Deborah Mesdag

Mushroom Bourguignon

This wonderful stew has all the flavors of Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon, but none of the cruelty! This was my first time making it since going vegan and I am very pleased with how it turned out. It is so satisfying with mashed potatoes and peas, and I will definitely be making it again! This …

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Vegan Toffee Bark

This superb toffee bark only has six ingredients and is really easy to make! I make several batches every year for Yule and it makes a lovely gift! The toffee needs to be stored in an airtight container, so I like to keep an eye out at my local thrift store for festive tins. Here …

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A Very Blessed (and Vegan) Samhain!

We had a wonderful Samhain this year! We started celebrating early because I had recipes I wanted to post ahead of time, and we just finished a couple of days ago! For those of you not familiar with Samhain (pronounced sow-en), it means summer’s end and is the third and last harvest festival of the …

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Why Vegan?

Today is World Vegan Day! I thought this would be a great time to do a post on why I believe that everyone should be vegan. The reasons are many and varied: There are others who can explain each reason better than I can, though, so I am sharing some of my favorite YouTube videos. …

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Chocolate Pretzel Bonfires

These little chocolate bonfires are perfect for Halloween or Samhain! They are made the same way as my pretzel nests, except that you keep the stacks as they are instead of shaping them into nests, and you add fruit roll-up flames instead of jelly bean eggs. You will need: 12 oz of vegan chocolate chips …

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Cinnamon Candy Apples

Candy apples are so pretty and fun to make for a holiday treat! There is just something about that shiny red candy that makes you want to take a big bite! I like the candy coating to be cinnamon flavored and used to add Red Hots candy to flavor the sugar syrup before I was …

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Vegan (& Gluten Free) Honee Grahams!

These graham crackers are light and crispy with a lovely honey vanilla flavor! The dough is very easy to make and it comes together in minutes. The only slightly challenging step is rolling the dough out to the right thickness, so there are lots of photos to show you exactly how to do it. Here …

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Crispy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds 

These crispy, seasoned pumpkin seeds are a perfect treat for Halloween or Samhain! They are very easy to make too! Reserve all the goop from inside your pumpkin when you carve it: Remove all of the seeds from the goop. (See this post for directions on how to carve a pentagram pumpkin.)

How to Carve a Pentagram Pumpkin

My mom and I spent a lovely afternoon carving a pumpkin, listening to Samhain music, harvesting the last of our herbs, and making roasted pumpkin seeds! We found this big pumpkin last week: My mom found a pentagram design online and she held a piece of paper up to her computer screen and traced it. …

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Vegan Chili

Julie at The Vegan Treasure Hunter asked me to write a guest post, so I shared my favorite chili recipe with her. I love Julie’s blog and product reviews so was thrilled to collaborate with her! Here are some photos of my chili to tempt you: You can find the chili recipe, directions, and step-by-step …

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