Vegan Thanksliving

I am having a wonderful Thanksgiving break at home here in the Philly burbs.  I spent awesome time with family and friends thus far and I still have two days here.  Wednesday afternoon we had some snow in the area and I was afraid I wouldn't get home until late or there would be so many delays that I would be so frazzled once I got home but my bus ride was quick and painless.  I got into Philly late Wednesday and then went right to my mom's for Thanksgiving breakfast Thursday morning so I didn't have time to make any dishes for Thanksgiving dinner.  As disappointed as I was, I will be making up for it at Christmas time!  Raw pumpkin pie and cupcakes here I come!


My mom went out and bought me a bunch of vegan food I could make on Thanksgiving-she's pretty supportive of my vegan lifestyle.  She loves buying me the tofurkey roasts and some of the meatless ground beef so she went nuts in the store with all the soy products.  For Thanksgiving breakfast I had tofu scramble, that was a store bought Amy's Organic dish.  I had that with a bagel and some Earth Balance butter, some veggie dumplings and some delish hot chocolate that I made with So Delicious coconut milk, cocoa and brown sugar.  Dinner was a tofurkey roast, cranberries, a sweet potato and roasted veggies with So Delicious ice cream for dessert.  I upgraded my phone on Friday so I have no pictures of this awesome food on my new phone.  So, head to my Instagram to see pics of everything I've eaten...at my time lol

I went shopping with my mom on Black Friday and of course our last stop was a vegan bakery. Cupcakes Heaven in Delaware sells vegan cakes and cupcakes and I stopped for a 6 pack of cupcakes.  Those are all over my IG too but I do have pictures of them on my phone.  Is there anything better than a cupcake with tea?

If you are new to the vegan scene and you are adventurous, I urge you to try the meatless meats and the different soy products.  They can be a good substitute for real meat if this is what you are used to and they can help you if you miss real meat or feel like you need to eat something with meat texture. Eat responsibly, make sure the soy is organic and buy non GMO.  If you are hesitant to try the meatless food, just eat whole foods like whole grain, beans, fruits and veggies.  It depends on what kind of carnivore you were, if you're already used to whole foods, just eliminate meat, if you ate meat and cheese and eggs alot, ease into the vegan lifestyle with the vegan meats, cheeses and buy tofu for tofu scramble.  If eating these soy based meatless products allows you to feel more satisfied and fulfills your craving for meat or cheese, by all means buy them.

There was one additional person at Thanksgiving dinner who did not eat meat and she tried my tofurkey and loved it.  No one made me feel weird for eating the tofurkey roast and the people around the table were supportive and accepting.  When someone asks you why you don't eat meat, remember why you started this lifestyle.  Tell them the reasons and explain how normal it is.  You can describe your favorite food or recipe and tell them why it's so yummy.We were all carnivores before we became vegan and so we know how easy it is to eat meat.  So, being patient and explaining to meat eaters why you changed to a veg lifestyle is important if you want to spread the word kindly about veganism.  The last thing we want is for vegans to get a bad name because we are judgmental or harsh.  We were all not vegan before we were vegan.

Friday night I missed my usual nana ice cream and fruit.  I froze some bananas and I had frozen fruit already in my fridge so I made a berry nana ice cream treat and it hit the spot.  I can't go long without nana ice cream.  After I eat alot of cooked foods, I start craving raw foods and I just can't wait to get my hands on some berries or a banana or apple.

I can't wait to post the wonderful desserts I'll be making for Christmas.  This is definitely my favorite time of year for cooking and baking so keep your eye on the blog for recipes galore.  I'm going to improve on my raw pumpkin pie.  I'm also going to make some awesome cupcakes and maybe some cookies.

How was your Thanksgiving?  What vegan dish did you make?