Fat Tuesday Recap

Hiiii! I hope you had a fabulous Fat Tuesday! I definitely did! My mother has always been fascinated by New Orleans and Mardi Gras. She loves the music, the food and the culture of the Big Easy, and Mardi Gras is linked to our Catholic faith, so she loves to celebrate in her own way each year. A few years ago, she started a tradition of making New Orleans style dishes on Fat Tuesday and hosting a small family celebration with New Orleans jazz music, drinks and good conversation.

Last night's menu included gumbo, beans and rice and beignets. Since I am new to this vegan lifestyle, I considered indulging in Fat Tuesday and eating my mom's gumbo, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I made creole seasoned veggies and a vegan sweet potato pie to contribute to the festivities.

My creole seasoned veggies were pretty awesome! I chopped up Brussels sprouts, a red and orange pepper and butternut squash and tossed them in a bit of EVOO, creole seasoning, lemon pepper and sea salt. Then I  baked them for about 20 minutes at 400. The colors were so beautiful that I had to take a few pics:

My sweet mom wanted me to enjoy her cooking too, so she set aside some of the New Orleans style beans and rice that she made, before she added the meat. It was all sooooo yummy!

For dessert, she made beignets and I made a vegan sweet potato pie with a coconut milk whipped topping. Unfortunately, I read the recipe wrong and added more tofu, than the recipe called for and it messed up the texture of the pie. I tried to save it so as not to waste the food that I bought, but I was still kind of bummed. I'm going to give this recipe another try this weekend. Here's the finished product:

The coconut whipped topping came out pretty good though! It just took a bit longer than regular cream to whip up. I made it with coconut milk! 

This was my Fat Tuesday indulgence: Guava and Grapefruit Sorbet with coconut flakes from Yogurtland:

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mardi Gras!!