Thanksgiving at my house.... It all starts with a plan... and then goes South (but there is LOTS of ice cream!)

It all starts with a plan...

 

 

 ...and then I bought an ice cream maker/machine!  ...here is a short video of the first batch:

I went on to make seven more batches of ice cream, mostly vegan and all non-sugar (stevia in the raw or fruit sweetened).

The house demanded to be cleaned and the good china came out to play with the good silver:

Thanksgiving was a good exercise in going with the flow.  The BrownKorbels brough the turkey, already made into sandwhiches and the Pat and Sue Brown's couldn't make the party.  I didn't get to Moss Landing to buy artichokes or make the vegan cheese.  I decided to ignore the stuffing and made small potatoes instead of mashed, which were perfect with a little butter and pepper.  The brussel sprouts are still in fridge and the apples still need to be made into applesauce, but I made a right mess of green beans that came in the CSA box and two type of beets (whole and pickled).  Ehsan brought the green salad and the cherry tomatoes.  Dad brought a pumpkin pie and whipped cream.  I bought a smallish pecan pie and brought out the ice cream one-by-one for people to have either a taste or a scoop.  My favorite was a banana based one called Sirachacha.

In the end, I got people to take leftovers, so I wasn't left with a whole bunch of questionable foods such as ravioli, hawaiian sweet bread rolls or sandwhiches.  Mama June made quick work of the leftover potatoes.  The best part was that the day after Thanksgiving, Reza and I went out to yet another Ethiopian Restaurant for vegetarian platter:

Happy Thanksgiving 2017!!!  Hope this finds everyone healthy and happy and enjoying the bountiful life that is.

Gotta Love 'em, Orca Beans

 

I made Orca Beans in the pressure cooker last night.  I sautéed an onion, celery, garlic, rainbow carrots, sliced leeks in a tablespoon of avocado oil and then poured in the soaked and drained Orca beans.  I covered them with 2 inches of water and pressured them for 30 minutes.  In the bowl, I added Himalayan salt, garlic powder, ground black pepper, two tablespoons of Sour Supreme (a sour cream alternative) and half an avocado.  I put a tablespoon of avocado oil on Reza's bowl.  Yum!  It was warm and soothing and according to Lose It, 398 calories total including sour supreme and avocado.

Twenty buck Challenge

So, ok, I'm not saying we're broke, but we have to be careful so we have moolah to spend at the end of the month for Thanksgiving...

We drive up here (San Pablo) to work on the rental and we went to Nations for dinner, 13 dollars for two.  I decide that the next morning I will get up early and go to my favorite breakfast place (Tina's, it's amazing!). But when I get up, I decide to go to the 99 cent store and see what the twenty dollar bill that I was planning on spending for breakfast will get me.  Note:  we've cleaned out the kitchen and only have very rudementary tools and spice.

Here is a picture of my haul:

I fixed coffee w/ cream and our own type of sweetener plus a fruit plate for Dr R. and a spinach and mushroom egg white omelette for myself.

Our lunch was a big garbanzo bean salad with balsamic vinagrette, because I found these two bottles in a dusty/musty closet:

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The salads turned out A MAZ ing.  The cucumbers were a little strangely shaped because I don't have a peeler here.  Looks like we'll be taking home half a honeydew, some grapes and a watermelon.  One of the best parts is that I got some off-brand lip stuff for my poor chapped lips!

My first CSA box!

My first CSA box arrived on my doorstep and I was really excited!  I had too much to pack into my already packed fridge, it was the garden of Eden (eatin' !).  The first that I used was the herb packet, that I put bouquet style in the fridge door and used some mint leaves in my jamica tea before I went to school.  When I got home that night, I "harvested" the beet greens, washed and dried them and put the beets themselves in the pressure cooker.  The next morning, I had beet greens instead of spinach in my egg white omelette.  You know how much I love beet greens!   Last night, I cooked half the carrots and all the rutabagas in the pressure cooker, but was too busy to enjoy them.  I made a mushroom/beet green stir fry and put that over a tomato sauce and added a small salad for dinner.  Of course, the salad had a cooked beet and cherry tomatoes and half an avocado (I know, we are sooooo lucky!). This morning I cut up one of the baby boy choys and cooked it with mushrooms in the big skillet.  I added a third cup of egg whites and two chopped up cooked rutabagas and some hot sauce.  Voila! A breakfast fit for a queen!  I have discovered how delicious a rutabaga can be!  

Here's hoping the best of health to all of you!  Thank you Farm Fresh to You (my CSA) for such a great box!