A few of my favorite things from the Holidays

I hope you are having a wonderful Holiday Season, I know I am!!!

I had a fantastic Christmas with my family, my pets, lots of laughs and delicious food. I also received some wonderful gifts (mostly kitchen and cooking related from my family, which is most appreciated), my family also donates to many different charities this time of year. I gave to many charities in honor of my family members and friends as well. So many great organizations need our help and this is a gift that truly feels great to give.

The following are a few of my favorite foods from Christmas in our home, I thought people may be interested in a few products and recipes we really liked:

    

I purchased a delightful, fairly new vegan cheese as a surprise for my parents. Miyoko’s Creamery is a delicious, healthy and cruelty-free vegan cheese. Did I say delicious?? I couldn’t say this enough to describe Miyoko’s products, better than real cheese, in my opinion. She offers many varieties as well! Chive, Sun-dried Tomato and Garlic, Winter Truffle, Smoked Farmhouse, Garlic Herb, just to name a few. This is tons of fun to give as a gift and a great way to share the wonderful world of vegan products with friends and family. At this time, Miyoko’s Creamery is only available in limited quantities on the website.

    

Gardein Holiday Roast was an absolute hit with my whole family!! I love Gardein products and will discuss a few of these delicious plant-based proteins in upcoming posts. Gardein offers so many faux meat products and all are delicious! On their website you can find a store locator, these products are becoming very main-stream and I’ve found many of them in my local grocery store and also natural groceries. If your supermarket does not carry them, ask if they will!!

    

We also made this wonderful Raw Broccoli Salad from my friend Sara’s website Homemade Levity. Although Sara’s salad preperation was much prettier than mine, this salad turned out great! The best part was the dressing. I highly recommend!!

    

We also had endless leftovers (my favorite part about the holidays). We were able to make this delicious Shepherd’s pie above with some left-over mashed potatoes and paired it with a side of the leftover raw broccoli salad, so, so Yummy!!! The recipe for the Vegan Shepherd’s Pie and other fantastic healthy holiday recipes can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/19/vegan-christmas-recipes-oh-joy_n_6344346.html (Keep these recipes in mind for next year! 🙂 )

The great thing about the two recipes above is that they are both vegan and gluten-free. It’s so fun and easy to live cruelty-free!

Happy Holidays! From my family to yours 🙂