Thanksgiving, 2020 Style

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and things are going to look a bit different this year. I don’t know about you all but I am used to spending Thanksgiving with a BIG group - at least 20 people - including mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses/partners, kiddos, friends, dogs….the whole gang!

We all manage to squeeze in at one giant long table in my parents’ dining room and pass the food around one person at a time.

Sadly, this year I will be spending Thanksgiving away from my family for the first time in my 28 years on this earth. Partly because I just moved to Los Angeles in September and my family is in Seattle, and partly because of the pandemic.

One thing is for sure though, I will be saying extra thanks for my family and all of our health this year! If there’s anything we’ve learned in 2020, it’s that our health and our loved ones are not to be taken for granted.

Plant-Based Thanksgiving Menu

So, normally I’m not the one who does the cooking on Thanksgiving. I contribute by making my Aunt Linda’s famous rolls and let the pros handle the rest.

This year though, I wanted to take a stab at making some healthier plant-based versions of the Thanksgiving classics - cranberry sauce, stuffing, potatoes, and gravy. I’m going to share all these recipes in a series of posts so you can try your hand at a plant-based Thanksgiving too.

Here’s the full menu:

I. Garlic Smashed Sweet Potatoes, V, GF

II. A Healthier Thanksgiving Stuffing, V, GF

III. A Healthier Mushroom Gravy, V, GF

IV. Crispy Oven-Baked Tofu Nuggets, V, GF

V. No-Sugar-Added Cranberry Sauce, V, GF

You will notice that all of these recipes are both vegan and gluten-free. With the exception of some oil in the recipes, these fit the whole foods plant-based diet as well.

I hope you love all of these recipes. Be sure to tag me on Instagram and leave comments in the comment sections on the recipes to let me know how they turn out!

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!