FAMILY blog
How to Be a Vegetarian
During the Turkey Holidays
“W hen I was fourteen, I bravely walked up
to my parents and declared that I was
becoming a vegetarian. As most parents would,
they smiled and replied, “Sure sweetie, whatever
you say.” Thus started the very long and tedious
transition to vegetarianism. Whoever says becoming
a vegetarian is easy; they’re lying. Especially when
you’re younger and doing it all on your own. I
wrestled with food for months before figuring out
the right vegetarian diet. Even now, ten years later;
I’m still learning.

When it comes to the holidays, lavish family dinners
can be a bit tricky for vegetarians. Through trial and
error, I have learned what works and what doesn’t.

Over the years, I have discovered some great
Thanksgiving meat alternatives, such as vegetarian
gravy. My favorite is Simply Organic Vegetarian
Brown Gravy, which is 100% vegetarian-friendly
and can be found in your local grocery store! This
is the perfect boost of flavor to add for the mashed
potatoes and all of the other fixings. My Mom makes
roasted garlic mashed potatoes that are heavenly.

She also adds extra marshmallows to the sweet pota-
toes. No turkey means you can double the potatoes!
My Dad becomes my superhero because he makes
his famous stuffing just for me! Another dish that
I can’t help but to overeat is my Mom’s green bean
casserole. Besides the sweet potatoes, it’s the only
My typical Thanksgiving dinner plate usually
contains green bean casserole, meat-free stuffing,
sweet potatoes with extra marshmallows and tons of
mashed potatoes with vegetarian gravy!
colorful food on my plate. Even though I don’t eat
I have two main jobs on Thanksgiving Day: The ap-
petizer and the dessert. Cheese is my favorite food
and almost none of the traditional Thanksgiving
recipes include cheese as one of the ingredients. I
pick out a couple different types of cheeses, jams,
crackers and grapes and lay it out on a very nice
spread that everyone snacks on throughout the day
while we cook. It’s the perfect combination to keep
you fueled without filling you up.

version of Thanksgiving. It’s the time spent with
For dessert, my family loves to indulge in apple pie,
and making it from scratch together makes us love it
even more. Homemade apple pie is actually easier to
make than it sounds. Plus, the smell of fresh apple
pie baking in the oven will make you want to save
some room for dessert.

6 November 2017 washingtonFAMILY.com
turkey for Thanksgiving, there are a lot of great
alternatives. So yes, my plates are filled with carbs; but it’s my
loved ones cooking, baking and enjoying it all to-
gether that makes Thanksgiving so special; not just
what you eat. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Michele Katsaris
Production Coordinator
Washington FAMILY Magazine
mkatsaris@thefamilymagazine.com