Family Reject Vegan-only Thanksgiving Dinner?

Thanksgiving is approaching and I’ve been trying to lose weight the past 6 months. I’ve gone vegan during that time and I’ve been pretty successful!

Every year, our family always has the biggest dinner celebrations. This year dinner will be at my house and I would like to make a vegan feast for everyone. I’ve been researching some great vegan recipes and I think they will be pleasantly surprised at how good vegan cooking can be.

We usually send out an RSVP invitation through email to everyone. I want to tell them not to bring meat or animal products of any kind because of my newfound dietary exploration.

The thing is, no one but my Mother knows about my diet. My Mom is known for having a big mouth and will inevitably spill the beans on the “surprise” dinner. How can I make sure that I’m not the only one at the table for Thanksgiving dinner?

When in Rome…do as the Romans do. When invited to a vegan feast…eat vegan!

Pull on your big girl panties (or big boy tidy whities) and send out the invite telling your family not to bring the flesh of the beast, or beastly products of any kind, to your dinner.

You’re the host! You can make this party your own and serve vegan. Who knows? You may turn some of your family into converts? At the very least, you will be introducing them to a new way of thinking about food, and you may turn them on to some tasty dishes to boot!

Years ago, I went with a friend to a yoga retreat in the mountains. She forewarned me that the only food they served was vegetarian. I was up for it, even though I thought I would miss my staple meat products.

Hey, I’m a farm girl who helped my family butcher cows and pigs for the beef and pork my family would eat all year long. When we served “steaks” in our family, they were the size of “roasts”! I’m bred to eat meat, so I admit I was a bit pensive about going without meat for the long weekend retreat.

However, to my surprise, the food was outstanding and I didn’t miss meat at all. I still remember to this day how good the vegetarian food was during that weekend!

So, don’t let your mother spill the vegan beans! Preemptively send out your invitations to disable your possible detractors. Said another way, tell them about your vegan feast before she has the chance to talk it up, or mean mouth it, or set you up for having to sit alone at your Thanksgiving table.

Keep your invitation positive and inviting. Make it sound like a new, exciting, culinary adventure and I’m sure the family will show up. What, turn down a free meal, even if it’s vegan? I doubt they’ll choose to eat Thanksgiving dinner at McDonalds instead of the feast you’re preparing!

Embrace your Personal Power with Life Coaching~
• Do you want this Vegan Thanksgiving dinner to be a “surprise” or would you rather tell your guests up front what to expect?
• If you decide to keep it a “surprise” how will you respond to your family finding out about your plan through your mother?
• How will you manage them bringing a meat-a-licious casserole to your “surprise” Vegan feast?