Hola!  I know this is a bit (okay, a lot) late, but how was your Thanksgiving?  Hopefully, you were able to spend time with your family and get you hands on some super yummy food.  That's what I did!  And the family bit is why I didn't get a chance to post over Thanksgiving break... any spare time I spent with my brother!  He came back from college for the holiday, and there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to spend time with him.  It was definitely the best part of break. :)  The second best part was the time spent with my other family, and the third part was, of course, the food!!! :P  Want to see a picture of my plate??

Now the run down:  bread roll (my mom and I made them), cranberries that my mom made, Katie's Bread-Free Vegan Stuffing (what I mad for vegetables as it had carrots, zucchini, celery, spinach, tomatoes, and onion), lentils, and Peruvian potatoes that my mom and I made together.  Everything was delicious!!!  I was one happy muncher!  I was especially glad that the rest of my family (not exactly the biggest veggie lovers) really liked the veggie dish - it felt good to make something healthy that everyone enjoyed. :)  Afterwards, my dad and brother were too full for dessert, but I really wasn't!  And besides, there's no way I'm turning down dessert. :P  So my mom and I dug into Katie's Chocolate Pumpkin Pie that I made with a homemade graham cracker crust.  Side note:  graham crackers were invented by Sylvester Graham about 180 years ago.  Random, I know.  But as I was typing "graham cracker," I became curious as to who invented them and just had to find out!  Apparently he was also a vegetarian and a health advocate (if we can believe what we read).  Any-who, back to the pie:

It was a bit odd at first because our mouths were expecting pure chocolate, but there was the slight pumpkin flavor too.  We ended up really liking the flavor!  Note: the piece above isn't the one I ate on Thanksgiving; it's one that I ate with lunch.  Yes, with lunch.  Life is too short to save dessert for the end of the meal. ;)

Okay, on to the garlic bread!  I actually made this recipe a while ago, but the reason it's taken me so long to post is that I wanted to come up with a vegan version too.  Unfortunately, I still haven't come up with the right one.  I decided to go ahead and post the non-vegan recipe first, and then I'll post the other version once I get it right.


Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread
Need something to accompany pasta?  What about lasagna?  Maybe looking for a quick snack?  This bread has you covered!  Ready in under 10 minutes, this recipe can easily be made to serve any number of people!
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 slice bread of choice (I use Rudi's 7 grain bread, but a crusty bread would be really good!  I'm sure you could also use an english muffin - oh, I'm going to have try that!)
• About 1/2 tablespoon of butter
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 ounce shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions: 

1. Set your oven to broil.
2. Spread the piece of bread with the butter (you may need to soften the butter to make spreading it easier).
3. Sprinkle the garlic powder evenly over the buttered bread and follow with the cheese.
4. Broil for 5 minutes or until the cheese bubbles and begins to brown.

Question:  Who has Christmas decorations up??
We've put up our lights, but I really want to get out some inside decorations.  For me, the day after Thanksgiving marks the Christmas season, and my spirit is in full force!  

Happy weekend everyone!

Let's do a little comparison game, shall we?  Pizza is round, pancakes are round. (Well, my pancakes at least slightly resemble a round shape.  Most of the time they're more squarish or jagged on the edges.  Character. Yes, it gives them character. ;)  Pizza has toppings, pancakes have toppings.  True, the toppings are quite different... pizza has tomato sauce and cheese, maybe veggies, pepperoni for many while pancakes have butter and maple syrup, or Greek yogurt and peanut butter (!!), possibly coconut butter (!!)... but still, a topping is a topping.  Pizza is eaten for dinner, pancakes are eaten for dinner.  Who wants to wait until the next morning for pancakes when you can have them that night?  Um, not me.  Now the most obvious similarity is, of course, the taste.  Pizza is delicious, pancakes are delicious.  And these two recipes are nothing less.  

Sun-dried Tomato and Pesto English Muffin Pizza
Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 english muffin, cut in half (I used Rudi's whole wheat english muffins)
1-2 tablespoons basil pesto
About 3 sun-dried tomatoes, torn into small pieces (if using dried, soak in water for a few hours prior to making the pizza)
1 oz shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Cover a small baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper.  Set your oven to broil.  Spread each muffin half with half to a full tablespoon of pesto (depending on how pesto-y you want it).  Arrange the tomato pieces evenly on top of the pesto, and evenly sprinkle on the cheese.  Make sure the tomatoes are under the cheese or your tomato pieces will burn.  Put the pizzas on the baking sheet, and put the baking sheet in the oven.  Broil for about five minutes or until the the cheese melts and begins to brown.  Enjoy!

The pizzas are so easy to make but are extremely yummy!  You could even make lots of them and then arrange the pizzas on a big plate and take them to a party!

Side note:  I ate the pizzas above with some raw snap peas and a package of spinach, steamed and then mixed with balsamic vinegar and garlic powder.  Got my greens for sure!

Now for the pancake recipe.  These aren't your basic light and fluffy pancake - they're much softer and denser.  But as we've previously discussed, different pancakes are actually good!  As long as they're cooked in a pan, I think they qualify as pancakes. 

Okay, so today I was down town with my mom (we went to this amazing Indian place for lunch <3), and we stopped at this cute little kitchen store called The Cupboard.  I found the perfect cup in the sale section.