Waldorf Cabbage Slaw - Whole30 Last Week Wrap Up

This post is a few days late, but we finished our Whole30 a week ago!  This past week, we just kept going, not starting our Reintroduction phase until today.   Oddly, by week four, we felt we were simply cruising.   Meals were planned but not so meticulously - it felt natural to cook and eat this way, so it didn't take so much careful attention to every step in order to keep to the plan.  It also meant less careful following of specific recipes, rather than just putting together a good meal.

Breakfast & Lunches continued to be put together from dinner leftovers and what we kept on hand, following the Whole30 template (protein, sufficient good fat for satiety, and filling the plate with veggies and fruit).  We did get lax about pre-prepping fast breakfast items, like homemade sausage and egg muffins or frittatas, and putting together soups for portable lunches, and found their absence to be annoying, so we'll pick back up again with that level of pre-preparation.

I also got very lax about photographing our meals! (oops!)

This was what we ate for dinner:

Sauteed Lemon Garlic Chicken Strips with Waldorf Salad Slaw (recipe below)

Ham Steak with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Leftover Slaw

Ginger Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry with Cabbage, Carrots & Zucchini Noodles

Zucchini Noodle Spaghetti and Meat Sauce with Olives & Mushrooms, Salad

"Butter" Chicken with Coconut Cauliflower Rice, Spinach Saag, & Avocado Chutney

Bunless Burgers, Sauteed Mushrooms, Avocado & Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

A few notes:

The Lemon Garlic Chicken Strips were simply sauteed in Ghee along with minced garlic and fresh lemon (and its zest) along with some capers to create a classic Chicken Scampi type meal.  The real star was the Waldorf Slaw and I'll share that recipe with you below.

Ghee was also used to top the baked Sweet Potatoes served with the ham.

The Chicken Stir-Fry was simply put together with little attention paid to quantities - I used some Red Boat fish sauce, a bit of coconut aminos, some grated ginger and sesame oil and then on whim threw in a splash of orange juice, and the result was delicious.  The veggies were simply onion, celery, carrots, some leftover shredded cabbage, mushrooms and a spiralized zucchini to sub in for noodles.

My husband handles week-end cooking and treated me to a delightful Butter Chicken, with Saag and Avocado Chutney - this shouldn't even be possible on Whole30, right?? But he found the recipes and the results were amazing!

The Beef Stew was also a put together with cubed beef, potatoes, mushroom, onions and celery - I found that some Butternut Puree and tomato paste made it thick enough to feel hearty, but a little arrowroot would have also made it thicker.

Waldorf Cabbage Slaw
- a mash up of my two favorite salads!
Serves 4

Slaw:
1 cabbage, shredded (set aside half for another meal)

2 Gala apples, cored and chopped into small bite-sized pieces, or spiralized

1.5 cups green seedless grapes, halved

2 stalks celery, thin sliced

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Dressing:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (homemade or Whole30 approved)

1 lemon - juice and zest

salt and pepper to taste

Combined all the prepared salad ingredients in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, mix together dressing ingredients.  Fold dressing into slaw so that all is coated.  Chill until ready to serve.

So good!

So how'd we do?

I mentioned the results we were experiencing at the end of Week 3 here and they continue to hold.  

We had take out the day after and thought everything was compliant (except for the 'psychological' no-nos. In other words, we had fries) , but I wound up having an awful night's struggle with GERD.  So I need to avoid fried foods when out - it's pretty clear that the oil they use is not for me.

But we also got to weigh and measure ourselves!  On Whole30, there is no peeking at either scale or tape measure, because part of what it is going to do is teach you to pay attention to clues about mood, physical well-being, alertness, skin health and yes, pants fitting more comfortably.  We knew the numbers would be good - but we were curious to know by how much.  We'd done our measurements before we began, and here's where we landed a month later. 

(I am only noting the difference between last month and this, not the actual numbers - we've still got a long way to go, but now we have a yearlong goal.)

I do believe a good bit of my loss was due in no small part to the loss of systemic chronic inflammation, so I'm ready for these results to slow down going forward.

Me:  

Weightloss: 20lbs

Neck: 2 inches

Chest: 1.5 inches

Waist: 1.5 inches

Hips: 2 inches

Thigh: 0 inches (time to add exercise!)

Him:

Weightloss: 14.5lbs
Neck: .5 inches
Chest: 1.5 inches
Waist: 1 inches
Hips: 1.5 inches
Thigh: 1 inch

WOW!  I had low, low expectations for that part - the last time I did this, the results were far less profound.

So what's next?

We've decided to primarily continue eating this way, with occasional easing up for special occasions.  It's working for us and the food is, simply put, delicious!

But first, the Reintroduction!  The second phase of Whole30 involves a methodical reintroduction of  the foods that were removed for 30 days (minus those you just don't want back in your life - for me, that's junk food and highly processed glop).

Over this next month, we'll be having days where one category of food is eaten (while otherwise keeping to Whole30 rules) and then a few days back to a strict Whole30 while paying attention to effects.  How long between depends on what happens -standard is 2 Whole30 days after each reintroduction, but I was experiencing so many inflammatory effects before we began that it may take me longer than that to clear up before the next test day.

The categories we're specifically testing for include a little modification from the recommendation.  I wanted to look at sugars, in particular, as I have suspected it is having a bad effect on my GERD.  I plan to avoid cane sugar as a practice, but want to know if alternate forms carry a similar reaction (in any event, added sugars can only be an occasional thing, as all sugars cause issues of their own, and it is highly addictive.

Our test series will look like this (and carry us into March):

Sugars - honey, maple, coconut sugar.  We both dislike stevia, agave and the like, so no point in testing those.

Alcohol - (timed around a social event that's coming up) - Wine, cider and/or non-gluten liquor.

Legumes - peanuts, soy sauce, beans, peas, hummus

Dairy - milk, cheese, plain yogurt

Non-Gluten Grains - oats, rice, quinoa, corn.  If this day gives me fits, i'll be breaking these out to individual tests once the main reintro is done.

Gluten Grains - wheat, barley, etc. Bread, flour tortillas, pasta, etc. I know this is going to cause me grief, so I consider this my inoculation against any further temptation to start eating this again. Yes I love it. But I love not feeling sick all the time more.

Beer - separate from the Gluten grains day, we want to test beer and see if it causes similar issues. My husband is a craft brewer and it would be sad not to ever be able to drink it!


So that's the plan!  If you're curious about Whole30, check out their website and consider trying it for yourself!

Whole30 Week 2 Menu & Progress

We're now into our third week of Whole30, and remain a little mystified at how much easier it seems to be this time out. The first time this was when we crashed and burned and dropped out, running away as if we'd survived a horror movie.

The second time, we got through the 30 days, but the very idea of another couple of weeks doing a slow reintroduction was beyond us.

This time, we know where most of our potential pitfalls are, and mentally prepped for them to the point where they don't seem that hard at all. We miss the occasional drink.  I miss cheese on things that are simply better with cheese - but not so much that I no longer want to eat what I have.  Neither of us miss bread, unless there's a good sauce on our plate and no easy way to sop it up.

(I do realize that I have no totally jinxed us for this next week!)

During our second week, we had a couple days where we had to eat out, and that's by far the most challenging. No matter where you go, things are either breaded, ON bread, with cheese or sugared in some way. So. Much. Sugar.

The first time, we had a day full of errands, so we stopped at lunch at a local area chain of diners called the Silver Diner. They locally source their food, so the quality was a good bet. Even there, though, the only safe-ish bet was to stick to the breakfast menu and have eggs and bacon (which likely was sugar cured, so not perfect), and we ordered a side of roasted mix veggies that turned ou to be butternut squash, brussels sprouts and beets.

Our second time out was after an early showing of The Post - we went to a Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken, which was a great choice - their chicken was flavorful and succulent, and not breaded, and here also there was a side of delicious roasted veggies in balsamic vinegar.  There were also salads that could be modified slightly and still be interesting.

I'd hate to have to wrestle with restaurants often while on Whole30, although we did pretty well.  It does make it easier if you check the menu online before you go and develop a plan.

So here's the rest of what we ate this past week:

Cashew Chicken with Stir-Fried Cabbage

No real recipe here - I used cooked chicken from last week's roast chicken.  I stir-fried a half a bag of cole slaw cabbage mix along with some sliced mushrooms in a blend of coconut oil and sesame oil   and seasoned it in a sort of vaguely curry-ish blend of spices, a bit of fish sauce and hot sauce.  The chicken was added in and heated through, and a good sprinkle  of cashews was added to serve.

Pan-Fried Rib Eye Steak,

Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes and Mushrooms, 

and Avocado Slices

This was a joint effort - I put together the onions, tomatoes and mushrooms, intending to slow-braise them.  They got away from us though and before we knew it, they'd begun to scald on the bottom of the pan. I carefully scooped out the part that didn't get burned quickly enough to avoid an off flavor.

So we had much less than I'd hoped for - but the upside was that what we did have had cooked down
to a sort of marvelous savory jam that made a very nice accompaniment for Michael's steak, seasonedwith salt, pepper and Sweet Hungarian paprika, and cooked to a perfect medium rare.

Peruvian Aji Chicken over Coconut Cauliflower Rice 
with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Spinach

Ok, this is where it got weird - I occasionally get meal plan kits but I was sure I'd set them to Skip for this month.  Then a Plated box showed up at my door - oops. Since I hadn't planned for it, it was totally random what was in it, of course neither of the two meals were Whole30.  Fortunately, this one, chicken with a yellow chile sauce and vegetables, served over coconut quinoa, was easy to fix by switching out the quinoa for cauliflower rice.  Very tasty!

Pan Roasted Chicken Over Cauliflower Rice, Brussels and Apple Salad
This was the other Plated dish - originally, it involved Farro instead of the cauliflower, and included Parmesan and a buttermilk dressing.  We skipped the dressing and used a drizzle of a Whole30 compliant Ranch dressing, instead.  I really liked how the tart apples added flavor and crunch to the dish.

Eggs, Hash Browns, Bacon, Guacamole
Then there was the day when I hated everything, so Michael made me breakfast for dinner.

Deconstructed Salmon Sushi
I really, really loved this one.  I used this recipe, and added some wasabi paste. The brightly flavored orange sauce and hint of heat from the wasabi was delicious!  We'll be doing this again.

Egg Muffins
Finally, this is a part of how we kept ourselves fed for breakfast on busy morings.  These take just a few minutes to prepare, and are infinitely modifiable.  The are fluffy and heat up well in the microwave.  I think they'd freeze fine too, although we just kept them in the fridge as grab-and-go options.

Here's all it takes:

Egg Muffins

(makes 12)

6 eggs

3 T water or coconut milk

2 cups. cooked vegetables (tomatoes and spinach are good - we used leftover cooked Brussels sprouts this time), and meat as desired (I sprinkled in some chopped prosciutto)

Seasonings as desired

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease a 12 cup muffin pan with coconut oil.  

In a large bowl, beat the eggs along with the water or coconut milk, and add in vegetables, meats and any seasonings.

Scoop some egg with fillings into each prepared muffin cup, leaving about a half inch at the top.

Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown on top.  Remove from oven, let cool a couple minutes and then carefully use a table knife to help pop them out of the muffin cups.

Enjoy!

(And yes - if you're not doing Whole30, these would be wonderful with the addition of some cheese!)

Whole30 Week 1 Menu & Progress

As of today, we've been on the Whole30 for a week, getting our support from an ever-increasing circle of local and long distance friends and acquaintences who are going through this together via Facebook!

This is our 3rd time out, but feels like the first  time it's really clicking for us, without seeking loopholes or resisting the boundaries.  I won't say it's been utterly drama-free, but it hasn't been as hard as it was the first couple of times.

There are a couple days in the first week described as "KATT" (that's "Kill All The Things") and unfortunately that was dead on accurate! But after a long talk, my husband and I remembered that we both actually want the other one around in our old age, and chose to take our aggressions and peevishness out on  decluttering projects over the weekend.

PRO TIP: Increased energy plus a bit of peevishness makes it extremely easy to get rid of junk that has started overtaking your space!

After some great, fast-paced effort, I notice that moods and environment are much more peaceful here on Monday. (Not a coincidence, I'm sure)

So, as of today, I'm starting to get actually excited by all this - I know there are more challenging days ahead, but I also know there are more glorious days ahead of increased energy and reduced pain!

Speaking of that - prior to starting, I experienced pretty intense GERD upset after nearly every meal, and my joints, as usually, were at least a little achy (I have RA, so I take this as a daily given).

The GERD has been almost 100% completely fine - two episodes, one involving a raw pear, and one a handful of raw cherry tomatoes.  I'm not entirely sure what's happening there, but I do plan to explore further later. But meanwhile, it is absolutely positive that at least one of the things I am not eating right now is the thing that's been making me miserable. (It's like a mystery novel - I can't wait to find out the guilty party!)  So no matter what - this W30 has already been a roaring success.

The joints aren't entirely fine, but neither are they as bad as you might guess, with arctic cold chills and 'bomb cyclones' out here causing mayhem.

In case I wasn't sure before - I am all in with this.

Since lunches need to be portable for work or eaten easily before leaving, we decided on these general guidelines for weekday meals other than dinner. We keep plenty of choices on hand and each one puts theirs together as desired, keeping more time consuming meals for the weekends:

Leftover salad with pork, hard cooked egg, half an avocado. Breakfast? Lunch? Yes! 

Breakfast - choose from the following:

Homemade Sausage Patties

Hard Cooked Eggs (or quickly cooked)

Root Veggie Hash

Fruit

Avocado

Roast Root Veggies, Turkey (leftovers in freezer), Mixed Olives, Cucumber Slices

Weekday Lunch - choose from the following:

Dinner Leftovers 

HomemadeSoup

Salad with Protein

Breakfast Items 

Plus Veggies/Fruits

Snacks, if needed:

Meal items not yet eaten

Fruit slices with Almond Butter

Veggies with Salsa or Guacamole

LaraBar

So this was our first week's menu - a couple of these were slight modifications of our original ideas, but for the most part, this was all according to plan.

A word on the Schweinhaxe on Day 1:  this was an out of the ordinary cut of pork for us that I'd had when we were visiting Germany this fall. The process creates a tender cut of pork with an outer later of delicious pork rinds!  Not a part of our regular rotation, but I'd ordered the cut of meat to have for Christmas and then we left to visit family, and I was determined to have it.  By switching the recipe's called-for beer to broth, it was Whole30 fine, so it became our Day 1 Kick Off Meal!

Day 1:

Schweinhaxe with Sauerkraut

Day 2:

Leftover Pork

Salad

Day 3:

Aidell's Chicken & Apple Sausage

Fried Eggs

 Roasted Root Veggies

Day 4:

Crispy Teriyaki Chicken

Coconut Cauliflower Rice

Asian-Style Cabbage Slaw (recipe to come)

Day 5:

Chocolate Chili

over a Baked Potato (with Ghee)

Day 6:

Roast Chicken

Balsamic Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Snipped Dates & Walnuts*

Day 7:

Leftover Roast Chicken

Steamed Vegetables with Ghee

Tossed Salad

* My husband cooked this night - the Brussels Sprouts are a variation of this recipe, which is one of his favorites to cook.  He switched out dates for the cherries (which often have additional sweetener), left off the Parmesan and added some walnuts.  He also left off the Prosciutto, but by all means, use it! Check labels but it seems to be the one cured meat that's pretty easy  to find in a Whole30 compliant form!

One week down! Onward to Week 2!

Prep Dish GF/Paleo Meal Plan Subscription: Review/Giveaway

For the past three months, I have not had to wonder about what I was going to make for dinner. I know exactly what I need for an entire week at the grocery store and only need to go there once, and the argument about dinner is nonexistent. My life seems to have changed!

How have I reached such a state? Prep Dish.

Prep Dish is a meal planning service that offers meal plans starting at $14/month for both gluten free and Paleo diets. Every week, I get an email with a link to a printable three to four page document that includes a grocery list, step by step prep day instructions, and simple day-of instructions for four dinners, a salad, a snack, a breakfast, and a dessert.

Primarily, we utilize the Paleo menus in my household, and not once have I finished a dinner still feeling hungry.

These dinners even fill up Mischief, who seems to have a perpetual hollow leg, and a deep love of carbs.

These meal plans work well with people dealing with food sensitivities. For example, while the menus often contain a dairy aspect, all dairy is completely optional, which is nice for my dairy sensitive stomach (thank you children for making Mommy lactose intolerant....). Additionally, the nuts in recipes have alternatives if you have a nut allergy in the house.

Each recipe is intended to feed a family of four (two adults and two children), but I have leftovers after almost every meal, even though sometimes I'm feeding three adults.

In fact, I usually have so many leftovers that after a couple weeks I don't even need to go to the grocery store, we just eat leftovers all week!!

I really enjoy being able to now get some of my vegetation from the local farmer's markets, and wish I could get all of it there, but unfortunately it isn't quite the right climate for certain things like pineapples and oranges here in Washington state.

For produce like zucchini, greens, and berries, though, I love supporting the local farms! Prep Dish menus have evolved with the changing of the seasons, and they allow me to get more and more from them!

To give you an idea of what you might expect from a Prep Dish meal plan here's a sample menu that includes our family's favorite Prep Dish meal, Shrimp Cobb Salad:

• Meal 1: Shrimp Cobb Salad
• Meal 2: Honey Mustard Chicken w/Tarragon Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Asparagus
• Meal 3: Grass Fed Steaks w/Baked Potatoes and Broccoli
• Meal 4: Mediterranean Frittata
• Salad: Spinach, Oranges, Fennel, and Avocado
• Breakfast: Grain Free Cranberry Pecan Granola
• Snack: Hard Boiled Eggs
• Dessert: Banana Cookies 

I've actually gone back and made this salad again twice! It is a wonderful salad for the climbing temperatures of summer!

Shrimp Cobb Salad (courtesy of Prep Dish)
serves 4

2 Avocados
1 Head of Romaine Lettuce
1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes
4 slices Thin Cut Bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 lb Peeled and Deveined Shrimp
2 Eggs, Hard Boiled
4 oz Blue Cheese Crumbles
½ T Dried Basil
¼ c Red Wine Vinegar
½ c Olive Oil

Finely chop one head of romaine lettuce. Halve a pint of cherry tomatoes. Peel and quarter hard cooked eggs. Slice avocados.

Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add shrimp and cover. Remove from heat and cook for ten minutes or until just cooked.

Whisk oil, vinegar, and basil together for vinaigrette.

Toss all ingredients together and top with vinaigrette.

This salad is wonderful for a hot summer night and even tastes good the next day!

If getting recipes like this every week in your inbox sounds awesome to you, you're in luck! Our RCH readers who sign up using this link will get a two week trial of Prep Dish for free (a $7.00 value). A credit card will be required to take advantage of this offer and the subscription will be auto-renewed at $14.00 per month unless canceled.

We are also having a giveaway for a year subscription to Prep Dish, valued at $99.00 - read on to see how you can enter to win!

I love this subscription and have actually elected to continue getting these wonderful recipe, as I really do find that meal planning makes my life run a little bit smoother and this takes out all the hard work, which makes it great for the busy mom of two wild children!

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One winner will each receive a one year subscription to the Prep Dish Meal Plan email subscription service, valued at $99.00.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Giveaway Tools Entry Form below. This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning. (If you don't leave a comment, any additional entries will be void.)

This giveaway is open WORLD-WIDE and will end just before midnight ET on 8/1. 

The winner will be notified by email 24 to 48 hours after the end of the giveaway by email. In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck!

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Meal Planning: Two Weeks of Dinners Plus Plenty of Leftovers

Hey there friends! I know some of you have probably resolved to start writing monthly meal plans. I started writing these two years ago, and when I’m diligent and stick with it they save me so much time and money! There are so many wonderful blogs with meal plan templates, suggestions and ideas. You just have to find the one that works for you.

For my family, it works best when I have the whole months worth of dinners planned out and I do the shopping on a bi-weekly basis. I’ll make a trip here and there for things we may run out of, like milk. But by sticking with this plan, I save tons of money by not making a trip to the store every day. We are probably all guilty of picking up a few unnecessary items on those random trips. Do yourself a favor and go in with a plan! It really helps me!

Here is a link to the blog that inspired my planning strategy. If you haven't checked out Confessions of a Homeschooler, you definitely should!

A quick note about our eating habits; While I try to keep things healthy and nutritious, we are still coming down from our holiday overindulgence high. So there are a few things here that are not so healthy, but we love them. (I’m looking at you, waffle fries)

So for the first two weeks of January, here is what’s for dinner in the Murray Home:

January 1st: Hamburger Soup with homemade bread

January 2nd: Oven Baked Meatball Subs with Waffle fries

January 3rd: Roast Chicken and Potatoes with Salad

January 4th: Baked Spaghetti

January 5th: Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Veg

January 6th: Chicken Curry Stir-fry with Veggies and homemade Naan Bread

January 7th: Sausage Potato Soup with Rolls

January 8th: Chicken Enchiladas with Rice and Beans

January 9th: Homemade Pizza

January 10th: Leftovers

January 11th: Chicken Pesto Penne with Asparagus

January 12th: Beef Stew with Herb Dumplings

January 13th: Chicken Pot Pie

January 14th: Chili Colorado Burritos with rice and beans

January 15th: Ginger Beef Mushroom Kale Stir-fry with Rice

Notes about the plan: 

My recipe for Homemade bread makes enough dough for two batches. I use one on the first day and freeze the second ball for my rolls later in the week. I make a lot of homemade baked goods and whatever we don’t eat freezes up nicely.

Most of the recipes produce enough food to feed a larger family than mine of three. We use the leftovers for lunches during the week or in a pinch.

The Chicken Pot Pie recipe makes two large pies. I suggest you freeze one or give it to a neighbor. Its a wonderful recipe!

Saturdays are our Free Day. We either eat leftovers, grill something up or splurge on eating out or ordering in. We keep the eating out and ordering in to once a month.

I print out copies of recipes I plan to try. That way, I can make notes about things I change or add, whether they were a big hit or a dud. I keep them in plastic sheet protectors in my GIANT Red Recipe Folder. I'm old school like that I guess.


I hope this simple plan helps you on your way to your New Year’s Resolution! Keep with it and you’ll reap the rewards in years to come.

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Vegetarian Thanksgiving Ideas

One of the best parts of Thanksgiving is the way it can bring many people together, often only at this time of year, to share a feast with one another. When some of those at the table have special dietary preferences, such as vegetarianism, that can also be one of the greatest challenges.

If you're planning to share the feast with a vegetarian this year, or maybe deciding to go vegetarian yourself, I hope I can give you a few ideas about where to start. Anyone can make a vegetarian meal, all it takes is a little bit of planning, and careful attention to the ingredients list of processed foods.


First, it helps to know what sort of vegetarian you're cooking for. For the most part vegetarianism can be broken down into 3 main options:

• Vegan - No animal products or bi-products, so no meat, no eggs and no milk. Oftentimes, vegans will not eat honey or other non-vegan sugars.
• Lacto-Ovo - Will eat eggs and milk products.
• Lacto-Icthyo - Will eat milk and fish.

There are other variations, so if you're not sure, ask your guest specifically what they will and won't eat.

At our house, we enjoy eggs - so we raise our own chickens!

Next, you may be wondering if you need to entirely toss out your old family favorites if you want to make them vegetarian. The answer is often, no!  Many recipes can be adapted for vegetarians. 

For example: most stuffing recipes can be made vegetarian by using vegetable broth and cooking in a baking pan instead of inside the turkey.  If yours uses sausage or other meats, you can either use soy-based meat replacements or add in something with a 'meaty' texture like mushrooms or chunked winter squash instead - you may find these changes will be met with approval by your meat eaters as well as the vegetarians!

Again though, make sure you read the label for any packaged items included in your recipe, because oftentimes, you will find meat in the strangest of places, like yogurt with gelatin in it (which is not necessarily vegetarian).  That's also going to rule out regular marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes or in a dessert.

For more information about how to adapt recipes, check out 101 Cookbooks.com. Most--if not all--of Heidi Swanson's recipes come with crib notes for how to make the dish vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free, and she will also give you tips on alternative sweeteners as well. Spending some time looking over how she adapts her recipes will not only give you lots of ideas for a vegetarian menu, but also help you see how to alter your old favorites to fit into a vegetarian lifestyle

If you are putting together an entire traditional but vegetarian Thanksgiving meal, you may want to buy a faux-turkey.  

Personally, I prefer Quorn’s Roast. It is relatively easy to cook and it tastes amazing.  It does, however, have eggs in it so it is not suitable for a vegan.  

Tofurkey is the first brand of faux turkey sold, relatively easy to find, and comes with stuffing. They also carry an entire Vegetarian Tofurky Feast complete with sides.

Or course, you can skip the faux turkey altogether and simply provide a seasonal vegetarian main dish or a few sustaining vegetarian sides.  

Often, vegetarians and vegans try to move away from the idea of a meat-like dish as the 'main' course, and instead combine a number of 'side' dishes that go well together without any one item taking center stage.

When my kids were younger, I would make them real mac and cheese, making a flour roux and everything. 

That is, until I saw Jamie Oliver create mac and cheese brilliance, by melting some butter, adding a little bit of sour cream and then melting the cheese into that bubbly goodness. Since discovering that trick, I've never looked back.

You can also use cauliflower instead of macaroni, for a gluten-free "mac" and cheese.  

On Jamie Oliver's website, you can find a simple Four Cheese Macaroni as well as a Vegan Mac n Cheese recipe, either of which would be a popular addition to your Thanksgiving Day table.

Below, I've compiled a sample Thanksgiving Day menu composed of vegetarian dishes (some of which are Vegan), to give you some ideas for creating your own. Keep in mind that you can always adapt any of your favorite recipes as well.

Remember that it also helps a lot to ask the vegetarian to bring a dish they know they can eat and enjoy - especially when working with unfamiliar dietary restrictions, it's much less stressful if you have the help and participation of the person who will be depending on getting it right.

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving Day Menu

Appetizers & Starters

Turkey Fruit Platter

Relish and Veggie Tray
- pickles, olives, vegetable sticks.

Chips or crudites served with vegetarian bean dips, hummus or salsas

Tossed Salad 

(if you wish, set out salad items a la salad bar and let guests create their own)

German Pumpkin Soup

Main Course Ideas

Faux Turkey (Quorn or Tofurky)

note: Quorn is vegetarian, not vegan)

with

Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy

Substantial Side Dishes/Main Dish

(depending on portions, these can be a main dish or side dish)

Macaroni and Cheese 
(see links above)

 

Caramelized Butternut Squash Roast with Chestnuts

(without the breadcrumbs, this also serves as a gluten-free stuffing substitute)

Wild Rice Stuffed Pumpkin

Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash

Additional Sides

Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

Any Stuffing recipe made with vegetable broth and no meat.

Rice

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Pecan & Cranberry Topping

(can be vegan and gluten-free)

Carrot-Parsnip Mash

(vegan)

Cranberry Pumpkin Spice Muffins (GF)

Cranberry Sauce

as well as any other family favorite vegetables, fruit salads, breads, etc.

Desserts

Caramel Pumpkin Pudding

Chocolate Pecan Pudding Pie

Bay Leaf Pound Cake

Happy cooking!

Featured by:
Junkin' Joe

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