Vegan MoFo Day 9

I will be honest with you. We have been lazy here. I slacked this weekend. I did NOT make cookies. I did NOT bake my pumpkin and I did not cook up and stuff that turban squash. So what did I do? Well I did some gardening, I spent some time in the studio, I went to Asbury Park and saw a fantastic new show at Parlor Gallery and I spent a lovely day with my in-laws. I also cleaned out my closet which was no small task!

But what did  you eat? This is Vegan MoFo afterall not what did Jenny do all weekend.

Well my DH did all the cooking. For breakfast he cooked up some cheesey grits with daiya cheese and even made some tempeh sausages they were delicious! For dinner he made us a lovely vegan baked ziti. I of course forgot to take a picture and there is not a crumb left. 

Then  comes Sunday. Since we had a full day planned I stayed home with Little Bean while DH picked up some veggies and lunch from the Cinnamon Snail. Here is where I really needed to take a picture. Lunch was amazing! I had the Seitan fennel meatballs with roasted garlic tomato sauce, kalamata olive tapenade, caramelized onion and arugula on a grilled baguette.

My DH had a breakfast burrito. I savored every bite of my sandwich my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I heard rumors of an "underground" farmers market popping up in our area and that would be awesome because it is such an integral part of our week. 

But yesterday was Monday what did you cook? Well nothing really.

Domenick made a fantastic oatmeal for our breakfast and we had quesadillas for lunch but for dinner we did something special. We went to the borough hall to support our friend's vegan lunch truck the Cinnamon Snail. I wrote about their plight here. It seems like the council members were receptive to some of Adam's suggestions and willing to work with him.

To celebrate they had their friends over for a lovely meal! And it was AMAZING. I even remembered to take a picture but I only had my camera phone.

It was a spicy Indian feast of salad, chick peas, lentils and potatoes that warmed my belly on the first really wintery cold day.
After dinner our friend whispered to me if I would like to try her new vegan creme brulee and I of course said YES! It was soooo good. This picture does not do it justice.

Best of all it was shared in a house full of friends and  that is what this is about. Sharing a meal in a peaceful beautiful environment surrounded by love and friends it really is just a beautiful thing.

I have been thinking of my Thanksgiving with dread because I will be with family and yes we love our family but and here is that but. We usually have a beautiful private vegan Thanksgiving. This is not usually an issue since my mother is a nurse and works many holidays and my father can't be bothered with most holidays. Much of Domenick's family lives in Florida and the ones in NJ are smart and visit FL to be with them in the warm Florida weather. But this year my mom is off and I was told under no uncertain terms was I to miss her Thanksgiving feast that it is important to be with family etc. Then she was offended when I requested she not make her signature vegan dish ratatouille for us for the umpteenth time. Not only do we have to drive hours and hours but it is an unwelcoming environment family or not and the meal is far from compassionate. I will bring food for us but this offends my mother and of course my family will make fun and say things like "Little Bean wants some roast beast" which makes me not want to share meals with them. It is ever so frustrating and now I have myself so worked up. So there is no escaping this. It is one day and that is how I am looking at it. I will see my family and it will be what it is. I do love my family I just wish I didn't have to eat with them.

To make up for this I have decided to have a huge vegan potluck over Thanksgiving weekend with our friends and family that are open to and want to share a compassionate Thanksgiving meal.