Naturally Healthy: Hungry Holidays

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA for so long. I've been a busy little bee lately. I promise I won't be so long between posts anymore. To make up for it, I'm going to tell you about my Thanksgiving and share my recipes with you! I know it's late, but trust me, it's worth it.

Thanksgiving was a little crazy this year. We wanted to do a work dinner on Wednesday so my very generous boss bought all the ingredients and I started cooking up a storm. Since my boss is allergic to dairy, all our dishes were vegan except the turkey and gravy. And of course, I made it all from scratch. I also made double of everything so he had enough for the fam the next day. Then I made more for dinner with my family! It was a three day cooking extravaganza.

Here's what I made:
Rosemary and apricot glazed turkey with gravy
Whole wheat cranberry and apple stuffing
Orange scented cranberries
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Spicy roasted sweet potatoes
Green bean casserole with caramelized onions
Herb roasted veggies

Rosemary and Apricot Glazed Turkey
I didn't eat this but I was told it was amazing and juicy and tender.
25 lb. turkey
1 cup vegan butter
4 tbsp dried rosemary
1 1/2 cups apricot preserves
1/2 cup water
1 orange
2 onions
4 stalks celery
4 carrots
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the onions into quarters and the celery and onions into big chunks. Cut the orange in half. Line the bottom of a giant roasting pan with the carrots and celery and 1 of the onions. Place the turkey on the top of the veggies and stuff the inside with the orange and the rest of the onion. Combine the butter with 2 tbsp of the rosemary. Rub the butter mixture under and on top of the skin all over the turkey, and some on the inside too. In a small saucepan, heat the preserves with the water, the remaining rosemary, and the salt and pepper. Set aside. Tightly cover the turkey with foil and cook for about 4 1/2 to 5 hours, basting every 30 minutes or so. When the turkey is almost done, remove the foil and pour the glaze all over the turkey and continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Ta da! Perfect turkey.

To make the gravy, in a large pot, melt 1/4 cup vegan butter and combine with 1/4 cup flour. Cook this for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add 4 cups of vegetable broth. Whisk this thoroughly to avoid lumps. You can stop right here for vegetarians or you can add the drippings from the turkey. Simmer over medium heat until this thickens up.

Whole Wheat Cranberry Apple Stuffing
This stuffing is moist and flavorful and low in fat! Much healthier than the boxed versions.
1 loaf whole wheat bread, toasted and cubed
2 apples, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnuts
2 tsp dried sage
salt and pepper

In a large pan, sautee the apples, celery, carrots, onions, and garlic in the vegetable oil until soft and translucent. In an oven-safe bowl, add the bread and sauteed veggies. Add the cranberries, walnuts and the spices. Pour the broth over the stuffing and mix everything thoroughly. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 until the top gets brown and crispy.

Orange Scented Cranberries
By far the easiest, but most impressive dish I made.
1 bag of fresh cranberries
juice and zest of 1 orange
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Boil all the ingredients in a large pot for 10 minutes until the berries begin to burst. Take the berries off the heat and chill until you're ready to eat. Seriously. That's it!!

Green Bean Casserole
2 bags frozen green beans (you could totally use fresh, but this way is much easier)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or any other dairy free milk you like)
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp vegan butter
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper

In a sautee pan, heat 2 tbsp of the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until caramelized, about 30 minutes. In a large, separate pot, heat the remaining oil and sautee the mushrooms and garlic. Set aside. In that same pot, heat the butter and flour for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the broth and the milk and whisk thoroughly. Cook this for 10-15 minutes until it gets really thick. Add the mushrooms and garlic back in. Place the green beans into a casserole dish. Pour the mushroom mixture over the top and stir. Arrange the caramelized onions over the top and bake for 30 minutes until heated through. You can add those crunchy onions on top if you want too.

The rest of the recipes were pretty simple so I won't post them here. I think that was enough for one post.