Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 27

New Year’s Hangover Tea

New Year’s Day can be less of a holiday and more of a hangover day for a lot of people. So in honor of NYE recovery day, I’m sharing my Cure All Tea recipe from my book (p. 290).

Cure All Tea
Ingredients

1 kukicha tea bag (if you’re using loose-leaf tea, follow the package instructions)1/4-1/2 umeboshi plum, pit removed and chopped very fine3-5 drops shoyu

Steps

Steep the tea in 1 cup of boiling waterWhile the tea steeps, place the umeboshi plum into a teacup with the shoyuPour the hot tea over the umeboshi plum in the teacup and stir wellDrink hotThe umeboshi pit is also good to suck on if you want

Also, remember when you have a hangover, you might think you want a bunch of heavy junk the next day – but the cleaner you eat, the better you will feel quickly. Green juice, brown rice, or steamed greens like kale are great hangover foods. But in my ancient party days, I noticed a huge difference between a veggie burger and fries and cakes versus the clean food.

Vegan Millet ‘Mashed Potatoes’ With Mushroom Gravy

This recipe from The Kind Mama is a great one if you are a superhero. It’s the perfect time to try it this holiday season!

Millet is such as healthy grain to have in your rotation. It’s the base of this rich creamy dish. Choose whichever variety of mushrooms you like best, or try a combination. Shitakes have a chewier texture than button mushrooms, so sometimes I’ll combine them with creminis (fancy talk for regular button mushroom), which I love.

You can make this dish pretty with something fresh and green like scallions, parsley, or chives, but it certainly doesn’t lack flavor if you go without.

Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup millet, rinsed
5 ½ cups water
2 ½ cups cauliflower (1/2-1 head), broken into small florets or medium-size chunks
Sea salt
1 tablespoon tahini, or to taste (optional)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 medium onion, diced (or ½ if you prefer a smoother gravy)
12 white button or cremini mushrooms, 8 fresh siitake, 6 dried shiitake (reconstitute in warm water for about 10 minutes, then strain that water and use it in the gravy – instant mushroom stock!), or any combination
½ cup shoyu or tamari (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons mirin
1 drop of brown rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of kuzu, diluted in ½ cup cold water
2 tablespoons scallions, parsley, or chives chopped for garnish (optional)

Directions
Place the millet in a heavy-bottom stockpot and toast it over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes, or until it dries, becomes aromatic, and takes on a lightly golden color. Add 3 ½ cups of the water and cauliflower and bring to a boil over high heat. Add 2 pinches of salt, cover, and reduce the heat to simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Pass the mixture through a food mill, smooth out with a potato masher, or puree in the pot with a handheld immersion blender to your desired creaminess. If you decide to use a blender or food processor – which I don’t recommend because I don’t love putting hot food in a plastic container – be careful not to overblend or the mixture will get runny. Fold in the tahini, if using.

To make the gravy, heat the oil in a medium-sized pan over medium heat. Add the onion and a couple pinches of salt and cook until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender, then pour in the remaining 2 cups water and bring pan to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and season with shoyu, mirin, and vinegar. Gently cook for 5 minutes, adjust the seasoning to taste, and simmer for 5 more minutes.
Add the diluted kuzu to the mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, as it thickens the gravy. Pour over the mash, garnish with the scallions, parsley, and chives, if you’d like, and serve.

Photo Credit: Relish

Vegan Oatmeal Walnut Cookies With Dried Plums

Makes 10 to 12 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour1/3 cup maple sugar2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt1/3 cup maple syrup1/2 cup safflower oil1 teaspoon vanilla extract1/2 teaspoon molasses1/4 cup chopped dried plums (or other dried fruit)1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silpat.

Combine the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the syrup, oil, vanilla extract, and molasses. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Fold in the dried plums and nuts.

Using your hands, roll tablespoon-size scoops of dough into balls. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet, and press down slightly on the balls to flatten the tops. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a baking rack to cool completely.

For variety, replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, barley flour, spelt flour, or a gluten-free baking mix (choose one that does not include baking soda and baking powder). You can also substitute chocolate chips for the dried fruit and any kind of nuts for the walnuts.
Enjoy!

Photo: Flourishing Foodie
Video: Kristin Burns 

Roasted Green Beans with Shallots

Here is a nice-looking superhero recipe: roased green beans with shallots are perfect for any time of year! I got this from Bita Hunt, a macro chef/nutritionist in New York. I haven’t tested it yet, but it sounds super simple and yum!

Roasted Green Beans with Shallots
Ingredients

2 lbs. Green beans1 Shallot, finely chopped2 tbsp Olive oilSea salt to taste

Steps

Preheat oven to 450FToss beans and shallots with oilArrange on foil lined baking sheetSprinkle with saltRoast for 20-25 minutes, or until beans are blistered and tender. Serve immediately.

What’s your favorite way to eat green beans?

14 Sustainable and Meaningful Holiday Traditions and Celebration Ideas

There are so many reasons to celebrate this time of year and I’m always so interested in hearing about particular traditions people have for the holidays that are unique and festive.
I’ve been thinking about holiday traditions and ways to celebrate the season, so I thought I’d share a few ideas and ask you to share your own too.“Do less, enjoy more” (à la Magda Gerber) is my usual mantra. Toddlers and children, and adults for that matter, are sensitive and absorb our moods, try to avoid becoming possessed by the Christmas holiday madness and truly enjoy this holiday season. If anything is a chore or draining you, try really hard to listen to that signal and get out of it.Make Glogg (recipe from The Kind Diet) and cheers to the season.Use all reclaimed items for the season, nothing disposable, and make it a Kind Hanukkah or Christmas holiday.Keep it simple. Toddlers play longer with simple toys that they can be creative with and actively explore, like a set of blocks or a basket of balls. And the gift they treasure most is our attention and love. No need to get fancy and spend money and make waste.Make hot apple cider and get cozy with your loved ones.When cleaning up after the holiday festivities, make a ceremony of putting your decorations away in reusable bins and containers to be used for the following year.Take all of the Christmas cards that you love and turn them into placements to use over the years to come.Go on a family/friend nature walk and take in all of the smells of the changing season.Go ahead and blast those classic holiday tunes and dance a little…or a lot!Volunteer your time. Do something for the less fortunate and find an organization in your neighborhood that helps feed the homeless for the holidays. This LA organization provides free vegan and vegetarian meals to the homeless throughout the city.Research the origins of Christmas and Santa Claus (St. Nick) and learn about the long history and how it has transformed over the years.Let your little ones help wrap gifts using reclaimed paper – without scissors unless they are ready, of course. And don’t worry about how crazy the gifts look. It’s the fun of the project. And remember to try and save your paper from this year to use for next year.Make your own winter wonderland by cutting out snowflakes and taping them to the windows.Take time to read. The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas is a book I’ve had on my list.

Do you have any alternative ways to celebrate with kids?
What special traditions do you have for Christmas time?
Has anyone made up an amazing holiday tradition that feels exciting and fun and more meaningful?
I hope you all have a relaxing and joyful holiday time – a time to live and love and enjoy!!

Photo source: Toner Spot

Vegan Black Soybean and Kabocha Squash Stew

I’ve never served this dish to anyone who didn’t freak out about how delicious it was. Warm, nourishing, and great for winter, serve these beans with a simple bowl of rice and steamed greens. If you can’t find kabocha, butternut squash will do, but kabocha is just so good. This also tastes great the next day.

Black Soybean and Kabocha Squash Stew

Serves 5.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black soybeans 1″ piece kombu seaweedAbout 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil2–3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 red onion, diced1 teaspoon chili powder Fine sea saltGenerous pinch crushed red pepper flakes1 teaspoon ground cumin21⁄2  cups canned diced tomatoes1⁄2  kabocha squash, halved, seeded, and cut into 1″ pieces (peel only if the kabocha squash is not organic)1-3 tablespoons of mirin (to taste)2 teaspoons white miso 2 celery stalks, diced3–4 fresh cilantro sprigs, chopped

Directions:

Rinse the soybeans, then turn them out onto a kitchen towel and rub to remove as much moisture as possible. Place the beans in a dry, medium skillet, and pan-toast them over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until they puff up a little and their skins begin to split.

Transfer the beans to a large pot, and add the kombu and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 90 minutes or until the beans are tender.
While the beans cook, combine the oil, garlic, onion, and chili powder in a large skillet over medium heat. When you hear the onion start to sizzle, add a pinch of salt, red-pepper flakes, and cumin and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, squash, mirin, and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the squash is tender, about 35 minutes. Remove a small amount of the broth from the skillet and use this to dissolve the miso. Once dissolved, stir the miso into the vegetables.

Once the beans are fully cooked, drain them of any leftover liquid. Add the beans to the vegetables, and simmer over low heat until all remaining liquid has been absorbed. Turn off the heat, stir in the celery and cilantro, and serve hot.

Xo
Alicia

Recipe courtesy of The Kind Diet. Copyright © 2009 by Alicia Silverstone. Published by Rodale Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House

Photo credit: Victoria Pearson © 2009

Finding Cozy Connection During The Holidays

December doesn’t have to be stressful, no matter what holiday you celebrate. The increasing dark of the Northern hemisphere can be a signal to turn inward to your family, to create more warmth, light and peace in your home. It can be a time for cozy connection and deep joy, whatever your personal beliefs.

The key is deciding what kind of experience you want to create – and meshing your expectations with your family’s. Imagine it’s next January 1. Won’t it be terrific if you find yourself rested, refreshed, and contented with your life?

Imagine being able to:

Use this holiday to have some wonderful, deep time with each member of your immediate family. Your whole family will start the year feeling energized and connected.Give presents that delight the receiver, and therefore delight you. You don’t go over budget, and most of the time your present is something you make or do for the recipient, with your child, easily and joyfully.Feel healthy and maintain a steady weight. Instead of overeating, you feed your hungry heart with connection to others, and with giving to others. You spend time outdoors. You nourish yourself and your family by cooking healthy food. In short, you nurture your own body and soul, as well as your children’s.Find meaning this year in brightening the season for others. Through your example, your kids begin to discover the spirit of the season and feel the gift of being angels to others.Feel clarity, going into the new year, about the ways you want to make your life different in the future. You even make a plan that will be easy to stick to, that will help you change ONE important habit.1. Decide what’s really important and say no to everything else

We all have full lives the other eleven months of the year. Adding an elaborate agenda to accomplish during December can only send your household into a tailspin and your blood pressure through the roof. The guaranteed result is tantrums from the kids and tears for you. What do you need to do so it feels like Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanza, or the Winter Solstice, to you? Maybe you always decorate the house with greenery, or bake cookies. Maybe you’d like to make presents, or start a new tradition about kindness or gratitude. Maybe advent calendars or latkes or religious services are essential.

Just say no to holiday events that don’t hold meaning for you, including most work events. If you must spend time at work-related holiday events, be sure to acknowledge them as work time that’s cutting into the family time you want to prioritize this season. Take other time off to make up for it. For instance, you might leave work early to pick your child up after school for a special afternoon together doing something meaningful and holiday related.

If your kids are old enough that they want to spend time with their friends rather than just family, that’s terrific. Plan now to include their friends in the events where it feels appropriate – baking pies for the local soup kitchen, or gathering greenery to decorate the house. Your kids will probably jump at the chance for a small party, even if it’s a party to make holiday decorations.

This family meeting about the holidays is a great time to express what YOU most want this holiday – special time to connect with each member of your family.

2. Prioritize connecting with your family.

Now you have a sense of what you’re actually going to do this December. Your first rule is not to do holiday tasks alone, unless you feel nurtured by them. If you like nothing better than to put on music and fill the house with good smells, then I wish you happy baking. But don’t set yourself up to feel like a martyr at midnight, when you find yourself bleary-eyed and facing a sink full of dirty dishes. Always find a partner for these holiday tasks. It’s a great opportunity for fun with family members, and the kids love the one-on-one time with mom or dad. And if you can’t recruit anyone, consider that maybe you don’t actually need to do more baking or decorating or whatever, if it isn’t important to anyone else. Who are you trying to impress, after all?
If your kids are too young to help, then it becomes even more important to limit what you do. What they want this holiday season is connection with their parents, not perfect decorations, or lots of events, or even, ultimately, presents. Your kids need you to be in a good mood, ready to make merry and make meaning. Keep it simple. Don’t try to create some glossy magazine vision of the holiday. Remember that your mood matters more to your kids than anything else.
Hopefully, you already have family traditions that give you special time alone with each family member, such as a father-daughter brunch once a month at a favorite diner. You can make your holidays more meaningful, though, with this golden opportunity for one-on-one time. Make a plan with each family member to do something delicious just with them.
Some ideas for “dates” with your kids:

Work together to make a present for another family member.Bake cookies for her class party.Work out together – it’s a great antidote to holiday calories and stress.Go for walks together in a part of town where you can admire the holiday decorations, or out in the country to gather greenery.Take advantage of the early dark to bundle up and stargaze together.3. Reject commercialism

None of the holidays we observe in December are designed to include purchasing things from stores. Each is an opportunity to celebrate – the birth of the Savior, the return of the light with the Solstice, the Seven Principles of Kwanza, and the miracle of faith symbolized by the Hanukkah lights.

The pressures of commercialization do a disservice to these sacred days, to our wallets, and to our children. Our children have been trained to think of the winter holidays as a time for loot, beginning when we put them on a bearded stranger’s lap and have them recite a list of possessions they covet. Kids who watch TV have an especially difficult time, as the seasonal ads whip them into a frenzy of desire that can only crash and burn. The first question they hear upon returning to school is usually “What’ja get?”

After having spent years buying too many presents – originally one for each night of Hanukkah – our family settled into making each of the eight nights meaningful in it’s own way. One night is the big present night, where the kids each get one “store bought” gift. One night is “Homemade presents” night. One night we throw a Hanukkah party with latkes, another night we go to celebrate with family or friends. One night is Tzedaka night, when we discuss good causes and donate money to them. Each night is special in its own way, and presents take a back seat. We work hard to de-commercialize what can so easily become a feast of more, more, more, rather than a feast of lights and miracles.

De-commercializing Christmas can be even more challenging, but it’s certainly possible. I know families who give four presents to their child for Christmas: “something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read.” Others give a present from the parents and a present from Santa. Add a stocking, time to play with your child, and a few annual traditions, and it’s plenty. The gifts you do give will be treasured.

Set a budget for each gift, add them up to be sure you can handle the total, and really stick to it. You might try online shopping, so you can do it at night without the kids around, avoid the exhaustion and crowds, and diminish the importance of holiday shopping in your family life. You’re also more likely to stick to your budget.

Some families de-commercialize the holidays by making presents. It isn’t free – you have to buy supplies – and it takes time, but it can be cheaper, more fun, and more meaningful than a “bought” gift.

If you choose to make presents, sit down with your list of giftees and decide what you’re making and how long each present will take. Your goal is to delight your giftees with a token of your affection, not to garner status points or exhaust yourself. One strategy is to make big batches of something that most folks will enjoy — fudge, or bath salts — so that most of your gifts can be made on one day, with the help of your child.

If your whole family is making presents – and what kid doesn’t like to make presents? – try scheduling some weekend afternoons when everyone is working on presents. You can count on having to help the younger members of the family, but it’s worth it. If you make this a family tradition, you’ll find that they get more independent each year in making ever more lovely presents. Click here for presents you can make easily with your kids.

4. Create traditions that make merry, meaning, and bring your family closer together.

Children love tradition and ritual. Repetition, the comfort of belonging, the sense of wonder, magic, and celebration — traditions nurture kids and parents alike, and create a sense of shared meaning. They connect families.

Kids need the security of repeated traditions, and they’ll want you to repeat this year anything you’ve “always done” in the past. Honor those requests and savor those moments.
But if you’re feeling like the things you do every year don’t reflect your values, why not re-evaluate your traditions? Don’t make this about more work; keep it simple. Just try altering your current tradition a bit, or try something new, and if you like it, repeat it. Then begin to talk about it and look forward to it with the whole family. Eventually, that tradition will take on a life of its own and will become a sustaining part of your family culture.

Holiday traditions that will have meaning for your family are plentiful; your job is to find the ones that feel best to everyone and are easiest to pull off.

5. Live the spirit of the season by giving to others

It’s hard for kids not to get greedy at the holidays, especially if they’re encouraged to make long lists of their desired presents. One answer, of course, is to limit kids to one store-bought gift (although often a grandparent will add another.) But what we really want for our kids is not for them to feel deprived, but to find their own holiday spirit and discover the joy of giving to others. Did you know that the experience of giving actually activates an area of the brain that gives us physical pleasure?

But generosity doesn’t come from guilt. Children begin to feel generous from the feeling of having plenty — emotionally, even more than materially — and develops as they have the experience of making others happy by giving to them. Our job as parents is to help our kids to have those experiences.

Eventually, if your child is lucky, she’ll learn from experience that making someone else happy by giving to them really is more rewarding than receiving a gift herself. But that wisdom is something that usually develops only after one has had plenty of experiences of giving to others and seeing their delight.

6. Take time as a family for reflection

Beyond the obvious traditions of spiritual reflection and embodying the spirit of giving, the time we have together at the holidays gives a golden opportunity for families to reflect, examine, and appreciate their lives together. It’s traditional at Kwanzaa to rededicate oneself to living a principled life. The rest of us usually rely on the New Year’s tradition of making a resolution, which is generally less than effective because one resolution is not enough to change a habit (that takes at least 30 days of sustained effort!) Start with discussions at dinner about what you love about your family, your lives, and yourselves, and one thing you would change if you could. Here are a couple of ideas for family reflection rituals to extend this practice:

Start a “Count Your Blessings” scroll. Take a roll of adding machine tape and let everyone write on it something they’re grateful for. The scroll can be taped in lengths around your house as a blessing, like a Tibetan prayer flag.Ask each family member to write down one thing they want to leave behind in the old year, and throw it into the fire (or set it on fire in a firesafe iron pan). At the same time, they can write down one thing they want to create more of in their lives, and put that in a safe, special place. It’s even more effective if you help them write a simple plan to create what they want more of, and review their plan daily for 30 days as they create a new habit.7. Cultivate enough-ness by nurturing yourself

We approach the holidays each year with the secret hope that our life will be transformed. Somehow, our home will become picture perfect, professionally decorated and worthy of a magazine spread. Our homemade gifts will be the envy of the neighborhood. Our children, perfect angels, will be baking for the soup kitchen, starring in the holiday pageant, and certainly never bickering or ungrateful.  It helps to make these fantasies conscious, so we can let go of them without guilt. I find I have to remind myself repeatedly throughout the holiday season that my happy mood and time with my kids are much more important than my vision of all I could “give” them – even the educational, values-laden experiences.
Media images of the “perfect” holidays can be discouraging, since real life never looks like that. Reducing TV time during the holidays can reduce that pressure, and give you more time for family games and connecting.

So let go of perfection, and find ways to nurture yourself so you have the energy to be fully present. Go for long walks outdoors, take hot baths, work out at the gym, do yoga, trade massages with your partner or a friend, cook good wholesome food. The more full you feel inside, body and soul, the less you’ll need to pursue the holiday frenzy.
And the more you and your family will find yourselves making meaning, as well as making merry.

Dr. Laura Markham is founder of AhaParenting.com and author of Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings and her latest book, the Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids Workbook. This article was originally published here.

Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash

From Sides to Sweets: The Best Vegan Christmas Recipes

The kind recipe gallery is full of delicious vegan Christmas recipes. Whether cooking for a crew or an intimate dinner, here are some great holiday-inspired plant-based recipes to try:

Side Dishes

Wild Rice Cornbread Stuffing
 Cuban Style Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Maple Roasted Lotus Root, Sunchokes and Leek
Pumpkin Lentil Soup

EntreesTal Ronnen’s “Chicken” Scaloppini Seitan in Balsamic Wine Reduction
Caroline’s Divine Tomato SauceLentil Loaf

 

DessertsDreamy Pear Trifle
Berry PieMississippi Vegan’s Apple Rose Tart
Coconut Whipped Cream

 

Beverages

Hot Apple Cider
For more beverages, check Barnivore
Of course, The Kind Diet has lots of additional recipes that are perfect for Christmas dinner as well.  Happy Cooking!

2 Vegan Eggnog Recipes That Taste Great and Are Better for You

Move over dairy, vegan eggnog is easy to make, better for you, and so delicious.

Original eggnog, or milk punch as it was once called, is a very rich and thick dairy-based and highly sweetened beverage.  It’s made with milk, cream, sugar, whipped egg whites, and egg yolks, and is often topped with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. Eggnog is traditional during the Christmas season. It is often served cold from a punch bowl. Less frequently, it is served warm—think thick, milky mulled wine.

Eggnog is not a beverage I’d tasted as a kid, but as a young adult, I noticed it being served in glass mugs from big cutglass punchbowls at Christmas and New Years’ Eve parties. It was love at first sip for me. Creamy, thick, sweet, and boozy (rum, brandy, and whiskey are common additions), this was a drink that went down all too easily.

The original recipe reads to me like a glass of heart attack with a side of fatty liver disease, along with the danger of salmonella from consuming raw eggs. Egg yolks are whipped with sugar before the addition of heavy cream and spices. Egg whites are beaten with sugar are folded into the yolk mixture after it has cooked and cooled. This is not for me or the people I cherish, nope.

For at least a couple of years now, creamy vegan versions are right there in the dairy case of your local market. Some taste better than others, and what tastes best is personal, but all the commercially prepared vegan nogs are ready for the addition of rum or bourbon if desired. I find it easy and fun to make my own, personalized to my taste, and think you will too. And vegan nog is cholesterol-free too.

Today, I am sharing two luscious versions of vegan nog. Both make relatively small quantities–remember, I am living solo and none of us are going to be with crowds– right?!

The recipes scale up with no changes, and the beverages stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, so go ahead and make more if you like.

The first recipe is a protein-packed Vegan Eggnog, made with pea protein powder and soaked pitted dates. The second version has a base of cashews. (they are nutrient-strong too.)  With its lighter color, this resembles a more traditional Eggnog. Although I like both, I have a preference. I’d really like to know yours.

Once refrigerated both of these Eggnogs thicken, in the case of the cashew-based nog, significantly. You are the decider here, but if the chilled Nogs are more custard-like than is your preference, just whisk in some plant milk before serving, or adding the spirits.

Spice to taste but do NOT substitute powdered nutmeg for the freshly grated. Trust me, your nog will not be good.

I’d thought about getting fancy and adding a topping of aquafaba meringue, but I find both versions are rich-tasting enough. If you choose to add the meringue, please share your photos. There is a third and very delicious cashew-based, date-sweetened Eggnog by chef and Rouxbe Online Culinary School, co-founder Dawn Thomas, in the Essential Vegan Desserts Course.

Pea Protein Vegan Eggnog

Pea protein powder is a high-quality, generally easily digested protein source made from yellow peas. It’s rich in iron, arginine, and branched-chain amino acids and is said to offer benefits like improved muscle growth, feelings of fullness, and heart health.

When I posted tests of eggnog photos on my Instagram, a few people commented that they can’t digest pea protein. So if this is new to you, proceed with caution. Try this one.

I’ve made a lot of vegan eggnog in the last few days, and I am pretty sure some of it will become eggnog pudding, ice cream, or French toast.

I’m sending my best wishes to each one of you for a healthy and happy Christmas season. I hope next year we can raise a glass in the company of our friends and family. Take care and do let me know if you make either, or both of these eggnogs.

Pea Protein Vegan Eggnog

Yields 1 cup

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups / 295ml cold water¼ cup /28g pea protein3 oz /105g dates pitted, soaked until very soft1 tsp pure vanilla extract1/4 tsp almond extract1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg more for sprinkling1/8 – to ¼ tsp cinnamon powder3/8 tsp guar gum for the traditional creamy consistency.Optional: 1 tablespoon sunflower oil or other neutral oil Adds smoothnessOptional Spirits rum, bourbon, brandy, whiskey to taste

Instructions

Add everything to a blender container except the oil. Blend, starting on low, then advancing the speed to high, until the liquid is creamy, and no pieces of dates are visible. Taste and add more spice.Refrigerate until cold. Shake before serving,For alcoholic eggnog Add your spirit of choice, to taste, before serving

Recipe Notes

I’m not going to tell you how much of the spirits to add if you are going there. I went nuts for rum during my very enjoyable tests.

Vegan Cashew Cream Eggnog

This recipe will look much more like traditional eggnog. Isn’t it wonderful to have so many choices!

Ingredients

2.5 ounces /71g raw cashews rinsed and soaked1/2 cup /120ml full-fat coconut milk3 tbsp /40g vegan cane sugar¾ tsp pure vanilla extract1/8 tsp almond extract3/8 tsp nutmeg more for sprinkling1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

Instructions

Drain the cashews very well.Add everything to a blender container, preferably a high-speed blender like a Vitamix.Start blending on low and then increase the speed to high. Blend 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust spicing and sweetness.Chill before serving.

Pastry professional, culinary educator and bestselling author of cookbooks including Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy Free Desserts, Fran Costigan’s luscious creations have it all — except dairy, eggs, white sugar and cholesterol, to satisfy vegans and omnivores alike. Classically trained, Fran is the Director of Vegan Pastry at the Rouxbe Online Culinary School and leads the Essential Vegan Desserts Course.
Photo by Oscar Nord on Unsplash

Why You Shouldn’t Buy a Puppy for Christmas

Sure, a puppy in a box is as absolutely precious and adorable as anything could ever possibly be on Christmas morning. But what about when said puppy chews the legs off your couch, nips your son, or has a big ol’ accident in the middle of your Persian rug?

Dogs are the greatest gift to humankind that ever was, but they are indeed family members that shouldn’t be bought (ever) and shouldn’t even be adopted if the gift-giver themselves isn’t ready to accept the full responsibility of caring for a new member of their family.

I volunteer for an animal rescue group that regularly gets inquires as to our adoption fees. I always flinch when we get that question knowing that if the nominal adoption fee is an issue, what will the plan be when (heaven forbid!) the pup gets cancer, breaks a leg, or has lifelong severe allergies. Veterinarians, holistic remedies, and good quality pet foods are not cheap. A puppy or dog can be human-child level expensive, depending on their needs. We have to keep that in mind when considering the bliss that comes along with the heavenly sweetness of being a dog Mama or Papa.

Dogs are not presents to just last one fun day, only to be passed off to another family when things get real. I bet you’re thinking “I know that!”… but not everyone does. For example, a few weeks after Christmas, many Christmas puppies end up in shelters. So what can we do to stop that? Discourage gifting puppies for the holidays.

There is, however, a caveat to that general rule: IF you’ve been discussing this as a family for a long time, and are ready for the fiscal and physical and emotional obligations of another family member – then BY ALL MEANS – DO adopt yourself a Christmas puppy! Happiness is a mutt on its butt!

Here’s some hard talk from someone who knows a little too much about what happens on the inside of the animal rescue world.

Please do not consider buying a dog when over 800 dogs per day, per state are euthanized because people buy instead of adopting. These are not vicious, horrible dogs – 99% of them are fully adoptable and are euthanized simply because there’s no space in the shelter.

Other reasons dogs are euthanized in shelters: they have an easily treatable condition like heartworm, mange, or allergies but the shelter cannot afford the meds, the shelter doesn’t have the foster/ volunteers needed to take an overflow of dogs (when there are no more available kennels) home, or some dogs may just have been waiting too long and have overstayed their welcome.

How you can help is adopting, fostering, and donating to shelters (both financially and with supplies – shelters and rescues almost always need things you already have in your homes like towels, sheets, old rugs, crockery, heaters, baby gates, baby playpens, all cleaning supplies, etc).

All breeds of dogs are available to adopt – simply sign up for alerts on petfinder.com or adoptapet.com with your zipcode and breed and age preferences – you’ll get a daily email and find your baby. Other ways to adopt: follow all your local rescue groups on social media (you get to see who is coming in first that way!), head over to your local shelter, or attend an outdoor adoption event.

Apprehensive? One way to take it slow in terms of adoption is by fostering. Fostering is such a wonderful way to jailbreak a doggo, and give a sweet mutt a little time to unwind from the stressful situation of being in a shelter.  You can test run being a furry Mama, and if it doesn’t work out or it isn’t a perfect match – no biggie, you gave a pup some wonderful couch and yard time! If it does – wonderful!

Chloé Jo Davis is the Director of Digital Content at The Kind Life, a Mom of 3 human little boys, and 4 rescued pets in Connecticut.

Photo by Rhaúl V. Alva on Unsplash