Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween lovelies!!

Halloween is such a wonderful time of year. I celebrated over the weekend with a little costume action (and an appearance by the ever adorable, Rebecca)

and some delicious cupcakes

I'm hoping to score some extra brownie points at my new office by bringing some gluten vegan Twix and peanut butter cups to the office today. Holy. Yum.

Annnnnnnd after today, back to green juice and salads for me. And a little visit to the gym tonight.

Other amazing Halloween fun:

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of my all-time favourite movies, so I'm mega stoked to be seeing (and dressing up for) The Rocky Horror Show tonight! Fallenrock is an awesome company, the cast is AMAZING (including my sweet Ashley as Columbia) and proceeds from the show go to POGO. So. Much. Win. There are $15 rush tickets available tonight's 10pm show as well as $20 seats for the rest. The show runs until Saturday and you can check purchase tickets online. What kind of Halloween is it if you're not doing the Time Warp?! Don't dream it. Be it. 

• Maddie. And her Halloween costumes bring me far too much joy. They're so good.
• More fall and Halloween and pumpkin goodness over on Pinterest
• Roomie pumpkin carving

you are a cupcake pixie from a magic land

pumpkin grunge nouveau

What did you get up to for Halloween? Were there any special treats? Did you dress up?

P is for Pumpkin

P is also for punching, which I would do to my laptop if I were a violent person since it just lost the post I just spent the last 30+ minutes working on.

Pumpkin and squash are quintessential fall foods. Ever since Thanksgiving I’ve been eating a lot of pumpkin especially at breakfast! It snuck into my bowl in the form of pie…as well as at the bottom of the following mess:

~3 tbsp pumpkin
1/3 c. Whole-O’s (gluten free Cheerios)
1/3 c. almond milk
1 tbsp cranberries
1 tbsp pecans
drizzle of agave
dash of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger

I then proceed to turn this glamorous looking bowl into a disgusting mess of orange goo, that tastes like heaven!! I also love that it takes less than 90 seconds to throw together, but is a lot more exciting (and filling!) than your average bowl of cereal. Pureed pumpkin or squash also makes a great addition to oats or rolled quinoa.

One of my favourite ways to indulge in some beta carotene (a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory), fibre and Vitamin C is by indulging in some of the other winter squashes that are abundant in produce aisle at the moment. I love that I can find organic winter squash for .69-.79/lb right now!

My favourite is probably the spaghetti squash (otherwise known as spaghetti marrow in the UK) Once cooked, the innards of this squash can be separated into spaghetti-like strands making it a great substitute for spaghetti or just a lovely addition to dishes like spaghetti squash mexicana (Veganomican) or roasted vegetable ragout (Gluten Free Vegan)

This dish was so simple, just lots of awesome veggies with some herbs, oil with a large helping of spaghetti squash to tie things together. It had fantastic flavor and texture and thanks to all the fiber, was incredibly filling.

Do you have a favourite squash? What is your favourite way to indulge in this festive, fall treat??

Gluten Free, Vegan Thanksgiving Feast with a Sicky

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! I am “celebrating” with a cold. I either caught it at work, the doctor’s office/lab, rehearsal or the subway – all are definite possibilities. I haven’t had a cold in more than a year so I guess I was due. Being sick means that I can play the cute “sick” card and ask Joey to do things for me. He’s so sweet that he actually obliges.

Despite feeling like a snuffleupagus,  I spent hours in the kitchen yesterday making a Thanksgiving feast! I started to make a video, but got so caught up in the kitchen that I didn’t get past the first segment. I did however take pictures.

I filled in at a WW meeting in the morning and on the way home I picked up some Ener-G egg replacer Apparently I wasn’t alone in my desire to bake as I had to go to three different stores to find it! I normally use flax + water or applesauce to replace eggs in my recipes, but the recipe specifically called for this product and I didn’t have time for a test run. I was very happy to find it!

I added it to the bowl in my pink KitchenAid mixerTo make thisGluten-free vegan pumpkin pie! It turned out so beautifully, I couldn’t have been happier.(Worth the search for the egg replacer!) I had originally planned to make a gluten free crust and then do a vegan filling, but was very overwhelmed by all the other things I was making, so I decided that a one-stop-shop would be a lot easier.

My dad and brother arrived with beautiful flowersSo sweet! My dad and brother are so lovely and we have such a nice time when they come over to visit. They are so easy going and I always laugh a lot when they’re around. All of my hard work paid off around 5:30Spinach salad (spinach, red onion, cucumber, cranberries and pecans), squash, asparagus, mashed potatoes and tempeh loaf with punkrock chickpea gravy from VWAV (I used 1/8 c. sorghum flour, 1/8 c. buckwheat flour & 1 tbsp tapioca starch in place of the all-purpose flour). I also made a regular meatloaf for the boys (ESBM recipe). I followed my own advice and filled half my plate up with veggies, and let my brother finish off my mashed potatoes. Everyone enjoyed the meal immensely. Joey was skeptical about the gravy, but actually went back for seconds. Pie was a perfect end to a delicious meal We will be enjoying leftovers today. It was a beautiful day with some of my favourite people in my life.

I am going to take advantage of the long weekend by getting some things done around the house as well as focusing on getting better! I recognize the need to take care of myself and plan to do just that by hanging out in bed and memorizing Annie lines.

In my illness, I nearly forgot to announce the winner of my tea giveaway!! Thank you to each and every one of you for making this my most successful giveaway yet!! The winner is…

THE ACTORS DIET i love chai!!!

Congratulations Lynn & Christy! Please send me an email (wwleaderashley@gmail.com) with your mailing address so I can send you your goodies.

And don’t forget if you’re in Toronto, you can go to Wild Earth Bakery (2142 Queen Street East) between now and Saturday October 31, 2009 and mention the code dancing through life, to receive a free cookie!

Yummy things in my kitchen last night

1 - Fettuccine Girlfredo for dinner. I need more tofu shirataki noodles!

2 - Another Hungry Girl recipe - Pumpkin Crunchers. Modified with Canadian ingredients, with the Points being still very low!! They are delicious! And a great use for the pumpkin I've been using in my oatmeal

3 - Cauliflower and Leek Soup - a recipe from another WW Leader. It's a favourite in our house

1 tbsp olive oil

2 leeks, sliced

1 head cauliflower (or 2lb bag, frozen), chopped

6 cups low sodium chicken broth

1/2 c. half and half

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Saute leeks in olive oil until leeks are soft.

Add cauliflower and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer until cauliflower is tender.

Remove from heat and add half & half and nutmeg.

Puree until smooth

8 generous servings

1 pt each