Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

As many of you are already cooking your feast, some of you may be looking for inspiration.  If you are a new vegan as I am, you may be a little overwhelmed with the prospect of redoing all the recipes you've known for years.  Or maybe your visiting family and a little nervous about what you'll encounter today, how you'll answer questions, what you'll eat.  After a lot of stressing and going back and forth about what to do, I decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner one day early, enjoying vegan versions of all the favorites, that way today when we visit family, we've already satisfied the craving for the classics and wont be tempted to eat the non-vegan versions.  I did consider bringing individual serving sizes of our side dishes but thought that might seem kinda rude so I will be bringing a hearty green salad for everyone, cranberries, and decided to also bring some vegan brownies.

The Whole Feast

We both really enjoyed our meal last night!  It was our first time trying Tofurky.  For me, it was just all right.  But, it's no big deal because I was never really a big turkey eater anyway.  I like the side dishes more.  Our lineup included: Tofurky with gravy, roasted butternut squash, bread and celery stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and cranberries.

Tofurky and Butternut Squash

I followed the recipe on the side of the Tofurky box for the roast, excluding the potatoes since I was making mashed potatoes.  It turned out pretty well, Hubby liked it.  For the stuffing, I used Earth Balance buttery spread and vegetable stock instead of the butter and chicken stock and a bag of premade stuffing croutons.  It was sooooo good and soooo easy!  For the green bean casserole, I used almond milk because I didn't have any unsweetened soy milk and also used canned green beans.  It was delicious and tasted very close to the original green bean casserole.  Hubby actually had some for breakfast this morning!  (ewww)  By the way, he is a Thanksgiving food beast and I can't believe he actually enjoyed all the vegan versions but really, they tasted great!  For the butternut squash, I just substituted Earth Balance for butter.  Hubby actually ate some even though he doesn't like butternut squash.  The mashed potato recipe is my own and follows.

Green Bean Casserole and Stuffing

Green Onion Mashed Potatoes
5-6 Potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 cup Tofutti sour cream
1/4 cup Silk nondairy creamer
Salt and pepper to taste
3 stalkes green onion, sliced
Cover potatoes in cold water and bring to a boil.  Boil until fork-tender.  Drain and return to pot.  Mash.  Add sour cream and creamer, salt, pepper and mix well.  Gently stir in green onions and serve!  Serves 4-6.




This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for my family including my beautiful baby daughter, my faith as well as my health and new outlook on what I eat.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, however you choose to celebrate it!

Many Thanks!!