The day(s) after Thanksgiving are my favorites. Instead of dressing up and stuffing my face, I get to lay around the house is the coziest of sweat pants, stuffing my face with leftovers. Things just always seem to taste better the next day. And these are no exception! There's not so much a recipe here as a meal idea and a great way to get creative with leftovers. We like sliders because they're easier to whip up than a whole sandwich and still taste great, plus they help us use up our yeasty dinner rolls before they hit that 2nd day after mark and start getting a little...rock hard. Anyway, you get the idea! A little less talking, a little more assembling tiny, adorable leftovers finger sandwiches. Let's eat!

INGREDIENTS
LEFTOVERS! 
We used:
4 dinner rolls
1/4 cup goji cranberry sauce
1/2 cup cranberry apple walnut stuffing
1/2 cup celeriac mashed potatoes
1/2 cup easy miso gravy
a few sprigs of fresh thyme

DIRECTIONS
In a microwave or over the stove, reheat your favorite Thanksgiving leftovers. 

Cut dinner rolls in half, then top with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes + a hearty dollop of gravy. Garnish with fresh thyme, and serve immediately. Enjoy!

NOTES
These are pretty customizable. Use whatever leftovers you have!

You know what's better than gravy that's ready in just over 5 minutes? ALMOST NOTHING. Gravy is like my lifeblood -  I could eat it slathered on just about any vegetable and I think it makes everything taste better. A good gravy, that is. I'm not much for store-bought packets, so whenever I want gravy I follow pretty much this exact recipe and whip up a batch to dump on everything. And since I've made it so many times, I've gotten pretty darn good at it. So good at it, I figured it was about time I shared it with you guys. And just in time for Thanksgiving! Kitchen time on Tofurkey Day is valuable, so who wants to waste it slaving over an hour long gravy recipe? NOT YOU! And sure as heck not me. So grab a pan, whip up a batch of this easy, flavorful gravy, and go smother some mashed potatoes in it. Or share it with our friends at the dinner table, if that's your jive turkey. Let's eat!

Looking for more Thanksgiving sides? Check out our Celeriac Mashed Potatoes, Lemon Miso Cranberry Sauce, and Homemade Tofurky! 

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1/4 cup flour (AP or WW)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon miso paste
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
In a small cast iron pan (or sauce pan, but we like the flavor and the way the butter browns a bit more in cast iron) melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the flour. The mixture will be chunky.

Stir and let brown for 1-2 minutes, then pour in vegetable broth, miso paste, onion powder and pepper. Whisk vigorously until completely combined. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is bubbling and thickening.

Turn the heat to low and simmer a few more minutes, until your desired gravy thickness is achieved. Serve immediately! 

NOTES
Makes about 2 cups.

If you don't have flour/ want to keep it GF, you can substitute cornstarch. Start with an equal amount and use more to thicken as needed.

Leftovers can be refrigerated up to a week in an airtight container. 

Hey, this is Alex, Amber gave me the *nod* to take over this recipe post. I’ll be making Poutine to honor the Stanley Cup Finals. A big fan of hockey, I grew up playing and still coach today. I wanted to make a dish that reminds me of hockey trips to Canada as a kid. After a trip to Vancouver last year coaching a group of 16 year olds, watching them discover and enjoy Poutine, I decided it was something I needed to veganize. Our version is made with crispy baked fries, GF beef-less gravy, and melty squeeky cheeze curds. We're calling it 'Lord Stanley's Vegan Poutine' to honor the man who started it all. Authentic Canadian Poutine, the vegan way.

We love using Teese for this recipe because it crumbles into curds, reminiscent of the white cheddar curds on the original version. Plus, its better on pizza than Daiya (our opinion only), and melts and stretches like the real thing. Sprinkled over the warm gravy, the salty cheeze gets just a little melty and perfect for scooping up with fries, just like it should be.

Warm-Ups (Ingredients):
Baked Fries:
2 lbs. Russet potatoes, washed and cut into fries
coconut oil (for greasing the pan & coating fries)

Poutine Gravy:
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup vegan butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup gluten-free flour
5-6 cups vegetable or not-beef broth
pepper, to taste
parsley, as garnish

Cheeze:
1 cup vegan cheese (We used Teese Mozzarella)
**Traditionally you would used cheddar cheese curds here. A good sharp cheddar nut cheese might be great, too!


Game Time (Directions):
1st Period: Baked Fries
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Slice potatoes into your desired fry shape and put into a bowl of water. It’s said you should do this for an hour or more, but I did it for about 15 minutes and was happy with the outcome. Lay your fries out on a lightly oiled baking sheet and let bake for 40-50 minutes. Keep an eye on them and pull them out every 10-15 minutes to give them a turn.

2nd Period: Gravy
In a small bowl combine water and cornstarch. Set aside for later.
In a large saucepan, melt vegan butter over medium heat. Once melted, add your GF flour stirring regularly for 5 minutes or so. You want your mixture to be just browning, but keep an eye on it because some GF flours are a dark brown to begin with. Throw in your garlic and let cook for another 30 seconds.
Add broth to the saucepan and combine using a whisk. Bring to a boil and add your cornstarch and water mixture. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens, stirring with your whisk regularly. Add pepper and additional salt, if necessary, to taste. 

3rd Period: Put It All Together 
Throw your fries in a large bowl. Salt fries to taste while still warm. Add a ladle of hot gravy to the bowl and toss the fries using tongs. Add more gravy and toss until a majority of fries are covered.
Add your choice of cheeze to the hot fry/gravy mixture and toss again. Top with freshly cracked pepper and a sprinkle of parsley, serve immediately. **Stick Taps**

Savory, salty, rich french toast...and just in time for St. Patricks Day, too!
When Rocky from Vegg, the vegan egg, contacted me and offered to let me try his product, I was thrilled. I'd read plenty on the Vegg (it was very twitter trendy a few months ago), but had never tried it and never seen anyone make a recipe with it. I don't generally miss eggs, but I miss the taste sometimes, and I absolutely miss how easy it used to be to crack an egg into any baked good batter and know exactly what you were going to get. Vegan & gluten-free cooking can be very trial and error without eggs-they're a great binder!
Anyway, Rocky and I grew up in the same beautiful state of Maine, so I knew that when I created a recipe with his innovative product, it had to be something that would make him proud.

I had a whole freshly baked loaf of marbled rye bread at my disposal and a grumbly tummy. 
I sliced the bread, dipped it in the thick, eggy batter and placed it on a frying pan. As it fried in vegan butter, I made the white potato gravy. 
Caraway, garlic, butter: these are flavors I associate with my Irish heritage!

The Vegg is an awesome product. It comes as a powder, made mostly of nutritional yeast and B vitamins, it has the bright yellow color and the very convincing, slightly sulfuric smell of eggs; its incredible how much the powder smells and looks like eggs when blended with water! (Must be blended-hand mixing results in a gloopy mess!)
The Vegg is free of cholesterol, gluten, soy, & fat. 
One package contains 30-40 'egg' servings, and you can use as much or as little as you'd like and can close up the bag without worrying about it spoiling in the cabinet. If you do pre-make all the egg batter, it lasts 2-3 weeks in the fridge and longer in the freeezer. You can buy egg molds if you want to freeze your Vegg yolk liquid into a yolk-shape, but the flavor was enough for me!
Plus with every package of Vegg you buy, 10% of net sales will be donated to Compassion Over Killing, where they work to end animal abuse and cruelty and promote a vegetarian lifestyle.

Savory French Toast
Ingredients:
4-8 slices rye bread
Vegg mixture (1.5 cups water + 1.5 cups cashew milk + 4 tsp vegg powder= BLEND!)
1 large clove of garlic
1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
1/8 tsp paprika

Cut rye bread slices in half. Set aside.
Blend Vegg mixture together (1.5 cups water + 1.5 cups cashew milk + 4 tsp vegg powder) in blender for about 30 seconds with the garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika. Pour into a large bowl and set aside. 
Preheat a nonstick pan on the stove. Add about a tablespoon of vegan butter to the pan and let it melt.  Dip slices of bread into the Vegg mixture, about 10 seconds on each side. 
Fry them in the vegan butter until golden and crispy, about 3-5 minutes on each side.

White Gravy
Ingredients:
3.5 cups cashew milk
3 tablespoons potato starch
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Whisk together all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until gravy thickens. If gravy is too thick add more milk; too thin, add more starch or a little flour.

Serve your savory french toast topped with white gravy, fresh parsley, and some coconut bacon for a little extra smoky & salty flavor. 

Looking for some St. Patty's Day recipes to get you through the rest of the day? Try our recipe for Corned Bean Hash, it goes great with cabbage! 

And dessert? We're eyeing these Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting from Oh, Ladycakes. YUM! 
And on that note: have a fantastic, healthy, and safe St. Patrick's Day!