How I made it through my first vegan Thanksgiving

By Jamee Hutton

November 28, 2007 | Thanksgiving dinner is a time for families to gather around the table and reminisce about past events and times spent together. It is also a time to partake of food you only get to enjoy on Thanksgiving or during the holidays. As for my family it is tradition to spend Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house where you can count on the same terrific meal every year.

This meal consists of turkey, green bean casserole (always a favorite), stuffing, cranberry sauce, candied yams and my grandmother's famous rolls. Every year one or two new dishes will audition for their place at the Thanksgiving table, but the above mentioned food can always be counted on to make an appearance.

I have always looked forward to spending Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house, but this year was going to be a new experience for me. Having recently converted to a vegan diet, Thanksgiving was going to present many challenges I would have to overcome.

First off most of the food we would be eating contains some form of animal product, except for the fruit and veggies of course, which would leave me with few options of what I could eat. After doing some research on my own I figured I could make the mashed potatoes vegan and I could also have a salad. This was better than nothing, but I was still not looking forward to being surrounded by the foods I once enjoyed.

After a few talks on the phone with my grandmother we were able to come up with my final menu, I would still not be able to partake of everything at the table, but it would be a vast improvement over the original menu. The final menu included mashed potatoes I made, stuffing my grandmother fixed special for me, a baked yam (I never was a fan of the candied ones), salad, chopped fruit and cranberry sauce. Thanks to my grandmother's genius and some creative replacements for butter I was able to eat the stuffing I love so much. I think it was even better than how she traditionally makes it.

Even though I was not lacking in the food department the aroma of turkey and green bean casserole filled the house throughout the day. By the time dinner rolled around I could taste the turkey in my mouth every time I took a deep breath. My problem only worsened when it came time to dish up the food. With so many people it is easier to serve the food buffet-style. I made sure that my little bowls of stuffing, potatoes and my yam were all together at one end. This seemed to be an easy fix to the problem of not eating the turkey until I realized I would actually have to pass by the turkey and green beans in order to get my fruits and veggies. This would have not mattered except for the fact that the line for the food was moving rather slowly and I was stuck staring at the turkey for what felt like an eternity. Now I must say that back in the day when I was a carnivore, turkey was never one of my favorite meats. I'd take a good steak over turkey any day. However, there is just something special about a Thanksgiving turkey, it looks, smells and tastes better than a turkey fixed on any other day. Luckily, once the line started moving again my cravings slowly died down. When I finally made it to the table I was able to focus on the food on my plate and was not tempted to grab the turkey off the plates of those seated around me.

Dinner finally ended and I was very proud of myself. I had successfully made it through my first Thanksgiving as a vegan and it was not even that painful. What a sense of accomplishment!

As the night continued I realized that even though I had made it through Thanksgiving successfully there were still more holidays waiting around the corner, more chances for temptation and failure. But since there was not anything I could do about it I decided not to worry about Christmas and New Years that night, and instead enjoyed the time I had to spend with family.

NW
MS