Sunday, January 1, 2012

First Brunch of 2012!

Good morning 2012!  We brought in the new year surrounded by friends and stayed up late playing games, listening to music and making food.  There was a lot of talk about food nerdery topics like Chopped, Iron Chef, who makes the best vegan breakfast in Portland, and how the right blender can change your life.  It was perfect. 

After 3 hours of sleep my body said, "Time to get up!"  Jerk.  I went straight for this:


And it totally did the trick, followed by some strong black coffee.  By the time BF woke up I was ready to get busy.... um, making brunch!  I wanted to kick off the new year with something extra delicious and also didn't want to leave the house.  Luckily I had some sweet potatoes, mushrooms and daiya pepperjack shreds on hand.  This is what we ate for our first meal of the year:

Biscuits and mushroom gravy with cheesy sweet potato home fries.  

I used the drop biscuit recipe from the Joy of Vegan Baking, but instead of spooning them out I just made four giant square biscuits.  They had to cook for almost double the time listed in the recipe because of their size.  This is the best vegan biscuit recipe I've used. 

The mushroom gravy is based on this one I found online.  I don't strain it and I add the mushrooms back at the end. I used this at Thanksgiving and it was a hit.  The carnivores actually preferred it to the turkey version. Vegan success.

The home fries are sweet potato with onion, herbs, salt and pepper, slathered in daiya pepperjack shreds. 

You all know how I love the sweet-n-salty flavor combo.  Not enough to dip my vanilla cream sandwich cookie into the black bean dip, like some people did late last night.... but this breakfast served up a nice balance.  Yum. 

Now, the kitchen is clean and I could use a nap.  Everyone else is doing it:


I hope your first day of 2012 is off to a great start, whether you're starting a new project or having some cozy relaxation. Cheers!


21 comments:

  1. Oof, kudos to you for making real food for your first meal of the year. I woke up ravenous and even with a breakfast planned, grabbed the first thing I could, which was not so healthy.
    The smoothie sounds delicious and I love those kitties! Nap on!

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  2. OMG KITTIES!!! So cute! I agree, your first meal of 2012 looks so delicious and hearty! Yum, I am sure this is a sign of delicious things to come this year! Happy New Year!

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  3. I've been napping off and on all day. And watching the Twilight Zone marathon on tv. The cats haven't budged :)

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  4. Thank you! It's been a yummy and relaxing day :)

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  5. Home fries with Daiya. Enough said. I can't wait to try that. Yummy!! Thanks for sharing!!

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  6. What a wonderful way to usher in the new year!!

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  7. Yes. Daiya makes just about everything better.

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  8. Thanks for stopping by Gena :)

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  9. Awww, thanks! And how could i forget? I used to look at your blog and drool, and apparently i will continue to swoon over your delicious eats! Love the new blog!

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  10. Those cheesy fries remind me of Wayward "Bacon" Cheezy Fries. So good! I still dream of them.

    Love the kitties in a ball like that. So sweet.

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  11. I must try this smoothie combo, sounds amazing! And the brunch looks to die for:)

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  12. Those cats are the cutest ever. I like how the grey one's all "I do what I want" and smooshing the black one's face. Daiya pepperjack + sweet potato = super yum.

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  13. What a delicious way to kick off the new year! I've never really gotten the whole "biscuits and gravy" thing, but it totally makes sense on your plate here. What could be so bad about creamy mushrooms on bread, anyway? Now I want to try it!

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  14. Happy new year! Love the contrast between the green drink and the heavier brunch. I'd love some of both :-)

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  15. love the new look! cheers to the start of a yummy new year!=)

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  16. love the look of that green smoothie!

    veganparade.tumblr.com

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  17. aw, sweet kitties. And mm, biscuits! I want some!

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  18. So what was the outcome for the best blender? I wanted a vitamix but sooo pricey! I recently found one I might get soon called the omni. Still pricey but about 1/2 the price of vitamix and it's a 3hp too.

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  19. I've heard good things about the omni, but have never used one. I've only used the blendtec and vitamix. If you get the omni let us know how you like it!

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