Monday, November 28, 2011

Better Late than Never......

 Happy Monday!  I know this is a little late, but hey....late is better than never....right?   Here's the recap of my Thanksgiving.   I was a little like this after we ate our Thanksgiving meal. 




I made this Hearty Lentil and Mushroom Shepherds Pie from Fat Free Vegan to take for Thanksgiving.  It turned out great.  I'm sorry, but I don't have a picture of it.  I got in such hurry to get out the door that I forgot to photograph it.   After I realized that I never took a picture, I decided that I would take a picture of my Thanksgiving plate, but I left the camera out in the car.  I was about to starve, so I didn't go get it....sorry.  I had planned on taking some roasted veggies, but was told there would be plenty of veggies that I could eat, so I didn't make any.  After glancing over everything I asked about certain dishes to make sure they were vegan, and dug in.   Later on that evening my niece commented on how good the green beans were.  Then, out it came...the green beans were cooked in beef brother.  WHAT?  At that moment my little niece looked at me and said "you ate green beans didn't you?"  Yep, I sure did, because I was told they were okay for me to eat.  Apologies came from my SIL, and she said that she never thought about that not making them vegan.   Again, I explained what a vegan was, and explained my diet and what it did and did not consist of. Of course, I'm not the type of person that just blows my top, but I was very upset.  I felt like throwing up and my insides felt all dirty and violated!  After that I found out that several other dishes that were there were not actually vegan either, but was told they were.  I didn't eat those though...thank goodness.  From now on, I will for sure be taking my own meal to any family function that we have.  Shen, I know.....  It's not just family though , no one here in the South understands the full meaning of what a vegan is.  They all seem to think it just means that you don't eat meat.  No matter how many times you explain it, they just don't get it.  I have to admit, I debated about whether I should blog about my Thanksgiving or not, because I have family that reads my blog, but I decided that I wanted to and I hope that it doesn't offend anyone.   

So with all that being said, we all did a lot of this over the remainder of the long weekend..  I started to blog several times, but just couldn't bring myself to it.   :o)


I did take a little time to make Isa's Marbled Banana Bread.  I think I swirled the batter a little too long though.  It almost looks like plain ole chocolate banana bread.  Sure did taste good though.  Tony suggested adding walnuts to it the next time.  I think that would be a great addition. 


I also made some granola.  I've been wanting to make some for a while now, but just haven't done it.  I finally got around to it Saturday morning.  I used oats, hemp seeds, walnuts, shredded coconut, dried cranberries, dried apricots, wheat germ, safflower oil, brown sugar, rice syrup, and vanilla.  I used Alicia Silverstone's recipe in The Kind Diet as a guide to go by.  If you don't have her book, you can find the recipe here.


 I didn't have anything to take for lunch today, so I went to the cafeteria in hopes to get a salad.  I was a little too late though.  They were all gone.  I lucked up though, they had some steamed veggies....yay!


Anyway, I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog reading.  I do hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving weekend and I hope you aren't as behind at work as I am.  :o)

~Peace~

12 comments:

  1. These little slip-ups happen, and while I wish people didn't think you could just fish the chicken out of the soup and call the soup vegan, they do. I know just how you feel, but it's really is hard to convey to others just how passionate vegans feel about their food choices. You can only do your best to patiently explain, and eventually more people will understand.

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  2. That stinks that your Thanksgiving turned out that way, but like Andrea says, it happens. At least you could use it as an opportunity to educate your family more on what vegan means. I completely understand the sick feeling, though. Been there, done that, don't want to go through it again!

    Maggie looks so snuggly in that picture. I want to cuddle her!

    We have some bananas that need to be baked into something. That bread might just get made tonight.....

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  3. Happy late Thanksgiving. Sorry it wasn't too great :( I love Maggie in that pic though!

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  4. So sorry that Thanksgiving went a little wonky...not your fault, but I can understand feeling icky about it. Glad the shepherds pie was a success though...you'll have to make it again sometime and take some pics; sounds really good!

    If that pic of Maggie doesn't cheer you up...it sure makes me smile! :)

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  5. Ugh I'm sorry that your Thanksgiving went awry! I can commiserate, when I was vegetarian (pre-vegan) I had the same thing happen to me...I was told the veggies were safe and they were in fact cooked with chicken broth. I was so upset too so i definitely know how you feel. That is why I kind of insist on making my own vegan dishes (enough for all) now...I still get asked if fish is vegan...really people?! Like ANdrea said, the best we can do is remain patient and just explain things...and I guess ask specific questions about dishes that other people make.

    On a happy note, you baking ventures look delicious! That bread sounds and looks delicious and the granola is lovely. I'll have to try her recipe when i use up the granola I got at the store.

    And Maggie is precious as always!

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  6. You were physically and psychologically violated by people you trust. Yes, we've all been there, doesn't make it acceptable when the people claim ignorance.

    I could go on for many many paragraphs about all aspects of your Thanksgiving (even though I wasn't there), but you are sweet Michelle2, so I understand you have to put up with it to maintain family ties.

    Give Maggie a cuddle for me.

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  7. oh no, you poor thing. I know exactly how you feel, the same thing happened to me when I was eating out recently. I've decided to just order a drink unless we're at a vegetarian restaurant & bringing my own things to family/friends places.. even if they have the best intentions something always goes wrong.
    I hope you can move past it and have a great vegan Christmas :)

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  8. I can certainly relate to this one. I know people who cook their potatoes in chicken broth but they think that all the broth gets poured down the drain when they are finished. It's so much safer to take our own food and share healthy food with the others.

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  9. That's pretty upsetting--about the "meat-cident" for lack of a better word. Guess all you can really do is move on, and consider it a lesson learned as far as future caution goes? Everything else does look "magically delicious" as the commercial used to say :)!

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  10. Andrea - You're so right, slip ups do happen. I know it wasn't done on purpose. And, I agree, all we can do is to keep telling others and soon they will understand better. :o)

    Molly - yeah, I rather not go thru it again either. :o) I hope you make the bread. It's really good. Let me know how you liked it if you make it.

    Carissa - Happy Late Thanksgiving to you to! Everything except for the food incident was great. :o)

    Rose - I will make the shepherds pie again for sure. It was so good. Everyone who tried it really liked it. Oh yeah...Maggie always cheers me up. One look at her and I can't help but smile. :o)

    VaVa - lol...I still get asked the same thing about fish. :o) I'll definitely be on top of my game better from now on. I'm all past it now though. The granola was the best that I've ever made. Tony loved it.

    Shen - Ha... Yep, got to keep peace in the family. I just need to ask better questions I guess to make sure I don't encounter this type of thing again. I'm past it now...thank goodness. I gave Maggie a big ole cuddle for ya. She cuddled right back. :o)

    Claire - Sounds like you have been in my shoes plenty of times. :o) We all live and learn don't we? I have moved on though. The day after Thanksgiving was a new day.

    Quiltbug - I guess it's hard for people to understand if they don't live the way we do. It's all good though. I'll just keep educating. :o)

    Stacy - You are so right....moving on. :o) LOL...I so remember that commercial!

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  11. Aw, man. I am not the type to blow my top, either, but I would be ticked. Unfortunately, I trust very few people when it comes to cooking for me. I think the best thing is for them to read this because sometimes it's easier to write something than explain it to someone's face. Especially when they are family who you love and don't want to act mean and confrontational with. I know that some people really think that vegan just means you eat a lot of vegetables or something. I get tired of living in Arkansas, as well, because there are very few people I feel like understand me. We just have to ask, "Can you tell me everything you put in this?" and always be prepared with food of our own. Love ya! Glad you got to make some other yummy looking foods recently.

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  12. I'm sorry to hear about that. My family is pretty understanding but I still need to bring at least two or three dishes just in case! I hope they'll learn. Next time, you might want to bring a whole dish to share rather than just yr own plate - that way they can see how delicious vegan food can be and how unnecessary animal products are!

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