Our Thanksgiving Menu

I have been meaning to start this blog for a while, so this is sort of a make up post. Much like the this was the first year I have done much Holiday baking, this was also the first year I had Thanksgiving at my house. I made a full Thanksgiving dinner for 7 that was totally egg and dairy free. Need ideas on what to serve your egg and dairy free family at a gathering? Read on...

Here is what we had:

Turkey basted in bacon.
Verdict- Anything wrapped in bacon is tasty.

Mashed Potatoes- A bag of red potatoes smashed with a stick of dairy free margarine and plain soy milk.
Verdict- Delicious!

Gravy (from allcooks.com)-
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons Smart Balance
• 2 cups water or vegetable broth
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube (Omit this if you use broth.)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 pinch thyme
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
Directions
1. Whisk the margarine and flour together over low heat in a small saucepan for a few minutes until the flour is cooked and golden.
2. Add the water and bouillon or broth, soy sauce, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil while whisking often to keep it smooth.
3. Lower heat and simmer a minute or so.
4. Combine cornstarch and water and stir well to get rid of lumps. Whisking gravy briskly, pour into saucepan. Continue whisking until gravy returns to a boil and has thickened.
Verdict- Very good and pretty fool proof. I added about a cup of turkey drippings also. Not lumpy at all.

Kroger brand Brown and Bake Rolls- Egg and dairy free! Who knew?
Verdict- Flaky and tasty.

Sweet Potato Apple Casserole- I am not going to give the recipe for this. It was a pretty ugly failure. If you like your sweet potatoes sitting in a pile of greasy orange juice email me and I will send you the recipe. :P

Easy Pumpkin Muffins (from a Lutheran church cookbook)-
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Lemon Cake Mix (Dairy and egg free, not all cake mixes are so be sure to read the ingredients list!!!)
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl for 2 minutes. Contents will be thick.
3. Line muffin tin with paper cups.
4. Fill 2/3 full with batter.
5. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar.
5. Bake 20 to 23 minutes.
Verdict- These taste like a muffin you would get at Starbucks. They are dense and spicy, and just plain delicious. Both my kids love them. Even my picky guy who shuns cake.

Green bean Casserole (adapted from recipeczar.com)-
• 2 1/2 cups soymilk, plain
• 1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 3 (14 ounce) cans cut green beans
• 1 cup shelled edamame
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 15 ounces French-fried onions
• 1-2 teaspoon garlic powder
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2 In a pot over medium-high heat, add 2c of the soy milk, the sliced mushrooms, garlic, and black pepper. Slowly bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Dissolve the corn starch into the remaining ½c of soy milk and add to the pot. Stir well for 5 minutes and remove from the heat.
3 Drain the beans and pour them into a casserole dish. Add about 1c of the onions to the beans, as well as the soy milk mixture, water chestnuts, and edamame. Toss. Place in the oven for 35-45 minutes, top with the rest of the onions, and cook for a few more minutes until the onions are brown. Let the casserole sit for 10-15 minutes to set and cool.
Verdict- This is not your average gb casserole. It is not sticky or gloppy. The edamame and water chestnuts give it texture beyond the usual mush of canned green beans. My husband is a traditionalist and likes the canned version better, but I think this version wins.

Egg/dairy free Pumpkin Pie- from the Ener-G website

Ingredients:
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (Store bought Pillsbury brand!)
(1-15 oz.) Can of pumpkin
(1 cup) milk or soy milk
(3/4 cup) sugar
(1/4 cup) corn starch
(1/4 tsp.) salt ( opt. )
(1 tsp.) vanilla
(2 tsp.) pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the pumpkin, milk, and vanilla together. Mix other dry ingredients well in a separate bowl. Add this mixture to the pumpkin mix, then mix slowly for 1 minute. Scrape bottom & sides. Mix on med speed or slow-med speed for 2 min. Pour into pie shell & bake for 5-6 min. Turn oven to 350 degrees & bake for approx. 45 min. Let cool enough to chill in Fridge, then chill for approx. 30 min. before cutting
Verdict- I will be honest, I didn't have high hopes for this pie. Traditional pumpkin pie is a sort of custard that relies heavily on eggs. Usually the more adjustments that have to be made to a recipe, the less likely it will turn out to be palatable facsimile of the original. However, despite essentially replacing eggs with corn starch, this was pretty good. Instead of a custard consistency, this ha more of a thick pudding consistency, but the flavors were nice and it held its shape well.

Apple Pie- an adaptation from a Lutheran church cookbook

* 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (Store bought Pillsbury brand!)
* 1/2 cup dairy free margarine
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/4 cup water
* 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt margarine in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3. Bake 15 minutes at 425. Reduce the temperature to 350, and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.
Verdict- Just like grandma used to make! It was a hit with all the apple pie lovers at our dinner.