When I changed my eating habits in 2005 the first thing I thought about was the Holidays! "What am I going to eat!?" Many of us have some traditional foods that we eat during the Holidays, some things that we grew up eating every Holiday. One of my favorite Holiday dishes is cornbread stuffing. When I got old enough to start preparing my own Holiday meals, especially during the Holidays that I did not get to fly home, I asked my aunt Deb for her famous cornbread stuffing recipe. Once I eliminated meat from my diet I had to revamp that recipe in order to still eat it. I was nervous about it not tasting the same since so many ingredients had to be eliminated and/or replaced. After a little trial and error I put together a recipe that I think my Aunt Deb would say is comparable to her famous cornbread stuffing.

Below you will find the recipe and ingredients to my vegetarian cornbread stuffing. I hope you enjoy!

This feeds about 6-8 people

Cornbread: 1.) 1 cup of Arrowhead Mills Cornbread & Muffin mix 2.) 2 tablespoons of Arrowroot 3.) 1 1/2 tablespoons of Agave 4.) 1 tablespoons of olive oil 5.) 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of water

Mix all liquid ingredients in a bowl. Add cornbread mix and stir lightly until moistened. Pour into an oiled baking dish and bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 25 min, or until done.

While the cornbread is cooking sauté one onion, one bell pepper, and celery in olive oil in a pan until tender. In a separate pot cook the entire bag of the vegan savory herb stuffing according to package.

Cornbread Stuffing: Once everything above has cooked: 1.) In a large bowl mix your prepared cornbread, your sautéed vegetables, and your vegan savory herb stuffing 2.) Season to taste with sea salt, black pepper, onion powder, crumbled bay leaves, a pinch or two of paprika, and most importantly add sage 3.) Add 4 tablespoons of arrowroot to the mix 4.) Add one box (about 32 fl oz) of vegan vegetable broth to your mix

Mix everything together. I like to use my hands to mix everything together to ensure all flavors are blended properly and to crumble my cornbread. Mixture should be VERY moist, so that stuffing does not dry out during cooking.

Cook for 30-45 min at 350 degrees (depending on how moist your mix is). Once the cornbread stuffing is done allow it to cool and enjoy it with the rest of your Holiday meal. Also makes for great leftovers!

*Tip: You can find a refrigerated all natural cranberry sauce at Trader Joe's near the hummus section. It's a delicious compliment to the vegetarian cornbread stuffing. *

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!