November Meal-planning Follow-up

A big "Sorry!" to everyone that I slacked in posting recipes and meals on the latter part of the month. I actually haven't made too many recipes in the past week & a half, which is part of why I wasn't posting. We mainly ate miscellaneous soups that I found in the freezer, plus some beans & rice.

So here are the recipes I ended up making from my list:
All freezer leftovers need to be eaten (the freezer is overfull)
Crockpot Coconut Chickpea Curry (twice)
Lentil Lemon Soup
Crockpot Falafel
Burgers & Fries (twice)
Whole Chicken with Rice & Veggies (twice)
Veggie Soup with Barley
Red Lentil Soup
Taco Soup
Whole Turkey, Potatoes & Salad w/Raw Vegan "Caesar" Dressing
Rice & Beans
Turkey Sandwiches w/"Caesar" Salad

Today, I'm making a simple lentil soup because that's what I'm craving.

I can tell you I pulled up some repeat recipes, such as:
Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
Crockpot Chickpea Curry (my husband loves this one)

For Thanksgiving, I made:
Crockpot Sweet Potatoes & Apples (that was a huge hit!)
2 loaves Cranberry Bread, one without nuts for Bear (see recipe below)
A huge salad with homemade dressing
And Chex Muddy Buddies

OK, go ahead and make fun of me for that last one. I made them as natural as possible, and gluten-free!

Chex Muddy Buddies
9 cups Rice Chex®
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life soy-free)
1/2 cup peanut butter (natural)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (this was too much, I might try 1 cup next time, or used dried coconut!)

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In a small pot, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and coconut oil. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

I make my own corn-free powdered sugar. I use a ratio of 1 cup white sugar to 1 tablespoon starch (I used potato starch). Put the sugar in a blender or coffee grinder and pulverize it. It's not quite as fine as the store-bought kind, but it works well.

Cranberry Nut Bread
2 cups gluten free flour (I used even amounts of sorghum, tapioca, and brown rice)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 Tablespoon orange zest
3/4 cup orange juice (I used as much freshly squeezed as came out the orange, and then used store-bought)
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
1 cup whole cranberries
3/4 cup- 1 cup walnuts chopped- (I added 3/4 to the batter and another 1/4 cup to the top of the bread)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a med. bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together.

Mix all the liquid ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened.

Add the whole cranberries and 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts.

Spoon the batter into a greased loaf pan (top with raw sugar and more walnuts if desired) and bake for about 45 minutes.

Once the bread is done, let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan before releasing to your cooling rack.