It's not easy being Green...: Pioneer Day Feast!

So, those of you who don't live in Utah may not know the wonder of the celebration on the 24th of July... "Pioneer Day". Supposedly it's the day Utah (as the mob would put it) was "Made"... Here we are in Utah... "This is the place". Celebrating what a wonderful state it is. There are parades, a much larger fireworks show than the 4th of July, rodeos, marathon, beauty pageants, and all sorts of other trivial experiences.

This year I decided to celebrate by making some classic Utah dishes. Utah-rds are known for our wonderful casserole dishes... I believe that green Jell-o with shredded carrots is actually the official state dessert, so much so that there was an Olympic pin that featured it. The menu I decided on was funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, and our official state dessert.

If you have never had funeral potatoes let me give you an introduction. It's a classic dish that Mormons will bring to funeral after parties (what other cultures would refer to as a wake). It's a quick, easy, dish that will be sure to send the widow to an early grave via heart attack so that they may join their deceased loved one. Here is the basic recipe not a very vegan sounding dish right? I do love a soy-filled challenge!!!

Here is where I began... I used potato leek soup (instead of creamy chicken or cream of mushroom), I used the soy-free butter (so I didn't over soy myself), and instead of straight sour cream I combined it with plain yogurt (I was running low and it was cheaper).

I went for "organic" hashed browns so I wouldn't feel 100% horrible about what I was making...

Corn Flakes are a necessity for any true casserole...

and...

Ok, these were seriously pretty good. Cheesy, creamy, crunchy... everything I remember them to be... although, I haven't eaten dairy in about half my life so what do I know...

For the "Jell-O" I found an agar mix at the Asian market. It was unflavored so instead of the water I put into it I concentrated two packets of Kool-Aid and used that as the liquid. For the whipped cream I used "Rich's" whip which is seriously amazing! That stuff whips up just like whip cream and sucks so much less than that disgusting Soy-atoo whip!!!

Dook made the green bean casserole... same idea, potato leek soup, with the fried onions on top. That wasn't actually that great and kind of hurt my tummy! Here's the spread altogether. Someone brought bread and small sacrament water cups (in the Mormon church 12 year old boys hand out little cups to drink your sacrament water from)...