Despite its namesake, mince pies are not a savory, meat-based dish. Instead, they’re sweet, light, and full of delicious comforting holiday flavors.

Mince pies originated in the UK, where they are traditionally served during the Christmas season. The pastry dessert gets its moniker from its ingredients, which are a mixture of dried fruit and spices, or “mincemeat”.

A traditional mince pie recipe includes brown and white sugars, white flour, butter, and eggs – not exactly the recipe to get your started on your best going-into-the-new-year figure. Since we all tend to veer off the track of our otherwise more conscious (or nah?) diets once we venture into the holiday season, it helps to have a few dishes that balance our excessiveness with a touch of healthy! And for vegans everywhere: you don’t have to miss out! Here’s a vegan, wheat and refined sugar-free revamp of the traditional mince pies recipe! It packs incredible flavor without weighing you down.

Nosh on them during Christmas, and even all-year round, as a fragrant, filling, animal-friendly dessert. Enjoy!

Vegan Mince Pies Recipe

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

For the crust

• 2 cups desiccated coconut
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup raw maple syrup
• Juice of two lemons
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Water, as needed

For the filling

• 1/2 cup sultanas
• 1/2 cup dried figs
• 1/4 cup currants
• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• Pine of salt

For the icing

• 1 cup cashews
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon coconut butter
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Directions

For the crust, add all of the ingredients, except the water to a food processor and blend until the mixture begins to clump together in a ball. Add one tablespoon of water at a time to help the process. Store the dough in the refrigerator for an hour to become firm. About 10 minutes before the hour is up, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Use coconut oil to lightly grease a muffin tin.

Press the dough into the muffin tins, lining the bottom and up the sides of each mold, creating a crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is ever so lightly brown.

For the filling, add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until the mixture forms a paste. Set aside.

For the icing, add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.

To assemble, delicately remove the crusts from the muffin tin and fill each with an equal amount of the paste and finish each mince pie with a dollop of the icing.

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The post Vegan Mince Pies are a Sweet Reminder of What the Season Is Really All About: Dessert appeared first on EcoSalon.

There’s nothing more satisfying than giving someone the perfect gift, the kind that you are just as, if not more, excited about giving than the receiver is about, well, receiving. But what if that gift had a life beyond the confinement of its wrapping paper? What if the gift gave more than just an object, but an experience or repetitive value? The following 11 gift ideas attempt to do just that. They don’t just make great gifts—they make great stories!

11 Holiday Gifts That Keep on Giving

1. Yoga Membership

We all have that friend who wants to engage in more self-love activities, particularly yoga. Make it easier for your friend to get started by gifting her a month’s membership at the nearest yoga studio. Join her as much as you can to help her new habit stick!

2. Juicer or Blender

Nothing keeps on giving quite like a juicer or blender. Motivate someone in your life to start drinking healthier and more creatively with one (or both!) of these machines.

3. Books…Forever!

For your bibliophile friends, consider signing them up for a GiftLit subscription. Each month, the service sends age and content-appropriate books to them.

4. Drybar Membership

I can’t imagine a better gift. When blowouts became a thing, the world became a better place because of it. Gift a Drybar membership to a lucky friend or family member and she’ll always have her locks on point.

5. Skydiving

Okay, this is admittedly an aggressive gift that not everyone will enjoy receiving (raises hand), but if you have a daredevil friend who may have dropped a hint that she’d like to take the (literal) plunge, then gift her the experience of a lifetime. Just make sure she is a good friend, because skydiving can run for about $250 a pop.

6. Three-day Detox

Gift your friend a seamless escape from holiday indulgence with a foolproof re-set button: a three-day cleanse. Almost every major city has cold-press juice and raw/vegan food cleanses available. Find one fit for your friend and sign her up! This will not only make for a thoughtful gift but also motivate your friend to transform her diet for the better. My favorite service: Sakara.

7. Cooking Class

Join a local cooking class and bring your friend along for the perfect bonding (and eating) experience.

8. Singing Lessons

Okay, bear with me here. I am a strong believer that we should all practice our singing skills, even if we are admittedly terrible at it. It’s a form of expression and even if your friend is not naturally talented at it, she can at least have a lot of fun pretending for an hour. And if she’s good at it, your gift only cultivates a talent!

9. Endless Stream of Flowers

The Bouqs Co. is an e-florist that delivers “farm to table” flowers from sustainable sources on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. Starting at $32 per month, your friend can enjoy bouquet after bouquet after bouquet. Every time she admires her flowers, she’ll think of you!

10. Language Learning Software

It’s never too late to pick up a new language, but it requires commitment. Help your friend or family member get started with a language learning software.

11. Grooming Essentials

This one is for the men in your life. Bevel sells high quality razors, shaving cream, and other grooming products. You can order a Shave System Starter Kit or sign up for a $29.95 subscription for quarterly shipping of grooming products.

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There’s a lot of eating heading our way, with both Thanksgiving and Christmas on the radar. However, just because the holiday season can be a time of excess, doesn’t mean it has to be a time of waste. This pear ginger bread pudding recipe helps you to not only utilize leftover bread from any of your upcoming feasts, but also infuses your gut with some warm, comforting holiday flavors.

What I love most about bread pudding is that even though it has the texture and taste of a recipe only someone’s grandmother could whip up just right, it’s a comfort dish we can all master. In other words, you can’t mess it up. Chop, mix, pour, bake and boom! You’re done.

In this bread pudding recipe, fresh pears contribute an unmatched delicate, moist richness that is tender to the bite and is superbly accented with cinnamon, sugar, crystallized ginger, and dried apricots. The result is a truly indulgent dessert, but that’s kind of what we’re looking for until the new year!

Pear Ginger Bread Pudding Recipe

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 cups stale white bread cubes
• 3 pears, cored, and chopped
• 1/4 cup diced crystallized ginger

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.

Roughly chop the apricots. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the apricots and bourbon. Let the mixture simmer for about five minutes, or until the apricots have softened considerably and absorbed the bourbon. Set the saucepan aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add the eggs, cream, milk, two tablespoons sugar, two teaspoons cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and cardamom. Whisk until well combined. Fold in the bread cubes until all the pieces are just coated. Let the bowl sit for five to ten minutes to allow for the bread to fully absorb the liquid.

Next, stir in the chopped pears and diced crystallized ginger. Transfer the mixture to the greased baking dish and use a spatula to spread the bread pudding evenly. Sprinkle the remaining one tablespoon sugar and one-half teaspoon cinnamon evenly across the top of the bread pudding. Place the dish into the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the bread pudding is golden-brown and set.

Let the bread pudding cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Garnish each slice with more cinnamon sugar and pair with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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The post Ginger-Pear Bread Pudding Gives Leftover Thanksgiving Bread a New Life appeared first on EcoSalon.

Turn your holiday gifts into works of art with some easy gift-wrapping ideas.

Sometimes the most odious thing about the holidays is the present wrapping–it just seems like a such a chore. You work really hard buying (or making) all those presents and then there’s more work. Have a little fun with it by using one of these easy gift-wrapping ideas. From fun to elegant and many involve repurposing stuff you already have on hand–these are gift-wrapping game changers!

10 Gift-Wrapping Ideas for the Holidays

1. Repurposed Paper Bags – Cut open brown paper bags, turn them over so the plain side is facing up, and decorate with holiday-themed stamps. Wrap up your packages and tie with string for a vintage wrapping look.
2. Metallic Painted Tissue Paper – Repurpose tissue paper from holiday gifts past, but bring it back to life by painting it with gold or silver paint. Many home improvement stores carry the Martha Stewart line of specialty finishes that features several different metallic options.
3. Old Road Maps – Turn old paper maps (who uses them anymore anyway!) into fun wrapping paper this season.
4. Brown Paper Packages – You can buy rolls of brown wrapping paper that can be customized a billion ways. One of the simplest is to use gold and silver pens to draw stars or snowflakes on your packages. Tie them up with pretty red and white bakers’ twine.
5. Origami Wrap – Wrap packages in white paper. Cut shapes out another layer of colored paper and double wrap your packages for an easy but pretty effect.
6. Chalkboard Wrapping Paper – If you haven’t seen it before, Chalkboard wrapping paper is a thing. It’s super easy to customize your packages with just some simple white paint markers. You can find it online and at some craft stores.
7. Washi Tape – Decorate plain white or brown paper with colorful patterned washi tape. Washi tape is Japanese masking tape, but it comes in all sorts of colors and patterns and is available online or at craft stores.
8. Duct Tape Gift Bags – By the same token, turn practical duct tape into gift bags. Here is an easy tutorial.
9. Repurposed Magazine Bows – Top your packages with pretty repurposed bows made from the pages of old magazines. Here’s a how-to.
10. Burlap, Black Ribbon and Gold Spray Painted Pine Cones – Turn everyday burlap into an elegant package by adding black velveteen ribbon and gold painted pine cones. It looks impressive, but it’s actually pretty easy to pull off. Burlap is available at most fabric stores.

Related on EcoSalon

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Image: Christmas Gift via Shutterstock

The post 10 Easy Gift-Wrapping Ideas and Solutions to Make a Wrapping a Breeze appeared first on EcoSalon.

Nick Offerman, king of whiskey and relaxation, has the perfect fix for holiday haters.

In the video below, Offerman demonstrates how any good survivalist can live through the holidays. (All that’s really needed is whiskey and a cozy closet…)

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The post Hate the Holidays? Nick Offerman is Here to Help [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.