Vegan Pumpkin Pie - Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Soy, and Egg Free

  The gist of this recipe came from LunchBoxBunch. To be honest, the first time I made this it wasn't so hot, but that was my own fault. I put the cashews in water to soak and then a whole lot of things came up and, well... they ended up soaking for nearly 3 days. That results in gummy cashews that don't lend themselves to blending smoothly. So it was gritty and tasted awful, plus I think I didn't use enough syrup (because I tend to eyeball measurements more than maybe I should).
  But THIS time, following the recipe a tad more closely and with only a few minor tweaks, this pie was YU-U-UMMY!

Vegan Wheat Free Pumpkin Pie

Pie Crust
1/4 cup almond meal flour
3 tsp organic sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted soy free Earth Balance or coconut oil
2 tsp ice water
Oil or more melted Earth Balance to grease pie pan

Pie Filling
1 1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews
about 2/3 cup water (see directions)
15 oz pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup maple syrup
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400.
Combine almond flour, sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl. Stir in melted Earth Balance or coconut oil with a fork until well combined. Slowly add in  ice water and stir until dough forms a firm ball. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender, add cashews and just enough water to cover cashews, about 2/3 cup. Blend until smooth and creamy, (I used the Dip/Sauce button on my Blentec twice, if using a regular blender this may take several minutes.) Add pumpkin puree, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and blend again until well mixed. You may have to stop and scrape the sides several times. Set aside.
After 30 minutes, you can roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface  to form a crust or just press it into a 9 inch greased pie plate.
Pour pumpkin pie filling into pie shell and cook for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 30-40 minutes, until outer edges of pie filling are puffed and fluffly looking and slightly darker than the rest of pie. If edges of crust start to get too dark, use strips of tin foil to cover. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 30-45 minutes, then refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Serve with vanilla coconut ice cream. Mmmm!

Super Easy Spiced Cranberry Relish

  It's almost Thanksgiving, hooray! I still haven't been posting much since I lack the ability to upload and/or edit photos and that sort of takes the wind out of my sails. BUT I stole my husband's iPhone and it takes semi-decent pictures, so here is one of my favorite new recipes! This recipe makes about a cup, which is plenty for our small gathering, but could easily be doubled or tripled.

Just a note, though this is called 'spiced' and it contains cayenne pepper, it is not spicy hot at all. The pepper just really brings the sweet flavor to a new level, it's absolutely delicious on roasted turkey!

Spiced Cranberry Relish

1/4 cup organic sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 a large orange, peeled and chopped
2/3 cup fresh cranberries
1/8 tsp cinnamon
a dash ground cayenne pepper (more to taste)

In a small saucepan, heat water and sugar over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Add oranges and cranberries and simmer, covered, over medium low heat about 15 minutes until cranberries are burst and easily smashed with a spoon. Add cinnamon and cayenne, cover and simmer another 5 minutes. Use a spoon to mash cranberries and orange pieces against the side of the pan until they are mostly all smooshed. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes and then place in an air tight container and chill 2 or 3 hours (or serve warm, if that's your style!) Sauce will thicken up as it cools.

Turkey and Dumpling Soup - Dairy, Egg, Soy Free with Wheat/Gluten Free Option

Dumpling soup is such a yummy comfort food that was always one of my favorites as a kid. It's often made with condensed cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup, and the only dairy free recipes I could find were very involved, calling for more than an hour worth of cooking. There is no need for that! This recipe was delicious and you'd have no idea it wasn't 'regular' dumpling soup.

Butterball makes these yummy little turkey breast loaves that my husband loves. I like the ease of being able to bake them from frozen because I have the darnedest time remembering to thaw anything out. Aaaanyway, we had one on Wednesday night and had a little less than half left over, so I used to rest to make dumpling soup. Yum!



Turkey and Dumpling Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
32 oz vegetable broth
1/2 cup plain unsweetened almond or other non dairy milk
1 1/2 Tbl cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water or non dairy milk till lump free
1 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, and green beans preferably)
1 1/2 cups or so cooked turkey breast and thigh meat, cut or torn into pieces
1/4 tsp celery salt
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 cup Bisquick or Gluten Free Bisquick
1/2 cup plain unsweetened almond or other non dairy milk
sprinkle of paprika (optional)

In a medium large stock pot, saute onions over medium heat until transparent. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Stir in 1/2 cup almond milk and cornstarch/water mixture. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Add frozen vegetables, turkey, salts and pepper.

In a medium bowl, mix Bisquick and non dairy milk together into a sticky dough. Using a spoon, scoop about 1/8 of the dough mixture out of the bowl and drop it into the soup pot (be careful not to drop it from too high so as to avoid splattering yourself with hot liquid!). Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover and cook about 10 more minutes, turning the dumplings over once midway through cooking.
Serve sprinkled with paprika and enjoy!