Thanksgiving with a young vegetarian

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The Mommy Files

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Thanksgiving with a young vegetarian

Last month, I wrote about my 5-year-old daughter's conversion to vegetarianism.

After we adopted a cat, Paris decided that she loves animals too much to eat

them. Honestly, I thought it was a phase but here we are a month since she first

refused a chicken leg at dinner and she's still not eating meat (except for

salami).

 

 

" I'm not going to eat a turkey, Mom! "

I'm supportive of her choice (though I think she's coming to this decision

rather early in life). I'm now grilling lots of fish and cooking extra

vegetables at dinner--actually the entire family is benefiting from her diet.

But now that Thanksgiving is around the corner, I'm grappling with her choice.

Will my daughter really not take part in the tradition of eating a slice of

turkey topped with cranberry sauce along with the rest of the family? When Uncle

Gary pulls the bird out of the oven and Grandpa Terry starts carving, will she

really refuse a slice of moist, salty meat?

 

The other night at the dinner table, while I was wolfing down some grilled

chicken and she was nibbling a cabbage salad, we talked about Thanksgiving.

 

" I'm not going to eat turkey, Mom. That's a bird and it's mean to eat birds. I

love my cat too much to eat animals. "

 

I wanted to make the point that her cat caught a bird in the backyard the other

day but instead I said, " That's fine. You don't have to eat turkey and there

will be plenty of other things you can eat at dinner. "

 

" Like what? "

 

" Oh probably some mashed potatoes and stuffing and those pickled watermelon

rinds that your grandpa likes. "

 

" Yuck! "

 

Lost on how to deal with a kid who won't eat turkey, I phoned the Vegetarian

Resource Group, a nonprofit based in Baltimore, M.D., which offers menus,

recipes, and information geared at young vegetarian and vegan kids. I figured

they might provide me with some funky recipe for fake tofu turkey but instead a

friendly guy named John Cunningham, the program manager, put me in touch with

Bonnie Sorak, who is raising four vegan boys in Maryland.

 

" Don't you miss the turkey at the Thanksgiving meal? Don't you feel like your

kids are missing out? " I asked Sorak.

 

" Not at all, " said Sorak, who came to veganism due to allergies. " I was never a

big turkey lover. For me, it was all about the dressing. Our family is together

at the meal. That's what matters. "

 

Okay, she had a point.

 

Sorak ran through her menu for Thanksgiving. Most of the recipes came from a

1997 edition of Vegetarian Times magazine and some are available online at

vegetariantimes.com.

 

 

 

Sweet potato biscuits

 

Golden lentil chestnut roulade

 

Whole wheat bread stuffing with chestnuts, apples and vegan sausage

 

Portobello mushroom gravy

 

Green bean casserole with crispy onion topping

 

Sweet potato-pineapple casserole with vegan marshmallow topping

 

Steamed Green beans

 

Baked sweet potatoes

 

Mashed potatoes

 

Pumpkin pie with cashew cream

 

Apple pie

 

 

 

Her lineup of dishes made me realize that a turkey-free Thanksgiving might not

be so bad after all.

 

Are you a vegetarian family? What will you be serving on Thursday? What do your

kids like to eat for the holiday?

 

Posted By: Amy Graff (Email) | November 25 2008 at 03:00 PM

 

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