Recipe Set 15. Princess Aleesa's Pumpkin Pie & Blue Birds Of Love Birdseed Rolls

Happy Holiday Season, friends!  We're finally in it!  Just wait to see what I've got cookin' for this next month.   It sounds like it's going to be swEEt. ;)

So, I'm sitting here - injured.  I need to stop doing these races.  It seems something happens to me each time.  This time, my foot is messed up.  I sit here alternating cold and hot.. it HURTS.. I hobble to get myself food or just to get up because I hate sitting here doing nothing.  I wish I had someone to take care of me.  Oh sigh.  Or- maybe some really heavy drugs.
Aside from that, let's discuss what I brought for the family Thanksgiving day dinner.   This one was a bit different.. kinda quiet.  But we did have two visitors that we've never had before.. who I think both tried my green bean casserole from Sunday.  ;)
As far as what I made this time.. the pumpkin pie and rolls.. it was mom, myself and my sister.. my mom even told me that my pie rivaled my grandma's.  That's a HUGE compliment. :)

Lets' start with the pie.   Remember Aleesa?   Well there's one last look at her before she

became a delicious pie.  :)

She was alot easier to cut open than Clyde was.  It could be because I pulled Clyde out from the stair step outside, so he was cold.   Aleesa has been in a warm house for a month so that might be what made her a bit easier.. but I cut into her.. and she smelled so lovely.   I split her in two and started baking her skin up so that it would be just the right softness to scoop her her out..

She actually took a very long time to bake.  I only had to bake Clyde for about 45 minutes.  Aleesa took an hour and a half.. but I do believe she was worth every minute of it.  You'll see her picture as a pie, up at the very top of this page.  Half of her still sits in my fridge right now, while the other half is ALMOST finished being devoured (and I think I'm going to have a piece after I finish blogging.. gee it'd be nice not to have to hobble into my kitchen..  NURSE?)
I'd decided pretty much at the last minute that I was going to make this pie, crustless.. so that made it a little more challenging, but I think I did pretty good.  It was yummy, custardy and spicy all at the same time.  The best thing?  I've never been able to make a pumpkin pie w/o tofu before and make it creamy like this.. but this one - COMPLETELY soy free. (Pats myself on the back).   This was an awesome pie.  Maybe it's because Aleesa was loved, and her pie was made with love.  You should be jealous if you didn't get any. MmmMm.

So, on the waiting side, I was also making bread to make into rolls.

These were 'birdseed' rolls.. because I used alot of seed and grain for them.  They turned out absolutely yummy.  I just had another one for dinner tonight.   Left half of them with my mom as well.  If you're patient, these are well worth kneading and letting rise, and kneading and letting rise again.  I had time, working most of the day on Wednesday - to allow these things to go on their own.  I think I started baking (pie and rolls) at 10 am and finished by 2:30.  It was nice to have the oven on during the day. 

Ok, well right now I'm feeling pretty boring so this blog post isn't funny or interesting.  I'm tired, I'm achy, I'm a lil sad.. and I just feel like laying down now.  Hopefully I'll get my spark back for the next post.   Because what I've got coming up next is just about one of the most fun recipes I think I'll ever plan on trying!  :)
I'm off to watch this blockhead on TV.
;)
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  I would post a picture of my sister and I at the run yesterday but all I have is a pic of the neiceage's math teacher, a pic of my moms face and a pic of Miranda's face...  and since that's about as talented as my neice got with the camera yesterday - I'll spare you.

Til next week all.  

Enjoy your weekend!


Music Heard While Blogging:
"A Boy Named Charlie Brown"

Current Motivation:
Boredom

Current Craving:
A cuddle and a laugh

A fairy tale ending.. come true! Aka - Princess Aleesa becomes a pie.

How many of us will ever forget the moment the fairy godmother in Cinderella turned Cindy into a princess and her animals into coachmen and her pumpkin into a coach??

NOBODY - I hope!

If you're a Disney obsessed, crazy, maniacal weirdo like I admit I am, you won't anyway.

Well, regardless... what does this have to do with food?    Oh lots!   For the past month you've been hearing me talk about my pumpkin, "Princess Aleesa".   She's a fairytale pumpkin.   She tried to straighten up Clyde, she hung out with a recluse for a while.. and now she's perched atop a table in my house, looking beautiful as ever.  But I know that someday Aleesa will rot.. so I wanted to do something FABULOUS with her, and what, praytel, is more fabulous than a pumpkin pie??  (Especially for Thanksgiving dinner)

--NOTHING! --  unless you want to talk about the 'bluebirds of love -bird seed' rolls I'm making too.    But we'll get to that.

It's going to hurt my heart a bit to cut into Aleesa, but I have had experience with Clyde and I do believe I know what I'm doing.    I'm planning to make a pie-crust from scratch, and mom bought me a beautiful new glass pie plate to place this pie in.  I'm about certain that I'll have plenty of pumpkin left over.. of which I may make another pie with and freeze it.   OR - maybe I'll see how she tastes in pumpkin muffins?   Either way.. my thought is set.   I have everything I need waiting for me; I plan to work on Aleesa tomorrow afternoon (yes, while I'm doing work/work, watching The Bold and The Beautiful, AND doing laundry)  I'm so talented.   I also have to do a sport specific kundalini at some point tomorrow.  My sister and I will be doing the Thanksgiving Day Race - which takes place downtown.  It's a 10k.  We'll need to be on the ball.

So, to add on to the fairy tale theme... what will I be doing while Aleesa is baking into a gorgeous pie?  Making Blue Birds of love - birdseed rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner.   (Yeah you're all - wtheck?)

oh we'll make a lovely dress for Cinderelly!

Remember those lovebirds from Cinderella?  How can you forget?  They perched on her hand, sung with her.. heck, they helped Gus and Jack make a dress for her to wear to the ball (Of which Anastasia and Drizella promptly ripped off of her later).  Regardless, I knew mom would make some sort of white based roll with egg and butter in it for Thanksgiving.. so instead - I'm going to charm the socks off of everyone with my bird-seed rolls.   Millet, sunflower, a few other seedly grains.. will make my rolls sure-fire hits.  I'm certainly excited.

So - lets look at the numbers of all this, shall we?

Regular Pumpkin Pie                                    Princess Aleesa's Pumpkin Pie
Calories - 323                                                     170                                           
Fat - 14.6g                                                           5                                       
Cholesterol -31mg                                                0                                                 
Sodium  -434mg                                                 191                                      
Carbs   - 42g                                                       27                                     
Fiber - 4.2g                                                         1
Protien - 6g                                                         3.7                                                      
WW Pts    7                                                          4

Regular Dinner Rolls                                       Blue-Birds Of Love Birdseed Rolls
Calories - 140                                                                             85
Fat - 2                                                                                          1
Cholesterol - 4                                                                              0
Sodium - 270                                                                              200
Carbs - 27                                                                                    15
Fiber - 3                                                                                        4
Protien - 5                                                                                     7
WW Pts - 2                                                                                    1

Ok then.. I don't have a whole lot of time to get this show on the road.. so let's sing a little song shall we, while we get this ready?  About dreams and wishes coming true?!   I sure have a couple I'd like to have come true soon. 

No matter how your heart is grieving...  if you keep on believing.....

               

 

That's what I look like when I get up in the morning.  ;)

Music enjoyed while writing this blog:  

Subsonic Radio - 96K (DISNEY MUSIC)

Current Motivation - Fairytales

Current Craving - For a dream that I wish, to come true.

Thanksgiving that's not Thanksgiving, but we're thankful anyway - AKA Payton's Grab and Go - Recipes 14

T-B. Mac and Teese, Green Bean Casserole & Pumpkin Brownies.

I'm waiting on my squash to finish in the oven so that I can 'stuff it' as they say.  :P
It's Saturday night.  I'm at home cooking to my heart's content so as I can finish the meal I'm making for (pretty much myself) for a Thanksgiving type get-together of one side of the family dinner tomorrow in Illinois.    Last night I holed up in here and made vegan green bean casserole and pumpkin brownies.   Let's visit those, shall we?



I had to improvise on a few things for the green bean casserole.  For instance,

french fried onions for the top. I refused to buy those things in a can.. REFUSE.  So, I fried some onions myself.  I think I did good.  :)   I also was short 'mushroom soup'  but no biggie.. I had mushrooms, I had vegan 'cream' and I had broth.. make do I did.   And my mix was yummy.   I used green beans from a local farm that mom and I froze earlier in the year.. so this stuff is pretty fresh from everything.    I think it looks good, and there's enough to share.  This is going to rival my cousin Shelly's un-vegan green bean casserole she plans to bring.  We'll see if mine gets a couple bites.. I think my mom will try it.  Mmm.  I can't wait.

Then we move on to my pumpkin brownies.   These were fairly easy - but wow the chocolalte 'crust' is really rich!   I've never put together a brownie like this.  It's a layer.  Chocolate at the bottom then pumpkin at the top.  The recipe I veganized it from called for walnuts to top it (eew.)  I chose chocolate chips instead.  mmm.  This is another 'share' I made.  But as I said in my last blog.  If there's plenty left over.. this will be my dinner on the way home tomorrow night.  Lol.. the batter was delicioso.

So tonight I'm working on Mac and Teese and Stuffed carnival squash.  So, let's visit those, shall we?

Mac and teese is something I make quite often.. usually i'm so hungry though that I

don't take the time to bake it like I did this group.  I love baked mac and cheese so baked mac and teese is just the ticket for this.  I used two different types of vegan cheeses.  "Teese" which is just better than awesome, and cheddar Daiya for the topping crusty stuff.. along with some paprika and parsley for color.   This is a single serve just for me.  Why? Because I myself, do not know many carny's that are anywhere brave enough to try a vegan mac and cheese.. most of it has that dreaded 'nutritional yeast' word in it.. and if it's 'nutritional' it must not be good.   That's ok...more for me.  It made two crocks..enough for me to have one at the parents house on Thursday.. so I'm happy.  :)

Then, the last bit of goodness here - my stuffed squash.   I know, I know the presentation isn't all that great because lil mr squash was falling apart so I had to put him in his to-go container to fill him.  The stuffing is a mix of wild rices, ezekiel bread, onions, mushrooms and cranberries.  I had a bite of it and it was very flavorful and yummy.   I guess I'll have to get a shot of everything on my plate tomorrow for it to look like something straight off a real food-blog.  Lol.   But for now, it's spa night time.  Time for my chocolate masque, my mani-pedi and my deep hair conditioning treatment... then bed.  I have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

I'll be back with the final set up - and probably some goofy family pictures.   So - until I get back to this blog.. I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend!

SUNDAY:
So, yesterday was such a blur I couldn't keep track.   We drove, hung out for shorter of a time than we drove, and drove back.   My camera sat in a bag on top of my cousin Peggy's washer and I of course didn't get any pictures.  I suck. :P   I did make a conglomerate.. so I posted it at the top.
I finished the mac and teese tonight.. left over alot of squash that I was just too full to finish, and the brownies were good - but really thin.  It's ok though, they tasted good.

I'm really not in the mood to blog right now.. I'm exhausted and tired of looking at a computer.. I think my eyes might fall out!   Regardless.. our half a family, not Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner was fun.. it was a success.. I won gum and a moisturizer bottle in bingo.  lol.  Now, I have to prepare for the next round...  which you'll find out later this week... for the family Thanksgiving at home.

I know it's 8pm.. but I'm about sure it's time for bed.



Music Enjoyed while writing and cooking:
Hoagy Carmichael - Skylark
Benny Goodman - Can't pull the woll over my eyes
Ella Fitzgerald - this time the dreams on me
Frank Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon
Bobby Caldwell- Under My Skin
Louis Armstrong - Dream A Little Dream
Beverly Kenney - this Can't be love
Martha Tilton - Bob White
Rory Partin - The Way You Look Tonight
Frank Sinatra - My Funny Valentine
Dean Martin - you're nobody til someobody loves you
Chet Baker - The Song is you
Ella Fitzgerald- Brown Skin Gal
Perry Como - Papa loves mambo
Ray Chalres - Hit the road jack
Glenn Miller - Moonlight Serenade
Anita O'Day - Side By Side

Current Craving:  Love, Peace and a hug

Current Motivation:  Saving a Turkey.

Save-A-Turkey! Aka - Prep for Payton's Grab and Go Thanksgiving Feast

Hola, and welcome to your "It's Almost Thanksgiving" edition of Rainbows Of Vegan Love's Blog!
Let me start by pointing to your left.  See that gorgeous boy there?  That's Payton!  Payton lives at the Farm Sanctuary in California.  Do you know what Payton is thankful for?   He's thankful for this blog!!  Why?  We've adopted him this Thanksgiving, and we are making a grab and go feast in HIS name!  He will NOT be eaten... ever.  He will die of a very old age at his home in California.  Why?  Because he's one of the very lucky feather-kids that have people that love him, and know how wonderful turkeys really are!  (And I don't mean on your dinner plate!).

I really feel the need to enlighten you here - so if you're in the mood for my food, you might want to scroll, but honestly, have a heart - learn about these beautiful birds before you read on.  It just might change your view from roasted or fried, to hugs and love.

Treated with respect, domestic turkeys are friendly birds who enjoy human companionship. Like their wild relatives they are avid foragers who thrive on grass and a healthful outdoor life. They are not suited to the harsh turkey confinement systems in which 5,000 or more sensitive birds are forced to sit and stand jammed together in filthy litter breathing burning ammonia fumes and lung-destroying dust. They develop respiratory diseases, foot ulcers, breast blisters, and ammonia burned eyes. They are dosed with drugs, vaccines and antibiotics to prop them up till marketing time.
These turkeys are bred and fed to become pathologically obese. Their skeletons are so weak under their bloated muscles ("meat") that many birds collapse, unable to stand. The modern turkey muscle is undergoing degenerative changes reflecting the birds' forced rapid growth and overblown body weight (Turkey World, 1994). Oxygen deprived and grossly overburdened, many turkeys' hearts explode. Consumers could eat a diseased turkey or turkey part for dinner: "Researchers are looking at ways to keep afflicted birds alive long enough to get them to market" (Associated Press)
Turkeys are brutally debeaked. As a result, they cannot eat or preen properly. Research has shown that the hot debeaking blade cuts through the sensitive beak tissue causing lifelong pain and suffering in the mutilated, disfigured bird.
Modern turkeys are so heavy and misshapen they must be artificially inseminated to reproduce. Obscenely, the males are "milked" of their semen by phallus manipulating teams who stick it in the upside down turkey hen's vagina with a hypodermic syringe or the operator's breath pressure blown through a tube. The U.S. does not even provide humane slaughter protective legislation for turkeys.

You guys... if this does not break your heart, sicken, or disgust you - I don't know what will.  I try to keep this blog lighthearted, but I, myself ADORE all animals, and occasionally, I want to show you how brutal this world is to our friends of feather/fur and scales.   You wouldn't treat your best friends this way.. most of us wouldn't treat people we don't even know this way... why is it ok to treat our animals this way?

I know you don't come here to get preached at, which is why I suggested if you're just here for the food, to keep scrolling.  I don't normally preach but there are times, when I find that it's IMPERATIVE that we are educated about this stuff, not only for the life of our animals which will someday go extinct if we don't care for them.. but also for your health.. if you read that snippet and it doesn't make you want to throw up - well, you have a better tummy than I.

Now, onto this grab and go thing we're about to partake in.   

omg cute baby turkey!

It was called to my attention that I'll be attending a half a family get together of what we're kinda but not calling Thanksgiving, out of town.   Now, again - as being invited thru a family full of hunters and meat eaters (sigh) you know there will be little if anything sitting there that I will be digging into... so what does a trusty little vegan do in this instance?  She MAKES her food.. and makes a couple dishes to share!  It is my hope that my family does not freak out at the word "vegan".  I mean seriously?  If you can eat something that poops - why you'd be afraid to eat something that doesn't is beyond me, but I digress..  I know there's no way I can travel with a huge main dish and there's not a soul (besides, grandma, but she's not really able to eat - well because grandma's in heaven cleaning up the muck that the turkey that will be sitting at the dinner table is making at her farm..)  ASIDE from that, I was trying to think of a great main dish for myself that is totable, and incredibly yummy and something I can also throw together and hold on to for our actual Thanksgiving day dinner at the parents  house the week after - and not made of some faux meat by-product.  (Tofurkey?  Not a fan.)   I started dillying around the internet and found a super easy veganization (all I have to change is the broth used from chicken to veggie)  So let's squash it out.. my main dish is going to be:

Payton's Squash with Wild Rice & Cranberry/Apple Stuffing
Calories - 282
Fat - 5
Cholestorol - 0
Sodium - 588
Carbs - 25
Fiber - 2
Protien - 10
WW Pts - 5
(There is no change here - this is a vegan recipe)

I will be using a carnival squash for the first recipe, and an acorn squash for my home recipe.
So, of course I had to come up with some side dishes, right?   It's been brought to my attention that the sister will be bringing a salad, which I'll consume.. but I need a starch!  Since I'm not having meat, I don't need gravy, (even though I am going to make it an smother some stuffing in it) therefore I don't really consider myself to eat mashed potatoes (even tho I love em) so for this one I'm going all out with my second favorite carb... Baked Macaroni and Cheese (Or Teese) :)  I'm single serving this baby because I can hear it now..  "eew, it's not real cheese."  To that I might say - well, um, do you know what's IN real cheese?  Furthermore, lovely cheez whiz eater - do you know what THAT IS?! :)   But I'll try and refrain.. you can look it up.  I'll say - "Google It" and move on, enjoying every creamy bite of this healthier version of mac and cheese!

Mac and Teese                                        Mac and Cheese
Calories - 242                                                 350                                                
Fat - 7g                                                           18                                        
Cholesterol -0mg                                            650                                                    
Sodium  -181mg                                             145                                         
Carbs   - 36g                                                   12                                      
Fiber - 3g                                                         4
Protien - 6g                                                      7                                                      
WW Pts - 6                                                     6     

Now, I gotta share right?   This sends me to my veggie side.   Mom and I froze up some green beans this summer and I think they'd be the perfect addition to my vegan GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE, which I'm making enough to share.. cuz you know it's going to be magnifique.. much better than the one it'll probably be sitting next to. ;)  Y'know - whatever, if there's another one everyone is drawn to, that just means more for ME!!   

Vegan Green Bean Casserole                               Reg GB Casserole
Calories - 200                                                                250
Fat - 8.5                                                                           10
Cholestorol - 0                                                                280
Sodium - 387                                                                   460
Carbs - 15                                                                          8
Fiber - 23                                                                          20
Protien - 3                                                                         2
WW Pts - 2                                                                       2

And another share -  you have to have a dessert!   I chose vegan pumpkin brownies.   Easy to tote, yummy to eat.  And look at the difference a few changes in the ingredients make!   I have heard that it is going to rival an old friend's banana cream pie - and there will probably be a pumpkin pie too.. but hey - I can eat mine and be guilt free.. (and continue eating them later on the ride home, not  sharing them with my sister).  :)

Vegan Pumpkin Brownies                               NV Pumpkin Brownies
Calories - 118                                                              189
Fat - 0.7                                                                         8
Cholestorol - 0                                                              15
Sodium - 227                                                               227
Carbs - 26                                                                      28
Fiber - 2                                                                          2
Protien - 2.5                                                                   2.5
WW Pts  3                                                                    5

And that's that.  I think it's a well rounded lil feast, since it's only me eating it.  And what's more, is that whatever doesn't get eaten, can go to the parents house with me on Thanksgiving day for me to finish up - not only that, I don't have to guilt mom into making me vegan mashed potatoes.. She'll do it.  :)  So I think I'm going good.   BUT you ask - what will I be making for the big day if I've already got it all down pat?

                           Oh - if you've been keeping up you know I have a royal plan, don'tcha now?   :)

So, with that being said, the time is right to set up and get ready for Payton's grab and go.  I'll be gearing up to be the perfect home-maker on Saturday, logging my miles, doing my kundalini, cooking, cleaning - you name it!  If you expect to see me on Saturday - um, don't. :) I'll be holed up for the day in the house that Funke built.. cooking and baking my little heart out.   Don't worry - you'll read all about it later.. and you'll get to find out which one of my animal hater (JUST KIDDING, SERIOUSLY DON'T TAKE THAT PERSONALLY)  family members decided to give some vegan goodies a try. ;)

Til then - keep loving your fur/feather/scaly kids and remember that my girlfriend Ellen wants you to sponsor a turkey this year.  :)

----And----
For those of you keeping track - Reverend A. Augustus Kroll (Or Kroell as some paperwork has it) has moved on.  His 17 day sabbatical with me has been completed.  It was a very uncomfortable, scary event for me, and no one will ever tell me that hauntings of a person do not happen (let alone hauntings of a car - it's going to cost me at least $1000.00 to fix what he messed up on my beetle!)    But in his honor - I want to bestow you with what I know is the last picture of him (at least) in existence.

A.Augustus Kroll - 187?

Rest In Peace, Rev. Kroll - Maybe I'll see you on the flip side.   :)


Music enjoyed while writing this blog:
ABSOLUTE SILENCE!

Current Motivation:  
Saving birds, one feather at a time.



Current Craving:
Darnit all to heck - mashed freakin' potatoes!