Chocolate Overnight Oat Parfait and A Vegan During Thanksgiving

Hi guys!  Today I wanted to share a recipe with you that I've been meaning to for a while, so I'll do it right now.  Please tell me if I've already posted it on the blog already, but I can't find it anywhere and I still have the photos so I'm going to assume that it's not.

Chocolate Banana Crunch Overnight Oat Parfait:
Vegan, Soy Free, Gluten Free, Low Sugar

• 1/3 cup oats (use certified gluten free if you're GF)
• 1.5 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1 cup almond milk (I use unsweetened vanilla)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp cacao/ cocoa powder
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 2 Tbsp walnuts, chopped
• Maple syrup

Directions:  Combine oats, chia seeds, cinnamon, salt, and cocoa and mix well.  Add almond milk and whisk.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, layer oats with sliced banana and walnuts.  Drizzle with maple syrup.  Serves:  1

 

 

Oh Goodness.  This is so good and chocolatey.  I love the different textures: the doughiness of the oats, the crunch of the walnuts, the soft sliced banana.  Yummmm.

 

 

I don't know the exact nutritional stats, but I think it's about 400 calories, 14 grams of fat (from chia seeds and walnuts), 13 grams of protein, and 54 grams of carbs (from oats and banana).

 

 

I bet a lot of you are wondering what a vegan/vegetarain does foodwise during Thanksgiving.  There are a couple of different approaches, so I'll discuss them with you.

 

1) Make and bring your own item to the meal.  There are plenty of delicious vegetarian foods out there that carnivores llllooooovvvvveee to eat even though they don't include meat.  There are plenty of recipes for hearty soups or delicious salads that are the perfect complement to a vegetarian's Thanksgiving 'feast'.  Some good recipes for salad are:

• Chickpea Lemon Salad
• Rainbow Couscous Salad
• Greek Style Couscous Salad
• Black, White, and Green Bean Salad
• Sweet and Savory Quinoa Salad
• Plant Based Protein Wheatberry Salad

And Vitamin Kid Soup would be great for Thanksgiving!  I also have a PERFECT Thanksgiving soup coming up!!!  This is the approach I will be taking, with the help of my Stepmom (or maybe that should be the other way around... she's doing all of the work!  I love you Adria :)

 

2)  Allow yourself meat for a special occasion.  I personally will not do this as I feel like a little bit of meat might start my meat cravings again.  It might work for some others though, which is perfectly fine.  You don't have to have an all-or-nothing mindset about meat.  There's actually a new genre of vegetarians called a "vegetarian inclined" diet.  22.8 million people follow this kind of diet.  So if you want to become a vegetarian but don't feel like you could ever really give up meat, I would suggest this diet to you, where you eat meat once a week or less by replacing meat with plant based substitutes.  Anyway,  this can be the one time of year that you're vegetarian inclined rather than vegetarian, and you can allow yourself a little Turkey.

 

3)  Host Thanksgiving.  If you host Thanksgiving, you can be SURE that there will be options for you there.  All there really needs to be is fall-inspired foods (pumpkins, apples, maple, squash...) and people will get the thanksgiving-vibe from it.  There are many ways to do this, so if you have any questions, please comment below- but it's always fun to plan your own DINNER PARTY!

 

4)  Tell your family.  Last year, instead of making myself anything special, I just asked my family if they could subsitute vegetarian items if it was convenient.  Vegetable stock was an easy switch, and nobody could tell a difference (well, actually they said it was better).  Lard shouldn't even be in the equation.  But these people LOVE you, and they'll be happy to help you out with Thanksgiving.  If that doesn't work, as in your family is a bunch of meanies, then you can pick one of the options above. 

 

5)  Take a trip.  If your family is a bunch of meanies (or are preoccupied for this holiday), a nice way to spend Thanksgiving might be to take a trip!  Visit another country, where Thanksgiving isn't even a thing!  Or has already happened!  Enjoy your free days!  There will be no pressure to say "yumm, this green bean casserole is my favorite" or "oh, sure, I'll take seconds" because you'll be enjoying alone time, on the beach, or in a hotel room... Or you'll be enjoying not alone time on the beach, or in a hotel room.  Note:  I would advise not going to New York to relax, with the parades and whatnot...

 

 

Please tell me if I've already posted this recipe!  I have a couple of other recipes coming up, including cookies, soup, pancakes, and oatmeal, of course.  Have a nice week!  I hope you have a FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING!

 

What are you doing this Thanksgiving?

 

Night!