1. 26 August 2010 · 11:04 PM ·

    Thanksgiving - does it have to include the turkey?

    So as I was talking to a friend last night about my plans for Thanksgiving (a food lovers ultimate holiday) I started thinking about what I was going to eat. I have been a vegetarian now since March, and it has made me feel more healthy and helped me to lose some weight so I don’t have plans to stop being veggie anytime soon, but this creates a problem with Thanksgiving. Every year my family heads down to Los Angeles to visit with my asian side of the family, watch the USC v Notre Dame football game and eat frozen BBQ potato chips (yeah I know we’re weird but they just taste really good that way). We have the normal Thanksgiving feast-y things like a big turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. But then we also have things like Japanese sticky rice (sooooo good with turkey gravy) and sushi and mochi ice cream. 

    But with all the meat-related dishes, will I be able to eat more than the mashed potatoes? 

    I mean my mom makes the stuffing with sausage and turkey broth so thats out. Turkey is obviously out. As well as the gravy. And not to mention the leftovers. My Aunt always makes a yummy turkey soup with egg and greens. So that leaves me with the mashed potatoes, rice, cranberry sauce, and some kind of salad. No one else in my family likes sweet potatoes so I’ll have to make those if I want them… Oh and maybe some bread and whatever sushi we order with vegetable filling. Thats not a very good meal! What do vegetarians eat for Thanksgiving? I am really going to have to figure this out because as a huge foodie Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. 

    Im thinking that I will have to do some research and figure out some good protein dishes I can make for this great feast day. Hopefully they will tempt my asian family and I wont get weird looks but you never know… My own mom gives me weird looks for some of the dishes I make. Good thing I have a few months to figure this out.

    Happy Eating