Vegan Whole Wheat Gingerbread People

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses (I used organic blackstrap)

2 tsps baking soda

1/2 cup coconut oil

3 tbsp apple sauce

3 2/3 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

**Preheat oven to 350F**

In a large saucepan, bring the sugar and molasses to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Add coconut oil and stir until melted. Stir in applesauce. Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Stir until well mixed.

Turn the dough over onto a piece of parchment paper big enough to fit onto your cookie sheet. You may need to sprinkle some flour if the dough gets too tacky. Roll out the dough a little at a time and cut out your gingerbread men at about 1/4 inch thickness. Peel off the dough from around the gingerbread men and add it to the remaining dough to make the next cookie.

Repeat this process until your parchment paper is full and the cookies are at least 1/2 an inch apart. Transfer the parchment paper (with the cookies on it) onto your cookie sheet and bake for about 8-12 minutes.

**I know that's a vague time frame, but every oven is different and mine seems to cook overly fast. I would just keep a close eye on them and take them out when they start browning.**

Note: Let the cookies cool a bit on the cookie sheet before transferring them to a drying rack with a wide, flat spatula. They will be too soft at first.

Eggplant and Chickpea Crockpot Stew

As always, the organic veggies from this recipe come from our wonderful CSA. For more info on them, click here.

2 cups of chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 medium eggplant, diced
1 onion, chopped (large dice)
1 zuchinni, sliced thinly
1 crookneck squash, sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups chopped greens (kale, mustard green, spinach, whatever is handy)
2 cans diced tomatoes (i used diced tomatoes that are sold in tetra packs at Henrys)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
enough water or veggie stock to cover ingredients
3 tbsp worchestershire sauce
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Add the veggies and chickpeas to the crockpot. Cover ingredients with water or veggie stock. Add the worchestershire sauce, vinegar, wine, dried herbs, salt and pepper.
Set on low and let cook all day.

**about an hour or two before serving, remove 2 cups worth of the stew. Puree in a blender or food processor and return it to the stew. This gives the stew some body.**

enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant Pizza

1 medium eggplant

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

pizza sauce

fresh basil

dough for pizza, or ready-made pizza crust

block of parmigiano reggiano

More topping suggestions:

chickpeas

mariniated artichokes

grilled chicken

thinly sliced red or yellow sweet onion

chicken apple sausage (we used Whole Farms, nitrate-free)

*Prepare your eggplant in advance and let marinate for at least a few hours*

Prepare eggplant by slicing into thin horizontal slices. Whisk together the olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic and herbs. Marinate the eggplant in vinegar mixture at least a few hours.

Preheat your oven or convection oven to 375F.

After marinating, roast the eggplant slices at 375F for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare your pizza dough or crust according to package directions.

Remove the eggplant from oven, but keep the oven temp since you will be returning the pizza to oven momentarily...

Layer the pizza sauce first, then snip the fresh basil to cover the pizza. Add your roasted eggplant slices, then whatever other toppings you desire. With a vegetable peeler, shave slices of parmigiano to over the pizza. Return to oven and bake until cheese melts, about 10-15 minutes.

Roasted Veggie Salsa

6 plum tomatoes (sometimes called Roma tomatoes)
2 serrano chilis
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
3 large cloves of garlic
juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
handful of cilantro, chopped
salt

Preheat oven to 400F. Brush olive oil over the tomatoes, chilis, garlic and onion. Roast the vegetables until brown patches appear on the peppers and onions. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Once cooled, finely chop the veggies in a food processor. Scrape the chopped veggies into a bowl and add the lime juice, vinegar and salt. Taste and adjust salt accordingly. Stir in the chopped cilantro. Chill or serve immediately with chips!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Hummus

This recipe was given to me by veganmomma. I made it for a playgroup we went to last month and I got some good feedback. I thought it was great, but next time I will use almond butter instead of peanut butter, which was all I had on hand. The peanut butter overpowered the other ingredients, I thought. It was really yummy with tart green apple slices.

There is also the fact that we're all really used to eating savory hummus, NOT a sweet hummus, so you kind of have to wrap your brain around that concept first!!

Ingredients:
1 can or 1 1/2 cups chickpeas
1 ½ Tbsp almond or cashew butter
4 Tbsp applesauce
1 tsp neutral oil
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ Tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup
Lots of cinnamon (about 1 tsp to start)
1/4 cup raisins (soak in hot water for a few minutes)
3 Tbsp oats (to start)

Other Possible Add-Ins/Variations:
A spoonful of flaxseeds (for a nutty flavor and omega-3s)
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts
Sliced almonds
Other dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, golden raisins, etc.)
A different nut butter (cashew, peanut)
Chocolate chips

Instructions:
Puree all ingredients together except for the dry raisins. Add extra cinnamon to taste and more maple syrup if you want it to be sweeter.
Stir in dry raisins and other optional ingredients.

Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegan shortening or coconut oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

Heat oven to 375F. Blend the sugar, pumpkin, oil/shortening. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Drop spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie and bake until lightly browned, approximately 8-10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen.

*tip*
You can ice the cookies, but I like to just sprinkle some sugar crystals on them before baking them in the oven. You can get India Tree brand from Whole Foods, they don't use artificial dyes to color the sugar.