Time to Hug A ….?

Since CCK challenged us to ‘Hug a Vegan <something>?”, I am posting about my Thanksgiving love, complete with two “huggin-a-somethin-vegan” pictures.

Although this pic was actually taken before the Hug challenge was made, it’s such a darn cute pic of my lil vegan man I had to share!

Huggin a vegan Beebits!

Next on the daily agenda….

Whole Foods alert! OMG, MVM (my vegan mom) and I went to Whole Foods today to pick up some specialty things – it’s SO much fun to shop with someone! I haven’t been to WF in months, it’s just not in the budget…but our “Nack, mommy!” cabinet is like Mother Hubbard’s right now… so I wanted to pick up a few things to have on hand for the Beebits.  There are a couple things I can only find there, like organic unsalted pretzels, and these wonderful organic rice cakes, which aren’t expensive at all, so I decided to braved the trip

Anyway, I called up mom and asked if she wanted to go at the same time, because I knew she needed to make a trip.  She said yes, YAY! (Here’s my second “Hug a Vegan…” pic from our WF trip!)

Huggin my vegan Thanksgiving treats! Yum!

(Another reason it’s fun to shop with someone – so they can take doofy pictures of you fondling the vegan goodness you find in the frozen aisle LOL!)

Wanna know what’s on our vegan Thanksgiving Day menu?? HMMmmmm? You do? Ok, well, since you asked *grin*

• Gardein savory stuffed turk’y (Is a new seasonal item this year we HAVE to try because we ♥ Gardein! And as it turns out, they’re single serving sized, so mom and I decided to share one. Being hugged in my pic lol)
• Field Roast Hazelnut & Cranberry Roast (dunno why, but on their site it’s called “Hazelnut En Croute? Also being hugged in my pic!)
• Susan’s Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping (And oh baby, this is melt in your mouth, send you straight to sweet potato heaven good too! One of mom’s favs to make )
• green bean casserole – of course
• Tofu Devils (One of the two things I’m contributing! Thanks mom for preppin all this bounty!)
• Pumpkin pie (the other thing I’m contributing, lol, but not sure which recipe I’m going to use yet)
• vegan bread stuffing
• cranberry sauce
• black olive garnishes (OMIGOSHOLIVESYUM!)
• mashed potatoes

Since we’re actually getting together as a whole family on Friday for dinner this year, to make life a little easier on mom, my Omni-Pop is having his own T-Day feast on Thursday, and then will eat his leftovers with us when we have the vegan T-Day feast on Friday

In other foodie news, I roasted some Brussels sprouts today, BIG NEWS huh? Right, well, no it really was because although I’ve had my mom’s roasted sprouts before I’ve never done my own. (I have been missing out!) I will always remember, that as a child, my mom would always buy the little box of frozen Brussels sprouts because I was the only one in the house who’d eat Brussels sprouts. I have always loved em! NOW, however, I have an appreciation for them fresh and without the gross pseudo-butter sauce, lol!

Anyone else love these as a kid? Maybe I was just weird, hahahah!

Now we get them like this! (This is a pic from a stalk mom bought me some time last year but we did just pick one like it up today at WF for our T-Day feast!)

Roasted Brussels (what I used in today’s batch)

• 13 oz fresh Brussels sprouts
• 1  Tbsp EVOO
• 3/4-1 tsp all-purpose seasoning (I use this one)
• 1/2-1 tsp salt (I use Himalaya salt)

Trim the ends off the sprouts and cut them in half (cut into quarters would be super yummy too I think!), and put into a large bag.  Measure in your olive oil, salt and herbs, close the bag and shake! Once you feel the pieces are pretty evenly coated with the oil and spices, dump them out into a single layer baking pan and bake at 400° for about half an hour (Thanks mom for the temp and time info!).  You’ll want to keep an eye on them during the last bit, to make sure they don’t burn.

Before....

After!

The verdict? I will never steam Brussels sprouts again. Wow, these are good! I had some serious doubts that any of them would even make it into a Tupperware and into the fridge! I wanted to eat them all up! I heart Brussels sprouts!

In other (purple) news… remember I showed you this?

Raw Color, Deep Purple!

Well…. that is now this! (I heart purple too It’s one of my top 2 fav colors!)

Oh yeah!

Is just a way I can spice things up ya know? (And it’s a wash out, in case you’re wondering, lol.) Mommies need ways to be/have ‘fun’ and have a tiny bit of safe rebellions too! The lil man thinks it’s cool too, “Peeple, mommy!” That’s how he says ‘purple’… What fun! And ya know, it’s grape scented too, for the first few days after… so weird. Fun but weird!

Ok, time to hit the hay y’all, I’m tired tonight! Until next time…. What is your fav color and would you put it in your hair ?