National Cranberry...

National Cranberry Day is November 21. National Cranberry Relish Day is November 22. National Eat a Cranberry Day is November 23. I'm sensing a theme here...

My daughter has begun to insist on cranberries every Thanksgiving. They make my daughter-in-law gag. I can take them or leave them. Until this.

Cranberry Orange Salsa

I found the recipe here. I decided to make it because it was just a different take on the usual cranberry sauce. Rather than eat it like a salsa, with crackers, however, I found I much more enjoyed it like a fruit salad. Slightly tangy but nice.

Funnily enough I read that another name for cranberries is bounceberries, because they bounce when they are ripe. Maybe we should start a new tradition...

National Stuffing Day

One would think that National Stuffing Day would just naturally be on Thanksgiving, right? And, well, it falls close enough to it that it will certainly occasionally actually fall on Thanksgiving. But if Thanksgiving comes later - or earlier - and you've got a hankering, here ya go!

Easy Stuffing

1/4 c. vegan butter
3/4 c. chopped celery
1-1/2 c. water
One package of your favorite stuffing mix
1/3 c. dried cranberries
1/4 c. walnut pieces

Melt the butter in a skillet, and saute the celery until not quite tender. Stir in the water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the stuffing mix, cranberries and walnuts. You can add a cup of vegan shredded cheese, if you like.

At this point, you have some options. You can make individual servings by mounding the mix into muffin cups, or you can pour the entire mix into a baking dish.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

Serve. Enjoy!

One thing I've read about, but still haven't tried, is to take your leftover stuffing and heat up in a waffle iron, and serve with breakfast. If you happen to have leftover stuffing, maybe try this. Let me know if you do and what you think. Eventually I will remember to try this!

National Pizza with Everything (except anchovies) Day

Today is, believe it or not, National Pizza with Everything (except anchovies) Day. And I am totally down with this. Honestly, though, almost every day could be pizza day for me. My local Whole Foods makes several vegan pizzas that are amazing!

Fresh Vegetable Pizza

Your favorite vegan crescent rolls dough
1 container vegan sour cream
1 T. vegan horseradish sauce
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
Sliced mushrooms
Chopped tomatoes
Broccoli florets
Chopped green onions

Spread your dough on a cookie sheet, pressing and smooshing to make one big roll of dough that covers the entire pan, and bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, until brown. Let it cool completely.

Mix the sour cream with the horseradish, and spread this over the top the of baked crust. Top with the chopped vegetables, and cut into squares. Serve. Enjoy!

National Sandwich Day

Every St. Patrick's Day, my kids and I try a new corned beefless recipe. They've been pretty hit or miss, honestly. But this year I decided to try a new recipe, with a new twist. Instead of just the regular corned beefless as part of a meal, I decided to make reubens. Since none of us have ever had a reuben sandwich, this was definitely new to us.

Vegan Reuben Sandwiches

2 pkgs. extra firm tofu, frozen, boiled, pressed, sliced into 1/8" slices
8 c. hot water
2 large beets, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. Balsamic vinegar
2 T. Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 cube no beef bouillon
6 bay leaves, crumbled
2 cinnamon sticks
12 allspice seeds
1 t. salt
1 t. agave syrup
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. liquid smoke
1/4 t. ground cloves
Olive oil for sauteing
Vegan thousand island dressing
Sauerkraut

Lightly brown the tofu slices in the olive oil. Drain. Mix everything, except the dressing and sauerkraut, in a crockpot. Make sure to submerge the tofu slices as much as possible. Cover and let cook on high for about six hours.

Spread some of the dressing on a slice of rye bread. Top with 2-3 slices of the tofu, add some sauerkraut and another slice of bread. Serve. Enjoy!

I like my bread toasted, but a couple of my kids used untoasted bread. Your choice. The tofu by itself is somewhat, surprisingly, bland. Suffice it to say the flavor is very mild, so eating it alone isn't as yummy. But added to bread with the dressing and sauerkraut, OMG! It is DELICIOUS! The picture does not do it justice!

I got the original recipe here. I had everything except the mustard seeds, and I doubled the recipe. My family absolutely loved this recipe, and I will definitely be making it again!

BTW, if you've never dealt with raw beets before, peeling them reveals a beautiful ruby red color. It will stain, so wash everything the red comes in contact with.