Vegan Dressing NOT Stuffing . . .

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Today I was told that dressing is cooked in a pan and stuffing is cooked in a bird!  All this time I thought I was making Vegan Stuffing and really it was Dressing.  Special thanks to my high school friend Angie for the enlightenment!  Although I appreciate the clarification I still can’t bring myself to call it dressing.  

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This was so amazing served with caramelized onion gravy!  (I’ll post that recipe on my Facebook page.

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[yumprint-recipe id=’4′]Making stuffing vegan was really pretty easy–I mean it took a few steps and I had to cut up some veggies–the flavor is like nothing that could come out of a box.  Just the figs and the walnuts . . . amazing combination.  The fresh cranberries!  (ok, so maybe I’m getting a little too excited . . . but it was so yummy!)

I’m an accidental vegan–not a “real” vegan and I’m ok with that.  My goal is to eat a more plant based diet.  This recipe helps me reach that goal!  

What do you call it?  Dressing or Stuffing?

Be Blessed during this season of giving thanks.

P.S.  Feel free to use the Pin It button below!

P.P.S.S.  Here are my other Thanksgiving dinner posts vegan sweet potatoes, how many cups of potatoes from 5 lbs, how much stuffing to feed 23?   The final post is the homeless shelter meal plan that I created.

How many cups of Potatoes in 5 lbs?

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 Potatoes! 

Today I cooked 5 lbs of red skin potatoes to see exactly how many cups that would give me.  You see, I’m really tired of going to websites that clearly are not making the food!  I’m creating another meal plan for the homeless shelter and my numbers need to be exact or someone won’t get a meal!  What I have learned is that I need to make the meals first so I know how many I am serving and I take notes–so I can give a recipe for mashed potatoes.

So . . . on this website you will always know that I make the food, I take the pictures and I whatever I write about–I serve my family.

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How many cups of mashed potatoes did I get?

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I had 8 cups of mashed potatoes.  I put 1 cup of mashed potatoes on a plate and that looked like too much with the Mini Meatloaves.  I decided that 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes/gravy with the meatloaf, a side of broccoli and the salad is a nice portion of food.  Can’t forget we are having cookies for dessert!

We need to feed 50 so 5 lbs makes 8 cups, makes 16 1/2 cup servings . . . the math doesn’t quite work out for 50–so we need 3 people to make 5 lbs and one person to make a smaller batch of one pound or 3 pounds.

[Tweet “Need to know how many 5 lbs of potatoes will serve? check out #veganRenee at Renee’s Kitchen.”]

FRUGAL TIP:  I like to buy bags of potatoes because they are typically cheaper than buying potatoes individually.

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We often have mashed potatoes in our home–plain, with cheese, or with cheese and broccoli, or with cheese, broccoli and bacon, or with cheese, broccoli, bacon and onions . . . it is an easy meal that can be vegan!

You get the idea.

[yumprint-recipe id=’3′] Making mashed potatoes isn’t hard . . . but there are some tricks like:

  1. Fill the pan about 3/4 of the way with peeled, cubed potatoes and you will never have trouble with enough room to mash.
  2. Add chives, roasted garlic or caramelized onions after you mash the potatoes.
  3. You don’t have to peel the potatoes–I often just give mine a little scrub and then cook.
  4. The smaller the cubes the easier it will be to mash and the quicker they will cook.
  5. You can make mashed potatoes ahead of time and reheat in muffin tins–very cute for single serving, freeze them to use later in soups, or use leftovers for Potato Kinish.

Be Blessed.

[Tweet “Renee just helped me figure out how many mashed potatoes I needed! Awesome! #reneerocks!”]

How much stuffing to feed 23?

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Yesterday I wrote about cooking for 50 homeless guests that come to our church to have dinner and spend the night.  Our nights have been in the 30’s here so it is so important for the homeless to have a warm place to spend the night.

I decided to make stuffing for 50.  Last year, I made stuffing for 50 but I somehow lost the calculations . . . this year I’m blogging the recipe for safe keeping!  (I don’t often lose things but when I get creative it seems like I use a lot of tiny pieces of paper . . . makes no sense but it’s how I get things done!)

I used two canisters of stuffing–with no add ins.  Straight out of the box!  I wanted to see if the number of servings were really accurate.  When we cook for the shelter the food needs to be consistent taste, texture, and equal servings.  This is why I’m taking on stuffing!  No two people make it the same.

stuffing  I ended up freezing the stuffing balls for a future dinner–the kids love them when they are not feeling well.  I also use these “vegetarian meatballs” in soups.  They aren’t actually vegetarian but they could be easily by buying a stuffing mix that doesn’t have chicken by-product in it or just use the bread and make your own vegan seasonings.

Be Blessed in your kitchen!