It’s so easy to eat desserts for every meal in the winter, but sometimes you need to have some savory food in between your desserts to mix things up. That’s where these mashed potato snowmen come in. While we’re on that topic, are they still called snowmen? We don’t call mail carriers mailmen anymore. Maybe we should call a snowman a snowwoman or a gender neutral snowperson.
Normally I make my mashed potatoes with skins on and other veggies added to make them healthier. But I have 2 exceptions: when I’m piping mashed potatoes (like on lentil loaf cupcakes) and when I’m sculpting mashed potatoes. So, make sure you have a side of veggies with these snow peeps. If you’re into cute holiday food, you might also like my snow globe cupcakes and my bunny shaped sweet potato dinner rolls.
This recipe makes 4 mashed potato snow people.
Vegan Mashed Potato Ingredients
- 2 ½ – 3 pounds of potatoes (for me, this is around 8 potatoes, or basically 2 potatoes for each snowman I want to make)
- ¼ cup of organic vegan butter or margarine (I used organic whipped earth balance, but if you avoid soy, get the soy-free earth balance)*
- 1 teaspoon of pink sea salt
- ½ teaspoon of garlic powder (optional)
Vegan Mashed Potato Directions
Peel the potatoes and cut off any brown spots.
Cut the larger potatoes into 8 pieces and the smaller ones into 4 pieces.
Cover with water so all the potatoes are submerged.
Boil if you’re using a stovetop method. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to a smaller boil so it doesn’t overflow. Cook until you can pierce the potatoes with a fork and it easily slides in (around 20 minutes).
Lock the lid of you’re using an instant pot. Set pressure to high and set to 10 minutes.
Make the decorations for your snowmen (or should I say gender neutral snow people) while the potatoes cook.
Allow the pressure cooker to naturally release.
Drain the water from the cooked potatoes, using a colander.
Transfer the potatoes to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment if you have one. If you don’t, transfer them back to the pot you boiled them in.
Mix in ¼ cup of organic vegan margarine (or vegan butter), 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon optional garlic powder, and whip on a fast speed (or mash by hand using a potato masher).
Mashed Potato Snowman Decorations Ingredients
- 1 carrot
- 20 capers
- 8 pretzels (if you avoid gluten, get gluten-free pretzels)
Mashed Potato Snowman Decorations Directions
Peel a carrot, and carve cone shaped noses for each snowman. I made 4.
Break pretzels into tree branches for the snowmen arms.
Scoop mashed potatoes into snowballs.
Build the mashed potato snow people.
This article originally appeared on Vegandollhouse.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org
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6 Clever Tricks for Making Holiday Trips Easier With Food Allergies
Making holiday trips easier with food allergies is a concern of many travelling this winter holiday season. How can we keep our food cold, what do we use to reheat it? What if people forget that our kids have food allergies? These are all questions we have had travelling with our kids who have multiple food allergies.
This holiday season check out a few products that may make life a bit easier when travelling by car. Whether you have one or multiple food allergies it can be tough to be on the road and at dinners far from home.
Large family gatherings and holiday travel can be exceedingly difficult to navigate when you have food allergies. Not only is the stress level a lot higher because you don’t know if there will be anything you can eat. If you are like us you will pack most, if not all of your food with you. In order to do that you may need a few items to make sure your food stays safe for you to eat.
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Areas of concern for us are always whether or not our food will stay free from cross contact with any of our food allergens. If we are bringing food with us to share with everyone at dinner, we alway pack our own portions in a container that can be reheated easily in the oven or microwave.
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For the long drives we need something that can keep our food cold until we get to our hotel and can store it in a mini fridge. We need to use products that can help make holiday trips easier with food allergies. Stopping at restaurants or getting a kitchenette unit isn’t always possible.
This is also a great option for if the hotel doesn’t have an in room fridge. There have been times we have checked in and our fridge doesn’t work or the hotel is out of fridges to bring to the room. Our food isn’t going to be handed over for a shared fridge somewhere else in the hotel so these coolers come in clutch in a situation like this.
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When on the road these are a lifesaver to make sure you can have hot food without eating at restaurants, if they are not safe for you. They are also great to reheat your food in a busy kitchen that is making food you cannot eat. Getting a small applicance that you can travel with can help make holiday trips easier with food allergies.
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Usually people with allergies buy these for going to far away places where they do not speak the language, however we have one in English. We use it to help restaurant staff know what we need to avoid and help us stop any complications with our food.
Equal Eats Travel Cards
Our favourite cards are the Equal Eats. They have digital and physical cards that are wallet sized and easy to use.
Equal Eats has cards in many different languages. Each translation set goes through many different layers of testing before being released. The cards are customisable for multiple food allergies beyond the top 14 most common ones.
theallergenfreekitchen
If you have kids making sure no one gives them food they cannot have due to food allergens. Watching over them is a full time job at gatherings and parties with food. When the kids were younger I wish there had been something like this for our kids.
Why Use An Allergy Placemat?
Using a placemat that clearly states their allergens not only serves as a visual reminder it also helps to create a space that is mapped out that you can request is free from the kids’ allergies.
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When we delved into how other allergy parents keep their kids safe at Holiday family gatherings this is one item that many parents have been using. They put a t-shirt or onesie on their younger children, babies, and toddlers and tell the extended family about the kids’ food allergies.
When you live with food allergies, not everyone understands that even a little bit of the allergen can be deadly. The don’t feed me shirts are a visual reminder to help others remember which kids cannot eat anything but you will still need to keep watch over them.
This article originally appeared on Theallergenfreekitchen.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org
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Featured Image Credit: vegandollhouse.
