dare I say, it was even better than cranberry sauce. 

Veggie based butternut squash soup, made with squash, carrots, celery, onions. Everything was cooked in a pot until tender then blended until silky smooth. I made mine with a little cream and smoked paprika. 

Rich's plate, with breaded chick'n scallopini (PC Blue Menu) which are good on their own, but with gravy.....it was amazing. Seriously, as a meat eater I sometimes crave breaded chicken. You know, the kind that comes in a box from the frozen aisle. These are just as good! Okay, they might not be a health food, but neither are the real thing. I could definitely have meatless days if I got to eat these.

My plate with a super juicy chicken breast, which was seasoned and marinated the night before with thyme, basil, tarragon, black pepper and a little olive oil. Crispy skin and meat that was the farthest thing from dry. I bought a whole chicken and quartered it, saving the carcass. I like doing it this way, even though it takes a little more time, because I end up with bones for making stock! The rest of the meat gets portioned up in freezer bags for future meals.

Everything was roasted in the oven at 400F and everything was vegan except for my piece of chicken (duh). Sure makes making dinner easier this way. 

To complete the meal, an apple crisp. We like eating it cold, so I made it the night before and set it in the fridge until it was time for dessert. This too was made vegan, but I just had to have it with a scoop of real vanilla ice cream. Yummm!