[eekamax]

this was my first thanksgiving since going veg.

we went to a friends house, but i took some items to be sure i would have something to eat: salad with caramelized pearl onions, cranberries and honey pecans; winter squash and sw potato soup; and mashed potatoes made with tofutti sour cream and fresh garlic and chives. i even made a pie!

these people had a billion different kinds of meat. i am not kidding. salmon, ahi, crab, ham, turkey, duck and chicken, but NO VEGGIES!!!

i kid you not! no corn, no greens, no black eyed peas, no carrots, NOTHING!

i was really bummed. whenever i made thanksgiving dinner (which was every year before now) i made a turkey and the rest of the meal was veggies! i was really looking forward to loading up on some yummy veggies, but no such luck. i had to eat some bananas when i got home just to curb my hunger.

and to top it off, this one lady kept announcing that the things i brought were "vegan" saying, oh that pie has nothing in it...things like that. one person even asked me if i wanted a carrot when he saw me eating just salad and soup. i felt like shouting YES! I would love a carrot!

i think next year i will return to cooking myself!

 

[Elijah]

Same thing here.

We went to a friends house for thanksgiving, there was about 15 people or so there.

There was NOT ONE SINGLE VEGETABLE DISH THERE.

Not even one dish that was loaded with salt, sugar or oil. The girl who invited us (not her house) had made vegetarian stuffing for me I guess. I had to decline. I told her I do not eat salt, sugar or white flour.

So I sat at the table with everyone else and did not eat one single thing. I came home and made the Golden Cauliflower soup and ate frozen grapes for desert.

Was literally the unhealthiest thanksgiving dinner I have ever been to. Usually there are some pickled beets or butter green beans. (I would not have eaten them anyways).

So another day of ... "Have you lost weight", "You look thinner". These people have not seen me literally since I started eating healthfully.

It was SAD

. Ha ha get it S.A.D. - Pretty funny actually.

SAD = Standard American Diet

 

[Dirty Martini]

You can't really go to a holiday meal, where the focal point is turkey & other non-veg items (like stuffing), and expect that other people will cater to your very specific dietary needs. ESPECIALLY if you are avoiding salt, flour & sugar.

Hopefully you've learned a lesson in not specifying your needs or bringing your own food.

Imagine having a dinner and making some wonderful whole wheat breads and squash soup, and one of your guests says "oh I'm allergic to squash and I'm gluten-free." ... but they hadn't told you beforehand or brought any food, and sat there and ate nothing. How would you feel?

 

[Elijah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OregonAmy

You can't really go to a holiday meal, where the focal point is turkey & other non-veg items (like stuffing), and expect that other people will cater to your very specific dietary needs. ESPECIALLY if you are avoiding salt, flour & sugar.

I wasn't.

 

[Spidergrrl]

This sounds like eating with my father in law. At a restaurant he orders the meat platter, hold the veg. After my mother in law's funeral there was 4 kinds of meat and white bread. That's it. No veg. They found some old dried out carrots in the fridge. We ate carrots. The kitchen was really tiny so they had used all available space as counter space (including stove top) so we had to wait HOURS for every fat relative to eat their umteenth meat and bread sammie so we could clear the stove and cook and eat some vegan food (I made an awesome black eyed pea and tomato curry over brown rice).

I always hated Thansgiving at my grandmothers---loads of veg but covered in goo. Is it posible to put marshmallows in every side dish? In my family yes. The worst ambrosia and sweet potatoes I have ever had.

But now I am British so I don't have to suffer through dead turkey day bwah ha ha. I heartily recommend fleeing the country and S.A.D omni family/friends. Worked for us.

 

[Jessica Alana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OregonAmy

You can't really go to a holiday meal, where the focal point is turkey & other non-veg items (like stuffing), and expect that other people will cater to your very specific dietary needs. ESPECIALLY if you are avoiding salt, flour & sugar.

Hopefully you've learned a lesson in not specifying your needs or bringing your own food.

Imagine having a dinner and making some wonderful whole wheat breads and squash soup, and one of your guests says "oh I'm allergic to squash and I'm gluten-free." ... but they hadn't told you beforehand or brought any food, and sat there and ate nothing. How would you feel?

I agree. How uncomfortable for the hosts, especially. That's when there needs to be some information beforehand, (especially if these are "friends"

wouldn't they know?) and some potlucking.

 

[Dirty Martini]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elijah

I wasn't.

oh, okay. It sounded like you were complaining that there wasn't anything for you to eat.

 

[jeezycreezy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elijah

Not even one dish that was loaded with salt, sugar or oil.

You mean you would have wanted a salty, sugary, oily dish?

I'm sure it sucked for you, but you've gotta take these matters into your own hands and always plan for a worst case scenario. And don't frozen grapes hurt your teeth?

 

[GanyGreenBean]

I had an awesome Thanksgiving.

I went through my mom's freezer and found some corn on the cob. So that sorta made my day.

Other than what I made for myself (I loaded my plate with my vegan food last night and reheated it in the oven before dinner), everything else had chicken stock or butter in it.

I survived though. My mom even tried my barley tomato pilaf I made and said, "This is delicious."

She'll always make her food the way she always makes it. But I get to veganize them for myself.

I just am getting nervous about other peoples places. Luckily, some of my close friends are atleast Ova lacto. That means alot of veggies in the house.

 

[karenlovessnow]

Hopefully it will get better the longer you are veg. The first year was hard for me too. The second year was better and this year was the best yet! I made tons of vegan food for myself and enough to share and brought it all to my cousin's house. It included baked potato soup, polenta with onions/mushrooms, tofurkey, sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing, lemon pie, brownies and pumpkin/sweet potato pie, a variety of olives, marinated mushrooms and peppers. And a picture of my adopted turkey to show off to all the omnis who were eating their turkey!

 

[Michael]

I don't think anyone expected to be catered to. I think they're expressing their dismay that there weren't any semi-healthy vegetarian dishes, even if coincidentally.

Cut them some slack, it was their first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian. Geez.

All I can say is it should get better. Next time you'll know what to expect and can plan accordingly.

 

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

I am totally an advocate of the "bring your own and make it look better than theirs" plan.

My family is all lacto-ovo and they are very thoughtful and usually do make a few vegan items for me, which I appreciate, but I always make sure to bring enough variety so that I'm not stuck with salad or rolls.

It's VERY uncomfortable for a host to have guests who don't eat anything.

I also make sure the vegan items I bring are REALLY, amazingly awesome. And even though my family will fuss at me a bit about being "picky" or "too extreme"... 90% of the time, it's my VEGAN items that get eaten first and raved about the most.

I don't think I would go to someone's house for Thanksgiving if they weren't understanding about me bringing at least a couple dishes (And of course I'd make sure there was enough to share if people were "adventurous" or "brave" enough to try the weird vegan food...).

 

[Elijah]

Yes Michael has it right!!

SOrry I did not clarify my whole story.

I did not want any food, I do see the point of view that I should have let them know that in advance.

I was just pointing out that they scratched veggies altogether this year their diets have gotten worse. They also used plastic dishes and forks etc so they did not have to do dishes.

It was my second thanksgiving but I do not celebrate National Day of Turkey Slaughter and I am sure no Indians do either. I was going along as a favor to my girlfriend. Last year I stayed at home.

 

[Elijah]

Tofu - Yes I was planning on making some kick butt food to bring but time ran away and I really did not have much interest in satisfying anyone.

Maybe next year, however I don't view this day as a day to celebrate.

 

[Lumos]

This was my first thanksgiving vegan (4th as vegetarian) and I was pleasantly surprised. My mom made all of the side dishes vegan and let me make the desserts and a couple extras. We had:

chickpea broccoli casserole (I made)

garlic mashed potatoes

sauteed spinach n mushrooms

roasted corn

veggie gravy

cranberry sauce

yeast rolls

Dessert:

peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes

vegan cheez-n-cherry pie

I highly suggest making vegan sides everyone can share for holiday gatherings, particularly if your diet has extra specific needs. It makes it easy for you and omnivores most likely won't notice your dishes are vegan.

 

[~Wonder]

My first veg*n Thanksgiving was decent. I brought a big dish full of homemade vegan veggie fried rice

My aunt loved that it had baby corn. I also had canned corn, no butter, and some steamed asparagus (yay stinky pee!), and a bottle of wine. Then we played old school nintendo (yay Contra!) and I was about ready to fall asleep at 9 o'clock despite the fact that I had no turkey. A vegan desert would've been nice. Oh, and I ate a bunch of hummus that I brought

I likes it spicy.

~Wondre

 

[evilvegan]

I got sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. I was at my SO's aunt's house, and she did make sure to clarify that I was vegan not vegetarian(there is another veg who used to be vegan in the family, so they know what not to make), and kept the two types of taters free from dairy for me. My mother didn't have anything veg ready for me (nothing even without meat) but when I showed up, she nuked some frozen veggies. At least my families make an effort, and for that I am thankful.

 

[Yell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lumos

This was my first thanksgiving vegan (4th as vegetarian) and I was pleasantly surprised. My mom made all of the side dishes vegan and let me make the desserts and a couple extras. We had:

chickpea broccoli casserole (I made)

garlic mashed potatoes

sauteed spinach n mushrooms

roasted corn

veggie gravy

cranberry sauce

yeast rolls

Dessert:

peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes

vegan cheez-n-cherry pie

I highly suggest making vegan sides everyone can share for holiday gatherings, particularly if your diet has extra specific needs. It makes it easy for you and omnivores most likely won't notice your dishes are vegan.

I made the chickpea-broccoli casserole, too! It was pretty funny, because people saw it and asked "what is that?" and I told them what it was. The most common response:

"What are chickpeas?"

wow.

 

[Dirty Martini]

I didn't know what they were until someone told me "they're garbanzo beans"... I grew up saying garbanzo and had never heard "chickpea" until I was in college, so... maybe it's a matter of upbringing..?

 

[bekajoi]

I went prepared today... I knew I wouldn't have ANY Vegan options if I didn't bring them. So I brought 3. And other than those 3, I had a roll that was accidentally vegan.

I didn't ask about the apple pie, but I don't think it had any egg at least. Butter is a possibility but I decided to just let that go for the moment since it was only a possibility and not a known fact. (and the girl who made it left early so I couldn't ask)

Our feast on Thursday, I made everything, so I knew what was OK to have and what wasn't.

What I'd encourage you guys to do, if you don't have veg-friendly families, is to bring what you would eat if you were home alone, that day. Make a full portion, bring it all, make sure you get to it before the crowd, and you'll have a filling, veg*n option without questions. Don't make a big deal about it being veg*n, just say you brought it and it's ______.(dish's name)

It is easier the longer you do it. Hang in there!