Christmas Dinner Recipes

I just have to share what we ate for Christmas dinner this year.  It was so yummy, I think it will be repeated at future holidays meals.  I found recipes for Mushroom, Lentil, and Wild Rice Timbales and Mushroom Gravy on the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen Blog (http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/11/mushroom-lentil-and-wild-rice-timbales.html).  The gravy was so good that my sister-in-law and my son both said it was better than the traditional turkey fat gravy, and it was super low fat.  I will make this gravy over and over and put it on everything.  I could eat it like soup, it's so good.  In the timbales, I used a whole grain rice blend instead of the wild rice, but I'm sure it's equally delicious with wild rice.  Mashed potatoes are a must here to sop up all of that lovely gravy.  I made the timbales ahead of time and they warmed up nicely in the microwave.  I also froze some and reheated them in the oven, and they were just as good, so they are great for when you don't want to spend the whole day cooking!

Last year at my brother's home we had a sweet potato casserole with a sweet crunchy pecan topping!  This inspired me to search for a veganized sweet potato casserole recipe which I also found on the Fat Free Vegan website (http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/12/sweet-potato-casserole-with-pecan.html).  It is sweetened with maple syrup and brown sugar  and could pass for dessert but you could probably reduce the amount of sugar in the potato mixture if you were so inclined.  I also froze the leftovers and they reheated beautifully.

I also wanted to mention a very exciting discovery.  Ottawa has a Vegetarian Association!  It's called the National Capital Vegetarian Association (http://www.ncva.ca/), and they have a monthly vegan potluck.  I can hardly wait.  The first one of this year is scheduled for January 15th at 6:30 at the Jack Purcell Centre.  I think this is a really great way to meet like minded people.