Vote! Vote! Vote! It's Good For You!!

This is a special Monday edition of the Healthy Voyager! Since tomorrow is such a big day for our nation, I thought I would send out some healthy advice earlier in the week ; ) No matter if you're a donkey or an elephant, exercising your right to vote is your gift to America so tomorrow, get out there and give, give, give!! Let's get America healthy again!!

I've got some great, hearty, American recipes to get you all hyped up and feeling patriotic (also great on these chilly Autumn nights!!) As for all my non-US readers, these are still some darn good recipes!!:

Veggie Pot Pie

3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 tbsp vegan margarine
1/2 C flour
2 cups of vegetable broth
1 C plain soy milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3/4 C frozen peas

Saute celery, onions, and carrots in butter for 10 minutes. Add the flour, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add broth and milk to mixture while stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat until bubbly then stir in the peas, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture into a 2 qt casserole dish and top with crust. Bake at 375 F for 30-45 minutes

All American Apple Pie

Crust:
2 ½ cups white flour
½ t. salt
3 T. sugar
½ cup vegan margarine
2 T. vegan cream cheese
½ cup ice cold water
Filling:
3 cups chopped apples (about 4 ½ pounds)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup brown sugar
½ t. ground cinnamon
¼ t. ground nutmeg
¼ t salt
1 T. corn starch
1 T. soymilk, for brushing
2 T. sugar, for sprinkling

1. Make the Crust. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor until well mixed. Add in the soy margarine and dairy-free cream cheese and process until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. With the machine still running, add the water gradually until the mixture just holds together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough in half and shape each into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly oil a 9” pie plate and set aside.
3. Remove one of the discs from the refrigerator and roll out until about ¼” thick. Place in the prepared pie plate, allowing 1” of dough to hang over the edges. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large mixing bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice, brown sugar, spices and salt. Combine the cornstarch with a small amount of water, mixing to dissolve, and add this to the apples.
5. Place the filling in the prepared pie plate. Roll out the remaining disc to ¼” thick and place on top of the filling. Crimp the edges with the edges of the bottom dough, trimming any excess. Lightly brush the top crust with the soymilk and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.

Hot Buttered Cider (alcoholic but remove Rum and it's kid friendly)

7 cups Apple cider OR apple juice
1/3 cup Brown sugar, packed
4 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon Whole allspice
1 teaspoon Whole cloves
1 Lemon peel, cut into strips
1 1/2 cups Rum
Vegan margarine
Thin apple slices

Combine apple cider or apple juice and brown sugar in a large saucepan. For spice bag, tie cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and lemon peel in a 7 inch square of 100 percent cotton cheesecloth. Add spice bag to cider mixture. Bring cider mixture to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove and discard spice bag. Stir in rum. Pour cider mixture into mugs. Float about 1/2 tsp margarine on each. Top each serving with one or two thin apple slices. Makes about 10 (6-oz) servings.

Eat up and then get out and vote!!