US The Everything Thanksgiving Thread

Happy Thanksgiving. We are having cocktails and nibbles at my cousin s place and then going on to
the country club for a meal at 2 pm. The weather is lovely and warm and we will be eating outside.
My very first TG meal.:)
 
Happy Thanksgiving
My Thankgiving was stressful could not clean kitchen last night on time got warn out. My sisters are not around for Thanksgiving. I think next Thanksgiving I will do a full vegan one since it was just my husband and I.
 
Thanksgiving isn't a holiday that I particularly care for overall, but I continue to celebrate it with family without any complaints. It remains one of the few days in the year that makes me a "flexitarian." My family has no interest in veganism and I'm fine with that. Also, my parents are getting up there in years. They want to have a traditional turkey meal on this day with family, so I do play along for their sake. I found it interesting that, right before eating, someone said that if they really liked turkey they would eat it more during the year, but they don't. I'm going to put that on a neuron for future use.

I did eat turkey today. So this post is both my confessional and my show of being a "flexible vegan" for certain rare occasions. My parents don't, and pretty much can't, cook anymore, so we went to a restaurant that had three choices: turkey, prime rib and walleye. I had the turkey. Sorry, turkeys. I mean no offense. I can no longer stomach beef, so it was the least offensive option. It was the first time I've eaten any meat in probably months. I honestly don't remember the last time I did so. For all I know, this could have been the first time I've eaten meat this entire year. I eat it on occasions like this maybe at most two or three times a year. Once in a great while on a road trip I'll find myself in a place with no vegan options and I'll have to succumb, but those situations have thankfully become much less common.

If people could at least start by cutting down on meat, things could slowly improve. It's situations like the one described above that make it hard for a lot of people to become 100% vegan 24/7. All or nothing is simply too much for most people. I encourage my family to cut down on meat when I can, but I don't expect them to ever go vegan, or even vegetarian. It won't happen. Perhaps a better way to make some headway on the eating meat issue is to encourage people to start by cutting back. Start by eating meat for only half of the week's meals. Once people try it and feel that they aren't trapped into going all of the way without getting shamed, they may go further all on their own. Sadly, I don't think the entire world going vegan is realistic. I would like to think it's possible, but I know too many stubborn meat eaters to believe it. But convincing people to cut back, or at least to try some meat substitutes for some meals (some are extremely good), sounds like a more reasonable and feasible starting place to evangelize from. Why? Because if people feel that the only way to be vegan is to be 100% vegan, many people will face a situation like the one above and think "going all the way isn't for me" and potentially lapse back into carnivorous habits. I would rather see a world of people who eat less, or far less, meat than a world that keeps eating meat because the expectations for being a "true vegan" are set too high.

These thoughts passed through my mind today as I ate turkey for the first time since last Thanksgiving. I know, at least, that I won't lapse back into eating meat regularly, or even once in a while, because I have set realistic standards for myself. For these reasons, I also don't feel like a failure for eating turkey today. I would have rather not done so, but standing up, pounding my fist and berating my family for eating meat would have just turned into a lose-lose situation for everyone. They would blame veganism for turning their family member into a dogmatic ranting lunatic and I would just alienate people who I don't want to alienate. And it would not change them. All I can do is tell them that I make an exception for this holiday and hope that it at least makes them think. They know that I eat pretty much no meat at all and that I'm bending the rules for the holiday. All I can hope is that my small sacrifice communicates something.
 
@ewomack -- your story is one vegan and AR folks truly need to understand. Ending animal use doesn't need to be an emotional, or woke response. There are too many reasons to stop using animals for food. People need to wake up to how subsidized the industry is and how much our tax dollars are used to continue to keep it cheap in stores.
Health wise animal products are a leading contributer to preventable disease

All to often I hear vegans being all or nothing, whether critical of those eating processed food that vegan for ethics, or the ethical vegans criticizing those doing their best to reduce consumption

I want to real and normalize meals that don't have animal products,and getting animal products out of things were it's nothing but an addition, like buttery spreads, mayo, chocolate, gelatin as stabilizer.......
 
Trader Joe’s has permanently discontinued its popular Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast with Gravy.​
One of the options customers suggest is Gardein, a brand that offers two Thanksgiving meal options: the Savory Stuffed Turk’y, which includes two individual-sized breaded Turk’y roasts filled with wild rice stuffing studded with tart cranberries; and the traditional Holiday Roast, which also includes the cranberry wild rice stuffing and a crispy-breaded exterior, but the package contains one large roast big enough to serve eight hungry people.​
And then there’s Field Roast’s Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute, which features hazelnut-infused vegan meat stuffed with rosemary, candied ginger, and sausage stuffing, all encased in a layer of flaky puff pastry. The company’s other options, the Celebration Roast and Sage & Garlic Celebration Roast, offer different flavor notes.​
Most people who celebrate Thanksgiving look at a turkey and see it as a symbol of celebration and tradition. Individuals who abstain from eating animals, however, see something else entirely. In truth, this traditional meal centerpiece is a dead bird who was slaughtered around six months old (up to 24 months if they’re a heritage, local, or free-range bird) and is one of 50 million killed just for Thanksgiving alone.​
Regarding Thanksgiving turkeys’ impact on the environment, turkey farming presents similar issues to chicken farming. Industrial raising and slaughtering of birds leads to immense water and air pollution because of the collective waste of millions of animals.​
Those who attempt to make a more sustainable choice by purchasing from small family farms also contribute a significant climate footprint, as these birds are often raised and killed in middle America, packaged, and shipped via planes, trains, and automobiles to homes across the country.​
Buying or making a vegan roast is the best way to go because there is no such thing as a sustainable or ethically slaughtered turkey.​

 
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I'm going to make a nut roast with a nice gravy for Thanksgiving this year. I've never tried any of the vegan celebration roasts, as the prices have put me off for the most part.
 
Trader Joe’s has permanently discontinued its popular Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast with Gravy.​
One of the options customers suggest is Gardein, a brand that offers two Thanksgiving meal options: the Savory Stuffed Turk’y, which includes two individual-sized breaded Turk’y roasts filled with wild rice stuffing studded with tart cranberries; and the traditional Holiday Roast, which also includes the cranberry wild rice stuffing and a crispy-breaded exterior, but the package contains one large roast big enough to serve eight hungry people.​
And then there’s Field Roast’s Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute, which features hazelnut-infused vegan meat stuffed with rosemary, candied ginger, and sausage stuffing, all encased in a layer of flaky puff pastry. The company’s other options, the Celebration Roast and Sage & Garlic Celebration Roast, offer different flavor notes.​
Most people who celebrate Thanksgiving look at a turkey and see it as a symbol of celebration and tradition. Individuals who abstain from eating animals, however, see something else entirely. In truth, this traditional meal centerpiece is a dead bird who was slaughtered around six months old (up to 24 months if they’re a heritage, local, or free-range bird) and is one of 50 million killed just for Thanksgiving alone.​
Regarding Thanksgiving turkeys’ impact on the environment, turkey farming presents similar issues to chicken farming. Industrial raising and slaughtering of birds leads to immense water and air pollution because of the collective waste of millions of animals.​
Those who attempt to make a more sustainable choice by purchasing from small family farms also contribute a significant climate footprint, as these birds are often raised and killed in middle America, packaged, and shipped via planes, trains, and automobiles to homes across the country.​
Buying or making a vegan roast is the best way to go because there is no such thing as a sustainable or ethically slaughtered turkey.​

Thank you for sharing. I understand many humans like meat-substitutes and processed foods. Years ago I tried tofurky's,
twice. I was able to consume it because I was hungry and also as I added craberry sauce onto it. But it is not my cup
of tea as I dislike processed foods.
I like Lentil stew, butternut squash soup, salad, vegetables like green beans or carrots, and maybe a vegan pumpkin pie ot
apple crisp for desert...Happy giving thanks day.
 
I am definitely a Gardein turkey roll person as I find one of them is the perfect amount for each person when you have all the good root veggies and potatoes etc. Maybe we will have another one for the US thanksgiving as it is a perfect excuse to eat them. It is also less expensive than buying one of those big roasts.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
 
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My seitan is almost gone. Not kidding when I say i could rip that apart standing up and finish it myself!
I sauteed shreds and made broccoli. I made gravy with it's cooking broth and will save that for later taters

I bought a bag of sweet potatoes at Aldi because they looked so fresh--and they are! I'll be having one a day for breakfast, maybe add in a peanut stew
 
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I have done my shopping for my contribution to this year's Thanksgiving dinner. I'm making nut roast (not sure who in my family will give it a go), mashed turnips, creamed peas, cranberry sauce, apple pie and hummus (for a snack). I also bought a box of Divine Treasures chocolates to bring.
 
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Worse than real turkeys being slaughtered and butchered?
Oh brother! 🙄 . And who calls the mixture of vwg and tofu "the masa"?
I didn't like Tofurky, or any commercial seitan roast, but homemade is the best ever. They could have been showing just about any commercial product and got those comments.
Needs a slaughterhouse video for balance
Remember Palins interview in front of the turkeys being killed?
 
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Just made this corn pudding, reminds me of corn fritters, but easier!

Not too much seitan left so I think I'll shred it and make my stuffing/seitan/broccoli and gravy casserole with cranberry sauce
 
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Just made this corn pudding, reminds me of corn fritters, but easier!

Not too much seitan left so I think I'll shred it and make my stuffing/seitan/broccoli and gravy casserole with cranberry sauce
I want to try that! I don't have any corn so it will have to wait until after thanksgiving.