Our Vegan Thanksgiving Meal - A Turkey-Free 'Day of Gratitude'

Our vegan Thanksgiving meal, 2024, was AH-MAZING.  So good, I'm writing this post to share these awesome recipes created by others, and a couple of our own.  I actually didn't want to cook this year!  In fact, for the first time in my life, I was dreading my once favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, which you can read more about, below.  

Since we were having mom over, I was willing to put money down on a ready made store-bought vegan Thanksgiving meal, or a preordered, locally prepared option.   I thought it would keep things simple for us, making it easier to enjoy mom's company.  Well, we were underwhelmed by the options, especially considering the cost.   Don nixed the idea.  We decided to cook something ~ anything ~ ourselves.  Prior to settling on our plan, I was reading reviews comparing Gardein, Field Roast, Tofurky, and Trader Joe's holiday roast options.  One commenter on the Reddit site linked to this Vegan Wellington recipe from RainbowPlantLife, and said it blew away all the store bought options.  Since we already had the pastry in our freezer (purchased some time ago for something else I never made) I decided it would be a good way to use it up.  

Lo and behold, I think it was the best vegan Thanksgiving meal I've ever made!  It was that good!  The Vegan Wellington and Mushroom Gravy was truly as unbelievable as described.  I Knew I had to share this and some other awesome recipes.  

I also made some other amazing, healthy plant-based treats, like the much healthier, lower-fat and sugar Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake from Forks Over Knives, Sweet Potato Brownies from the Vitacost website of all places, and our delicious Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie, and Pumpkin Pie. 

I am always amazed as to how wide-spread certain classic Thanksgiving sides have become, and wonder as to their origins.  I mean, some of them are over the top, borderline gross.  No wonder people go into food comas after their big Thanksgiving meal.  Americana classic rich sides––like green beans with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup and canned fried onions, or sweet potatoes buried under marshmallows––add unnecessary fat, salt and/or refined sugar which drowns out the taste of the actual star of the dish!  Do people really even like them?  Thankfully, these were not staple Thanksgiving fare at our household growing up!

I think you can enjoy a more decadent meal without going so overboard.  Plant foods are so fresh and often naturally sweet.  A little seasoning and the right cooking techniques should enhance their flavor, not hide it.  People's taste buds are so dulled down that it takes gobs of goo––whether fatty or sugary–– to make something taste good, I guess!  

No matter what the occasion, a good meal should have a nice balance of flavors and textures, along with something fresh that helps cleanse the palate, like a simple salad, or radishes which aid digestion of the extra fat common in a special holiday meal.  This is one of the main reasons I love Macrobiotics.  So many excellent teachers prepared such beautiful, enlightened food.  

The highlight of our vegan Thanksgiving meal was of course this super awesome, 'unbelievable' Vegan Wellington, stuffed with a lentil, walnut and mushroom 'loaf'  baked in pastry, served with a mushroom gravy.  Big shout out to RainbowPlantLife for this one!

We served the Vegan Wellington with Mashed Potatoes (made by Don) & Mushroom Gravy, Green Beans Almandine, Baked Squash, and a colorful, light salad.  We had a delicious Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie for dessert.  There was enough of the Vegan Wellington to have a second meal the next day.  And, I had extra cooked lentils that we turned into a quick Lentil Loaf for yet another meal that weekend.

The Unbelievable Vegan Wellington and Mushroom Gravy recipes are from RainbowPlantLife.com.

Vegan Mashed Potatoes

For the Mashed Potatoes, we used locally grown Michigan white potatoes, with a couple russets.  Don scrubs and peels some but not all of the potatoes, and slices them similar to how you would slice potatoes for making Scalloped Potatoes.  

Add potatoes to a pot with 1-2 cloves of garlic, and a generous sprinkling (roughly 1 tablespoon each) of garlic and onion powder, plus 2+ tablespoons of nutritional yeast, and a bit of salt and optional white pepper.  Boil in just enough water to cover.  Once cooked, drain excess water, and mash with a potato masher right in the pot with some unflavored soy or other nondairy milk.  Add more seasonings if needed.  Mash it as much or little as you like it.  Top with gravy, or vegan butter if desired.

Green Beans Almandine

I like to Quick Boil / Blanch the green beans first.  This can be done ahead of time.  When ready to serve, heat a pan, and add 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil or oil of choice.  Add quick boiled / blanched green beans, and let pan-fry until they just start to shrivel a bit, and brown on the edges.  Squeeze in some lemon juice,  sliced almonds, a teaspoon of reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce (or sea salt) and cracked black pepper.   Cook another minute until almonds start to get toasted in the pan.  The green beans will be a darker green than when steamed or quick boiled, but they taste oh so good prepared this way.  I like pan-frying them in an iron skillet.

Refreshing Salad

Our Thanksgiving salad is shown in the picture above.  Toss mixed spring greens and/or arugula or lettuces of choice with just a couple other ingredients so they all pop.  I like adding radishes which aid fat digestion.  These watermelon radishes are such a beautiful pink hue inside, they are perfect for a special meal.  Sliced Japanese cucumber, shaved carrot, thin sliced red onion, a little celery, or dried cranberries are all perfect additions.  Toasted almonds, walnuts or pecans can also be added as a garnish.

I dress the salad with a drizzle each of balsamic vinegar (or balsamic glaze), maple syrup and a touch of either extra virgin olive oil or high lignin flax oil.  If oil-free, simply omit as the vinegar and maple syrup together are great.  Add a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, and some slivered almonds if you have them.

Here's another variation of the salad, with those beautiful watermelon radishes,
cucumber and edamame. 

Vegan Thanksgiving Desserts

Here is the recipe for my Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie (and Crustless Baked Apple Cranberry Crisp) and an awesome Vegan Pumpkin Pie I made over the holiday weekend.  

Here are a couple more great treats I baked recently, with links to the recipes.

Super delicious, soft Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Recipe to come.

Incredible Low-Fat Sweet Potato Cake from FOK
I modified the Ganache Topping using
dates and cocoa powder 

Fudgey Sweet Potato Brownies  - made with 
almond butter -Recipe on Vitacost.com

I hope you'll check out some of these amazing recipes.  If you do, let me know which and what you think.

Now, why was I dreading Thanksgiving?  And why did I change the name to a Day of Gratitude?  

That's next.

Day of Gratitude - My Thanksgiving Name Change 

Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday.  A chance to enjoy a great meal with warming foods and spices that align with the Fall / Winter Diet, lightening us up within as the days darken outside.

Turkey is among the most popular entrée on Thanksgiving.  It was always one of my favorite meats.  Now, I just feel sad about contributing to the demand for these gentle, affectionate and intelligent creatures throughout my life.  (45+ million in the U.S. are slaughtered annually.) 

Don and I used to love going to the Loving Hut in Phoenix, AZ, especially on Thanksgiving as they had a MeetUp on that day.  Strangers would gather around a big table, sharing a meal and a moment in time.

This year, we didn't want to attend any gathering centered around a dead turkey carcass.  As mentioned above, I didn't even want to cook.  I was feeling rather heavy-hearted as Thanksgiving approached.  

To overcome my heavy mood, I decided to look at Thanksgiving as a 'Day of Gratitude' instead.  Here's a few things I'm grateful for.  

I'm grateful for the abundance of natural foods provided by Mother Earth, and for our love of them!

I'm grateful for my Prince, and live-in personal trainer, Coach Don!

I'm grateful my mom of 89 years was able to enjoy our marvelous vegan Thanksgiving meal together.  

I'm grateful for all the family we now live near, even if we opted out of sharing a Thanksgiving meal together, and my sister who lives further away.

I'm grateful we have a house, with gas and electricity!  So many are still going without these basics in various storm-ridden areas, especially in parts of NC and TN.  Given how cold it is, I am very grateful for heat, and a warm shower!  And, I'm grateful for our yoga / meditation / therapy room.  The most peaceful room in our house.

I'm grateful for the 4 abandoned cats trusting us for their care.  They drive us nuts.  It's a juggle keeping the males separated, the momma fed (she cries for food a lot of the day, reminding me of Jasper during her last couple years), they wake us many nights, stir up our allergies, and yet, they get into our hearts.  And we love them for being themselves.  Cats doing their scratching, meowing, crying, purring, napping, playful cat thing.

I'm grateful for so much more.  My health.  My heart calling me back to a Macrobiotic / Plant-Based Diet, and vegan lifestyle.  It's such a joy that I wish I could share with many more people.  Maybe someday soon.

And, one more thing to be grateful for!

I'm grateful for finally completing revisions on The Macrobiotic Action Plan, Your MAP to Greater Health & Happiness (The MAP), newly revised with lots of additional material and quotes.   

As I attempted to get a link from Amazon for my book, I noticed I already had two reviews.  a 5-Star review by George, who wrote, 'Very useful' and a second, anonymous, 1-star review.  I find this disheartening because I literally spent years writing this book, which I originally published in 2016.  It would certainly be nice to know why this person left a 1-star review.  Nonetheless, I'm sure I can find a way to be grateful, even for this poor review, with nothing offered as to a reason for it.  

In the very least, I'm grateful for the opportunity to practice forgiveness and remaining neutral, despite circumstances.

And I'm grateful to everyone who purchases my book, leaves a review, or shares their feedback.  Mostly, I hope it provides value, as I believe there is a lot of useful information, beyond just diet related.  

I wanted to end this post sharing one of the newly added quotes to The MAP:

This quote was taken from The Essene Gospel of Peace, books 1 and 2, translated by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely.   Jesus is speaking to several maimed, unhealthy men who are asking Jesus how to overcome their severe afflictions.

Jesus shares:

"It was said to them of old time, 'Honor thy Heavenly Father and thy Earthly Mother, and do all their commandments that thy days may be long upon the Earth.'  And next afterward was given this commandment, 'Thou shalt not kill,' for life is given to all by God, and that which God has given, let not man take away.  For I tell you truly, from one Mother proceeds all that lives upon the Earth.  Therefore, he who kills, kills his brother."

Whatever anyone may think or believe, about Jesus, or this interpretation of what Jesus said that was (likely) removed from the canonized books of the Bible, the commandment is to not kill anything created by God.  That is the Golden Rule, and I'm grateful for all of our Great Creator's glorious creations.

What are you grateful for?  How do you spend your Thanksgiving?  What do you think about making this an honorary Day of Gratitude?  Please comment and let me know!