7 Things I Learned From a Turkey Free Thanksgiving
Today was the first time we chose to have a turkey free Thanksgiving. By this I mean that there was no turkey prepared, I've personally been turkey free for years. It was also the first Thanksgiving without our extended family who we missed dearly.
We made the decision to be in St. Croix for the holiday this year to accommodate our youngest son who unequivocally wanted to be home for Halloween and Christmas. However, to his dismay he only fully realized once we arrived that he would be missing Thanksgiving football with his pal Avery, of which he habitually reminds us.
We were invited to have dinner with our friends who primarily eat vegetarian. As we corresponded about the plans for the meal she asked if I was planning on cooking a turkey to which, much to her relief I responded "No!"
After dinner, I asked my husband and boys, "What did you learn from having a turkey free Thanksgiving?" Here are their answers:
1. WE SAVED A TURKEY'S LIFE
I wish I could say there were no casualties, however, we did have some fish prepared for those that wanted some. We are on an island. Which causes me to wonder, is the life of one turkey any less to that of a few fish?
I would have to say no. The difference is in the life of the animal for us, I don't agree with the method of raising animals solely for the purpose of being food and the inhumane conditions and treatment they endure for their entire life.
2. THE BELLY IS FULL
Yes, everyone left with a full belly. However, no one over indulged. It is interesting to think about how we are expected to eat until we are overfull on Thanksgiving. We only have to eat for nutrients ideally anyway.
3. THE MEAL WAS HEALTHY
Not having the turkey encouraged us to put more thought into the dishes we did serve as there was really no main dish. Using good ingredients the dish sizes were smaller, less leftover, but what is left is healthy to eat. Even though there was fish, it was a small amount and not set up as the main dish. We decided on brussels sprouts with a lemon, maple, thyme sauce; stuffing with celery, pecans, and cranberries; green beans with olive oil, salt, and pepper; mashed potatoes with a small amount of cream and butter; cut sweet potatoes with apples, cinnamon, and agave; whole wheat rolls, and homemade chocolate cream pie and apple pie.
4. PREP TIME IS DRAMATICALLY CUT IN HALF
One thing I always love about not preparing meat is that you only have to clean your cutting board one time and that's at the end. With two cooks we had the entire meal ready in an hour and a half. Clean up was 30 min. This left lots of time for relaxing and hanging out.
5. WE DON'T HAVE TO EAT TURKEY FOR THE NEXT WEEK
Every time we had prepared a turkey in the past there was so much left that you felt obligated to eat it for the week to come and if not a lot of food goes to waste not just from the turkey but all the other food.
6. YOU ARE NOT A VEGETARIAN, YOU EAT VEGETARIAN
I really strive in my life to live as peacefully as possible. In developing a vegetarian lifestyle, there seems to be a learning curve. It was about 12 years ago when I first decided to not eat certain meats. It started with red meat and pork mostly because I wanted to "eat healthier". Then I read Deuteronomy 14 where I learned about clean and unclean foods. The list made sense, so I stopped eating shrimp, creating a like/love relationship with them for many years, I like the taste just fine, but I love them more as a soul. Yes, I know it sounds weird, but if you know me you know I feel guilt praying for one after another. My diet evolved over many years and is still evolving to less and less animals and animal byproduct. I very rarely have any animals at all these days but if I do there is an awareness of what and who I am allowing into my body and that every animal has a soul.
7. NO ONE TOOK A NAP
Not sure if it was because we didn't have turkey, but I'm just saying we all stayed awake. It was a first and there was even some swimming and some bocce ball action after dinner.
We made the decision to be in St. Croix for the holiday this year to accommodate our youngest son who unequivocally wanted to be home for Halloween and Christmas. However, to his dismay he only fully realized once we arrived that he would be missing Thanksgiving football with his pal Avery, of which he habitually reminds us.
We were invited to have dinner with our friends who primarily eat vegetarian. As we corresponded about the plans for the meal she asked if I was planning on cooking a turkey to which, much to her relief I responded "No!"
After dinner, I asked my husband and boys, "What did you learn from having a turkey free Thanksgiving?" Here are their answers:
1. WE SAVED A TURKEY'S LIFE
I wish I could say there were no casualties, however, we did have some fish prepared for those that wanted some. We are on an island. Which causes me to wonder, is the life of one turkey any less to that of a few fish?
I would have to say no. The difference is in the life of the animal for us, I don't agree with the method of raising animals solely for the purpose of being food and the inhumane conditions and treatment they endure for their entire life.
2. THE BELLY IS FULL
Yes, everyone left with a full belly. However, no one over indulged. It is interesting to think about how we are expected to eat until we are overfull on Thanksgiving. We only have to eat for nutrients ideally anyway.
3. THE MEAL WAS HEALTHY
Not having the turkey encouraged us to put more thought into the dishes we did serve as there was really no main dish. Using good ingredients the dish sizes were smaller, less leftover, but what is left is healthy to eat. Even though there was fish, it was a small amount and not set up as the main dish. We decided on brussels sprouts with a lemon, maple, thyme sauce; stuffing with celery, pecans, and cranberries; green beans with olive oil, salt, and pepper; mashed potatoes with a small amount of cream and butter; cut sweet potatoes with apples, cinnamon, and agave; whole wheat rolls, and homemade chocolate cream pie and apple pie.
4. PREP TIME IS DRAMATICALLY CUT IN HALF
One thing I always love about not preparing meat is that you only have to clean your cutting board one time and that's at the end. With two cooks we had the entire meal ready in an hour and a half. Clean up was 30 min. This left lots of time for relaxing and hanging out.
5. WE DON'T HAVE TO EAT TURKEY FOR THE NEXT WEEK
Every time we had prepared a turkey in the past there was so much left that you felt obligated to eat it for the week to come and if not a lot of food goes to waste not just from the turkey but all the other food.
6. YOU ARE NOT A VEGETARIAN, YOU EAT VEGETARIAN
I really strive in my life to live as peacefully as possible. In developing a vegetarian lifestyle, there seems to be a learning curve. It was about 12 years ago when I first decided to not eat certain meats. It started with red meat and pork mostly because I wanted to "eat healthier". Then I read Deuteronomy 14 where I learned about clean and unclean foods. The list made sense, so I stopped eating shrimp, creating a like/love relationship with them for many years, I like the taste just fine, but I love them more as a soul. Yes, I know it sounds weird, but if you know me you know I feel guilt praying for one after another. My diet evolved over many years and is still evolving to less and less animals and animal byproduct. I very rarely have any animals at all these days but if I do there is an awareness of what and who I am allowing into my body and that every animal has a soul.
7. NO ONE TOOK A NAP
Not sure if it was because we didn't have turkey, but I'm just saying we all stayed awake. It was a first and there was even some swimming and some bocce ball action after dinner.
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| If I had to be anywhere but home, this is it. |
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| A little friendly competition after dinner. |
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