Recovery from Thanksgiving

[Guest guest]

I am a vegetarian on a very low fat diet--less than 20 grams of fat a day due to

a chronic gall bladder infection. However, I have very elderly omnivorous

parents. When my father developed chronic lung disease and could no longer cook

their traditional Thanksgiving turkey, my mother, now senile, thought he could.

So, I knew that unless I cooked it, my [now 90-year old] father might die

cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving. So, for the last 5 years, I have cooked the

turkey [free range Willie Bird]. Since I did not have time to do some stir

fried tofu and veggies for myself, I was hungry as I was cleaning up. When

everyone else was groaning about being too full and I am looking for food in the

refrigerator because I was so focused on getting this meal for them, I forgot

about myself--there was bread, whole wheat rolls, beets, and cauliflower with

yogurt dressing for me, none of which I am crazy about. For desert, there were

two kinds of pumpkin, chocolate and plain pecan, and

apple pies. I like all of them, but only one was low enough fat, sans the

crust. I made it with evaporated nonfat milk and only two eggs for two pies.

At the end of the evening when my parents had left, my husband hugged me and

said " you made it through another Thanksgiving " .

 

Tonight, I am going out to dinner and have Chinese food.

 

Kathleen

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Aren't you the brave one! Good for you - and your husband is quite right: you

really need to be hugged for that effort!

 

Best love,

 

Pat - with huggggggs

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathleen-

Your pie alternative actually sounds good. Evaoprated milk adds a

nice smoothness to everything. At the risk of sounding ignorant,

what is a Willie Bird and where did you get it? You see, my husband

is a " dyed-in-the-wool " carnivore and I do still include meat in his

meals, though I've tried to cut down on the content. I've searched

high and low for truly free-range meat options, but to no avail.

I'd go so far as to say I'd like to visit a farm to make sure the

animals really live free-range. Any suggestions? Of course, if

this is an inappropriate subject for the group, I'll understand if

the message is deleted. By the way, I have been able to convert my

husband to some homemade vegetarian soups (mostly by not mentioning

they're vegetarian), and he was very pleased with my

vegetarian " stuffing, " which I made with vegetable broth, an egg

(cage free and organic), bread cubes, and lots of sauteed

vegetables, then baked in muffin tins. Also didn't make a point of

their not containing chicken broth.

Aurora

 

, Kathleen Pelley

<kmpelley> wrote:

> I am a vegetarian on a very low fat diet--less than 20 grams of

fat a day due to a chronic gall bladder infection. However, I have

very elderly omnivorous parents. When my father developed chronic

lung disease and could no longer cook their traditional Thanksgiving

turkey, my mother, now senile, thought he could. So, I knew that

unless I cooked it, my [now 90-year old] father might die cooking a

turkey for Thanksgiving. So, for the last 5 years, I have cooked

the turkey [free range Willie Bird]. Since I did not have time to

do some stir fried tofu and veggies for myself, I was hungry as I

was cleaning up. When everyone else was groaning about being too

full and I am looking for food in the refrigerator because I was so

focused on getting this meal for them, I forgot about myself--there

was bread, whole wheat rolls, beets, and cauliflower with yogurt

dressing for me, none of which I am crazy about. For desert, there

were two kinds of pumpkin, chocolate and plain pecan, and

> apple pies. I like all of them, but only one was low enough fat,

sans the crust. I made it with evaporated nonfat milk and only two

eggs for two pies. At the end of the evening when my parents had

left, my husband hugged me and said " you made it through another

Thanksgiving " .

>

> Tonight, I am going out to dinner and have Chinese food.

>

> Kathleen

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Aurora,

Do you put the standard stuffing mix in muffin tins to bake? I like

this idea - sort of individual servings instead of a huge mass of

stuffing, which can get gummy. Any details would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Karen

[Guest guest]

Hi Karen-

I don't use stuffing mix, since it usually is made with chicken

broth or chicken bouillon. I'm presuming you mean something like

SToveTop. If you do use a mix, I'm quite sure you could cook the

stuffing as usual in a pot on top of the stove, then just put in the

muffin tins to brown for a couple of minutes: maybe 5 @ 350

degrees? I chopped and sauteed my veggies two days ahead of time

and put them in the fridge. On Thanksgiving, I broke up some bread

into cubes, added an egg, then poured in some vegetable broth (small

amounts at a time) until I was satisfied with the moistness of the

mixture. Mixed it well, greased the tins (no paper muffin cups,

though), and baked them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until

they looked crisp enough for my liking. It's sooo easy! Hope this

helps.

Aurora

 

 

, kleelibby@w... wrote:

> Aurora,

> Do you put the standard stuffing mix in muffin tins to bake? I

like

> this idea - sort of individual servings instead of a huge mass of

> stuffing, which can get gummy. Any details would be appreciated.

> Thanks,

> Karen

[Guest guest]

>Of course, if this is an inappropriate subject for the group, I'll understand

if

> the message is deleted.

 

Well no, I won't delete ;=) But we try not to talk about me*t on this list, cuz

this

is a *vegetarian* list, ya know? LOL Sometimes we talk about things that look

like or taste like me*t, or we talk about *not* eating me*t. But what we don't

do

is advise on where to buy me*t for consumption - or on how to prepare it, cook

it, etc. etc. etc. Okay? ;=)

 

That said, go to an organic food shop that you trust for *any* produce, veggie

or otherwise, and ask the proprietor for the reassurances you need. They can

usually tell you about the 'free-range' eggs, etc.

 

Also, as far as farm animals are concerned, remember that their lives are

shortened by, er, slaughter, no matter how 'humane' the life - and the

slaughter is not decidely *not* humane.

 

Me? If I had a meat-eating dh, I'd not assist either his or my conscience by

going to the extent of seeking out animal flesh that was more 'acceptable'. But

that's easy for me to say because my dh is also a longtime veggie ;=)

 

Good luck! Maybe you guys can consult about this off list?

 

Best,

 

Pat ;=) - who really does understand your dilemma and how you're trying to

do the right thing.

 

>At the risk of sounding ignorant,

> what is a Willie Bird and where did you get it? You see, my husband

> is a " dyed-in-the-wool " carnivore and I do still include meat in his

> meals, though I've tried to cut down on the content. I've searched

> high and low for truly free-range meat options, but to no avail.

> I'd go so far as to say I'd like to visit a farm to make sure the

> animals really live free-range. Any suggestions? Of course, if

> this is an inappropriate subject for the group, I'll understand if

> the message is deleted.

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Aurora. I don't use most stuffing " mixes " since they contain

chicken broth, as you mention. I have found that Pepperidge Farm makes

a cornbread mix that is vegetarian, but sometimes it's hard to find

(guess it's the old " supply and demand " issue). I like the idea of a

crispy stuffing muffin Thanks for the information.

Karen

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your understanding response. I appreciate your kind

remarks. I promise to keep to the subject from now on.

Aurora

 

 

, " veggiehound "

<veggiehound> wrote:

>

> >Of course, if this is an inappropriate subject for the group,

I'll understand if

> > the message is deleted.

>

> Well no, I won't delete ;=) But we try not to talk about me*t on

this list, cuz this

> is a *vegetarian* list, ya know? LOL Sometimes we talk about

things that look

> like or taste like me*t, or we talk about *not* eating me*t. But

what we don't do

> is advise on where to buy me*t for consumption - or on how to

prepare it, cook

> it, etc. etc. etc. Okay? ;=)

>

> That said, go to an organic food shop that you trust for *any*

produce, veggie

> or otherwise, and ask the proprietor for the reassurances you

need. They can

> usually tell you about the 'free-range' eggs, etc.

>

> Also, as far as farm animals are concerned, remember that their

lives are

> shortened by, er, slaughter, no matter how 'humane' the life - and

the

> slaughter is not decidely *not* humane.

>

> Me? If I had a meat-eating dh, I'd not assist either his or my

conscience by

> going to the extent of seeking out animal flesh that was

more 'acceptable'. But

> that's easy for me to say because my dh is also a longtime

veggie ;=)

>

> Good luck! Maybe you guys can consult about this off list?

>

> Best,

>

> Pat ;=) - who really does understand your dilemma and how you're

trying to

> do the right thing.

>

> >At the risk of sounding ignorant,

> > what is a Willie Bird and where did you get it? You see, my

husband

> > is a " dyed-in-the-wool " carnivore and I do still include meat in

his

> > meals, though I've tried to cut down on the content. I've

searched

> > high and low for truly free-range meat options, but to no

avail.

> > I'd go so far as to say I'd like to visit a farm to make sure

the

> > animals really live free-range. Any suggestions? Of course, if

> > this is an inappropriate subject for the group, I'll understand

if

> > the message is deleted.

[Guest guest]

> Thanks for your understanding response. I appreciate your kind

> remarks. I promise to keep to the subject from now on.

> Aurora

 

No problem at all ;=) It's just that it can lead to all kinds of stuff we'd like

to

keep away from if we talk about such things for consumption by our loved

ones - it can even lead to some wavering vegetarians deciding that

'compassionately raised' animals are ok to eat. That'd be their choice, of

course, but it would run counter to a forum that tries to support them in their

non-meat-eating LOL Difficult, yes?

 

Actually, it's a problem on most vegetarian lists because vegetarians give up

eating me*t for so many different reasons ;=)

 

I really do appreciate your problem - I just can't discuss it properly on this

list. I

too am tied by the conventions of veggie lists.

 

Best love - and thanks for writing!

 

Pat