The Ultimate Vegetarian Thanksgiving
I chose to become a vegetarian after having my oldest daughter. I struggled a lot with my post-birth weight and how I thought of my new “mom body.”
Becoming a vegetarian gave me the discipline I needed to stop making the unhealthy choices I grew up on, such as fast food and easy frozen meals. For as long as I can remember, I have had a love-hate relationship with eating. Don’t get me wrong, I still weigh my choices between sweets and vegetables daily, but I feel much better in my skin than I ever have. (Or at least continuously telling myself I am so I can keep building myself up.)
Ok, now to the point of this whole post!
Thanksgiving….
It’s filled with, well, the obvious: turkey. And I’m not sure how much you cook or pay attention to the ingredients in items. Still, there is usually some “animal byproduct” on most Thanksgiving sides. (Which, of course, are the best part of Thanksgiving.) So I created the following recipe collection to fulfill my desires this holiday season.
**All of these items are made in my Pyrex dishes (for ease, I’ve included links to all the recipes)!
Wild Mushroom Gravy with Red Wine
I use corn starch unless you want to make it gluten-free; you can use tapioca powder.
I don’t use cornflakes, I prefer it without the crunch, and I use cream of mushroom soup instead of cream of chicken.
I use 2 can of cream of mushroom soup instead, as I don’t need it to be vegan, and I top it with regular fried onions from the store.
I follow the recipe on the bag; use veggie broth instead of chicken
For this, I use Marzetti Cole Slaw Dressing and a bag of the larger chopped coke slaw mix.
Home-Made Cranberry Sauce (not from a can!)
And…For the Meat-Eaters:
Of course, I usually make a turkey or another kind of animal protein for my guests (and carnivorous husband).
To make the day more manageable, I made the mushroom gravy, cole slaw, roasted vegetables, and cranberries the day before.
For timing the day of, I follow this (yes, in one oven!! Maybe one day I will have 2.)
With 1 hour left of turkey:
Start the garlic potatoes on the stovetop
With 45 minutes left of turkey:
Put the cheesy potatoes and corn casserole on the open shelf in the oven.
I usually do a smaller turkey and can generally fit the green bean casserole on the same rack in the oven!
Once the turkey is finished:
Put the stuffing in the oven on the shelf you took the turkey out of.
Let the turkey rest for a couple of minutes before carving.
Warm the mushroom gravy and roasted vegetables in the microwave.
I also use the turkey juices to make turkey gravy for those that don’t like mushrooms.
I hope this finds you well and gives you the courage to invite us, non-carnivorous guests, over for a tasty holiday meal! It doesn’t have to be as hard as you think.
Happy Thanksgiving!