First off, please, let me apologize that there is still no video on my no electricity required hummus. I thought I would be able to squeeze in the time to get it completed for this week’s posting, but, I underestimated how busy I would be. I have several projects in the works right now that have consumed much more time than I expected and have a deadline before December 1st. So, I will post the video by December 2nd.
One of these projects is a personal one that I have been dreaming and wanting to cross off my bucket list for over 10 years. Ten years ago, I was introduced to the idea of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Every November, people from around the globe come together to write novels of 50,000 words or more. I just loved the idea so much that ever since then, every November, I have tried to accomplish writing a novel. But, every year, I get too busy and let other tasks take priority over it. This year, although I did not start out strong and thought I would give up especially because I am still grieving, but I have decided to give it my all in the last two weeks. I am grateful that I still have time to make the deadline even if it means that I have to prioritize it over other tasks. So, in the meantime, let’s talk about Thanksgiving.
Personally, as someone who loves to cook and eat, I love Thanksgiving. Most of the time, I am either cooking for myself or my nuclear family. Thanksgiving is a time that I get to show my love for family and friends through my cooking. However, I am not having a big Thanksgiving this year. My nearby relatives who always came moved across country earlier this year. So, this year, I am cooking for myself and my Mom (also a Vegetarian). Since there is just the two of us, I want to keep our budget in mind by doing something different this year. Instead of a more traditional Vegetarian twist on Thanksgiving meal, I am going to make our favorite meal: vegetable lasagna. When I post my hummus video, I will share pictures and the recipe that I used for my lasagna.
But, if you are Vegetarian, do not fret just because Thanksgiving is also known as “Turkey Day,” it is easy to enjoy a more traditional Thanksgiving. First off, if you are not doing all of your own cooking and you are visiting friends or family who are not Vegetarian, a lot of the traditional side dishes are naturally Vegetarian (Vegan can be a bit trickier). Secondly, if you are doing the whole dinner, your main center piece can be more traditional without being a heavily processed, soy-based, fake tasting tofurkey. Instead, seek out easy, hearty, filling, whole food recipes like grilled Portobello mushrooms, bean burgers, etc. Here are some ideas from Buzzfeed, with beautiful pictures that will make your mouth water: 22 Delicious Meatless Mains To Make For Thanksgiving
Last year was my first Vegetarian Thanksgiving. It took me a while to come up with the menu because there were so many recipes to be found online. Except for buttermilk in the cornbread muffins, all of the dishes were Vegan. All of the dishes were relatively healthy (no refined sugar or gluten) but they still tasted indulgent, and they were all relatively easy to make. For our main dish, I made Vegan Lentil “Meatloaf” (similar in taste and texture to traditional meatloaf) because I wanted a way to incorporate my Dad’s memory into our celebration. When he was alive, his favorite dish to make our family was meatloaf. It was a great Thanksgiving meal and the turkey was definitely not missed.
2013 Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu
Appetizer
Kite hill vegan cheese with rice crackers (not pictured)
Main Dish
Lentil “Meatloaf”
Side Dishes
Vegan Pralined Sweet Potatoes with Orange Juice
Mash Potatoes (store bought)
Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar
Cornbread Muffins (not the exact recipe I used, but similar)
Vegetarian Thanksgiving
What is your favorite Vegetarian Thanksgiving dish? How do you do Thanksgiving on a budget? I would love to know.
This year, I am also grateful for those of who you stop by my blog. For those of you who celebrate, I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving!
Living Wholly On A Budget 
I enjoyed last Thanksgiving meal very much and am looking forward to the vegetable lasagna. I am grateful for a wonderful creative daughter.
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I will be posting two versions of my vegetable lasagna next week: one that is more indulgent (uses a lot of cheese) and the other a more healthy version.
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I looks like you have the whole vegetarian/vegan things down! I think Thanksgiving is a great holiday for eating vegetarian. We had several vegetarians at our Thanksgiving dinner and their plates were full. They were taking Instagram photos and sending them to friends. When I tried to be vegan, it was difficult because I had to question everything someone else prepared. I think I annoyed several people. Being a vegetarian is much easier! Thank you for your blog post. It is fun to see what others have for Thanksgiving dinner. CS5711
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When i went Vegetarian last year, I was surprised at how many things that I already enjoyed were naturally Vegetarian which includes Thanksgiving (minus the bird). I tried being Vegan too but, unless I cooked it myself, it was just really hard. Now, when I am cooking for my family, I try to look for places that treat their dairy cows and egg laying chickens humanely.
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Thank you for sharing two things – Vegetarian Thanksgiving and your love of writing. I can not imagine writing a novel in a month. I imagine such a deadline would be what i would need to finish however. Did you finish? The meal looked yummy! For me my favorite has always been sweet potatoes – Grandma always made them with butter and brown sugar… Now-a-days they are more common as fries – still good.
Thanks for sharing! cs5711
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I made the word minimum but I still have a lot of story left to write. But, if I had not had the deadline, I would have never gotten that far. And, now, I want to finish writing it. Even though it is really tough work, I recommend trying it. I will definitely be doing it again next year. Even if I do not “win” again, it will help me to be creative.
My favorite is sweet potatoes too! My Dad used to make it with freshly chopped sweet potatoes with lots of butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows on top – definitely not the healthiest. Surprisingly, the Vegan Pralined Sweet Potatoes with Orange Juice comes pretty close to rivaling his decadent version. It was so good that I ended up making it again this year.
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Congratulations on NaNoWriMo! That is a huge undertaking and so much fun. Your vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner looks delicious. I’m glad you have family and friends who are on the same page with your food choices. It makes the holidays so much more fun.
My children and I were vegetarian for seven years but spent holidays with the extended family of traditional eaters who didn’t have a clue. Out choices were experienced as a major inconvenience!
The orange juice in the sweet potatoes sounds great. #cs5711
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Hi, thanks for sharing your Vegan lifestyle with us. I can’t wait to see your vegetable lasagna recipe and the pictures. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your Mom. Also, thanks for sharing all the Vegan Thanksgiving recipes. Personally, I liked the Grilled Chipotle Lime Cauliflower Steaks. They look delicious and can’t wait to try this recipe – so healthy looking and so pretty at the same time. ~ CS5711
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