Coffee Talk [November 2018]

Hi, love! Happy (almost) Thanksgiving to you. I’m sure you won’t be that surprised, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday by far. It’s all about the food and spending time together — my love language, for sure.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? We’re having Thanksgiving at my sister’s house this year. My sister and I spend the entire day cooking together, snacking along the way, and preparing way too many sides ?

Last Thanksgiving, Ryan and I were living in France. We had so much fun getting together with other ex-pats in Lyon, France where we lived. But I’m also really happy to be home for Thanksgiving this year. And especially to be able to cook : )

This is also the first Thanksgiving where I’m fully-vegetarian. I’ve never eaten pork (in my life) and I gave up red meat about 8 years ago. But until last year, I ate chicken and turkey from time-to-time. I can’t say I’m really going to miss turkey. Especially with all of the delicious sides we have planned.

I’d love to hear what you’re serving and how you’re spending your time.

If you’re like me, and want some healthy vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes, then you’ll definitely enjoy today’s Coffee Talk post. And if you missed last month’s Coffee Talk, catch up here!

So let’s grab something warm and jump in!

1 // Links I Love

The cutest way I’ve ever heard about how to turn around a bad day. (I’m not crying, you’re crying!)

Simi is giving you full permission to do all the things this holiday season.

My hosting provider, SiteGround, is having a HUGE Black Friday Sale (75% off Friday-Monday) on hosting plans for your website! (You don’t have to have a new website to take advantage. You can have your hosting transferred to SiteGround. I use and LOVE SiteGround — highly recommend).

I got this jacket and can’t get over how warm and cozy it is. I sized up so I could fit a sweater or long-sleeve layers under it. I love wearing it to/from workouts, on my walks, or just out to run errands. Bonus: it has a longer, curved back so it covers your bum in leggings : )

All the Madewell clothes on sale this week at Nordstrom <3

What happened when she started eating intuitively.

 2 // Vegetarian + Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

You better believe I’m making this simple vegan gravy to add to mashed potatoes, stuffing and everything in between.

Adding some deliciousness with this butternut squash sweet potato casserole.

Incredible round-up of vegan Thanksgiving recipes is here and my favorite vegetarian round-up is here.

If you don’t eat turkey, try this Lentil Nut Vegan “Meatloaf” I made last week. It’s an AWESOME main dish, but definitely not the quickest or cleanest. Our clean-up took quite awhile after, but Ryan and I both thought the taste was worth the effort. (PS. I’m not a huge mushroom fan, so I followed the recipe exactly, except that I subbed carrot/onion/celery in the exact proportion for the mushrooms. It turned out great!)

3 // Nutty Buddy Recipe (Healthy Cranberry Sauce)

I’ve loved to cook since I was a kid. One of the first “recipes” I ever made was for my own cranberry sauce — even though I’m a fan of the canned stuff, too. We usually serve 1 thing of canned cranberry, along side my Nutty Buddy cranberry sauce for those who want the fresh stuff.

Here’s my own recipe for Nutty Buddy Cranberry Sauce (long story – I named it when I was a kid!):

Ingredients:

• 1 package of fresh cranberries, rinsed + drained.
• water
• sweetener of choice (I use honey or regular sugar), to taste
• 1 orange, zest a pinch of skin and peel + chop the rest of the orange
• 1/2 cup of walnuts, roughly chopped
• sea salt, to taste
• cinnamon, to taste (or use 1 cinnamon stick)

Directions:

1. Combine fresh cranberries over medium-low heat in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of fresh water.
2. Add a pinch of sea salt, a squeeze of orange juice, a pinch of the zest, and sweetener (I start light and add as I taste). Note: if using cinnamon stick, add now. Stir to combine.
3. Stir occasionally. Once the cranberries start to POP! I stir a bit more.
4. Once the mixture starts to thicken (and look like cranberry sauce), taste and see if you need more sweetener or salt. Add if needed.
5. Once thickened and to the texture you like (I like some pieces of cranberries still!), remove from heat and stir in walnuts, cinnamon to taste, and chopped oranges.
6. Let it cool and serve : )

4 // Gratitude

I just want to tell you how grateful I am for you.

I’m grateful for your amazing emails, for being so vulnerable and letting me know what freaks you out about legal, and for letting me into your businesses and lives.

Let’s face it: this entrepreneurship thing is hard. And it wouldn’t be fun if we weren’t in it together.

I just can’t tell you how much I appreciate you all year — but especially this week as I intentionally focus on gratitude.

Here’s to another amazing year together <3

So I’d love to hear from you in the comments ??what you’re grateful for this Thanksgiving (pick 1 specific thing!) and what your Thanksgiving plans are. I can’t wait to hear from you.

PS. Before we go, if you’re ready to get legally legit with contracts, registering your biz, or getting those legit website policies up to protect you, sign up to view my free webinar, 5 Steps To Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business. Pick the time you’re available to watch, and I’ll send you an email with the link to view the webinar. I hope to see you there!

xo,