A Compassionate Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a rough time of year for me. On the one hand, I'm really excited to be with my family and I love the feelings of nostalgia that accompany the holiday. I'm a sucker for binge-eating, carb-overloading, and parade-watching. I love that it jump-starts Christmas, my favorite holiday. I start listening to Christmas music the very next day. Fall is my favorite season, and I love the seasonal foods like squash and sweet potatoes and pumpkin. And spiced apple cider. And Silk Soy Nog. Ohhh heavenly Thanksgiving.

BUT: What's with all the turkey slaughter? Most people I know say that the turkey is the least favorite part of their Thanksgiving meal. So, what if you skipped out on "tradition" this year and save a life? Practice non-violence this Thanksgiving. Be thankful for all life. Be compassionate. You could even go a step further and "Adopt-a-Turkey" through Farm Sanctuary (www.farmsanctuary.org). It's a great program where you give $25 to sponsor a rescued turkey (http://www.adoptaturkey.org/aat/adopt/sponsor.html) who lives at the farm. Most of these turkeys come from really rough situations, and have been de-beaked without anesthesia and lived in horrendous conditions in factory farms. You'll even get a color photo of your very own sponsored turkey, with details about your new friend! Isn't that totally worth skipping the meat? I mean, really, who enjoys getting up early, pulling innards out of a turkey's butt, and slaving over a hot stove all day? And BASTING is a really nasty word. And it's a WHOLE TURKEY! Like, 20 pounds of meat! And it's expensive! I mean, aren't there a million reasons to just NOT eat turkey this Thanksgiving?

I am a little bit biased (not just because I'm a vegan). Turkeys are in my top 3 favorite type of farm animal. They are so quirky, the males are really flirty and do sexy little stomping dances when girls are around, no matter the species of girl. The females are very affectionate and chatty. Basically, I don't want you to eat my friends. Just carb overload instead, like me!

It's easy to veganize many of your usual side dishes by using soymilk instead of milk and Earth Balance instead of butter and vegetable broth instead of turkey juice! Try it, you'll loooooove it.

Here are some more things you can eat MORE of without all that flesh in your tummy:

Appetizers:

*start here

mushroom soup! (I made this soup for last year's vegan feast, and it was possibly the highlight of the entire meal.)

carrot apple and ginger soup

Main Dishes:

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sage Polenta and Seitan Bourguignon

Maple Grilled Tempeh

Butternut Squash with Whole Wheat, Wild Rice and Onion Stuffing

Stuffings that aren't in the butt of a dead bird

Side Dishes:

yummy sides

Savory Brussel Sprouts

Autum Potato Salad

more brussel sprouts! (we love 'em!)

Gravies and Dressings

Desserts: My personal favorite is a Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake, using Tofutti Cream Cheese, like this:

http://www.chooseveg.com/display_recipe.asp?recipe=220

more yummy sweets!

Pumpkin Pie!