8 Days left

Oh my gosh, you guys. I meant to post the week after Thanksgiving, and just never got around to it. So, think of this as a "What I've been eating lately" as well as a quick little update on my very boring, but high in cooking, life.
We didn't start Christmas shopping until this past weekend, and only put our tree up on Saturday! We never go this late, and picked the worst possible day to go because it was snowing and 12 degrees. Poor Lex was bundled in two very warm layers plus a snowsuit and still got cold and I had to carry her up a steep hill after about 10 minutes of walking. 
I wasn't able to get any pictures of it but I made a killer hot chocolate with coconut milk, 100% dark chocolate and a teeny tiny bit of sugar on the stove which we brought with us. It was overall really nice, and we were laughing on the ride back from the tree farm, but oh boy was it cold while we were there!
For Thanksgiving, I made a few sides to bring with us to my in-laws that turned out pretty well

I made this stuffing that I stole from here. I didn't use bagged stuffing bread, I used a leftover stale loaf I had been saving in my freezer. Overall, I really liked it but would decrease the veggie amount next time because it tasted more like carrots than stuffing. I also wound up using too much broth so it was a little soggy unfortunately but no one else ate it so it was fine for me.

I also made some whole wheat rolls from the artisan bread in five video which I can't even tell you how much this concept has changed my life. It is so little work, and fresh bread whenever you want it. I'm not lying, this is a real game changer, and they have more than one recipe if you follow that link. So far I've tried the traditional boule and the whole wheat one I linked to, I don't have the book so I've only tried the ones I have access to through youtube. You can just visit their website to really check it all out, or buy the book if you want!
Moving  on, since we ate at about 1 at someone else's house we wound up hungry later on around dinner time and I had prepped a small Thanksgiving dinner for just us:

This is stuffing, some green beans with cranberries, slivered almonds, and a little maple syrup sauteed together, and a stuffed seitan roast I completely stole from The PPK. I also made a quick mushroom gravy to go with it. It was all really tasty, and we enjoyed our little family feast together!





In the last few weeks, I've been trying my hand at vegan sushi which turned out to be really easy. The first try I didn't even have a sushi mat (I've since bought one off amazon for $2!!), and the idea is a whole lot more daunting than it actually is when in fact, it was really easy.

I used Jasmine rice because that's what I had around and only boiled up 1 cup and it was enough to make about 4 rolls. For the fillings, I used mushroom, carrot, cucumber and this one has some sriracha in it. I've since made rolls with green onion instead of cucumber, and want to do avocado next. You can find Nori at pretty much any supermarket now either by the wonton wrappers and tofu or in the international aisle. And, YES, it is seaweed, but it's really good for you and gives you a nice fishy taste in other dishes (I'm looking at you New England glam chowder which I made and was awfully discolored but still tasty) if you're no longer eating seafood.

That's all for now, enjoy the next week, and try not to go crazy buying stuff for people. Have a Merry Christmas if I don't get back here before then!