My First Vegetarian Christmas
If you’re new to the blog you can read more about my vegetarianism here and here.
Since I just started eating as a vegetarian (and then later decided pesco-vegetarian was better suited for me as I LOVE seafood) in May, this Christmas was my first Christmas ever not eating turkey or ham.
Every year my mom makes a delicious breakfast for us all to eat. Bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, cheese, toast. This year I skipped the bacon and added more fruit. No biggie.
The big question I kept getting was: Omg, your not going to have any Turkey? On CHRISTMAS? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO EAT?
(I realize this isn’t the most flattering photo of the turkey – but it’s the only one I took! Whoops!)
Well, I ate potatoes, stuffing, mushroom gravy, brussel sprouts, buns, turnips and peas.
My plate:
Eric’s plate:
Not THAT big of a difference is there?
The only thing my mom really did differently while cooking is making some of the stuffing outside of the turkey and we made a small pot of mushroom gravy (which was SUPER delicious, btw) instead of turkey gravy.
That’s it. I ate everything else!
Did I miss the turkey and ham? No. Not at all. I don’t even really like turkey that much and the stuffing + potatoes have always been the best part of Christmas Dinner in my opinion!
Also, my mom bought an organic, local turkey this year as well as an organic, local ham so I’m proud to say that even if my other family members ate the meat they were at least eating locally!
And that’s it, that’s all. It was a great Christmas Dinner and I’m really appreciative of my mom for taking my eating choices into consideration. It was her first time hosting a Christmas Dinner and we had 14 people plus some kids over, so it was a bit stressful but she still made sure to make my stuffing + gravy. And we even snuck some navy beans into the potatoes to give me some extra protein.
Nobody even noticed 
Yum. That looks delicious! That was sweet of your mom to accomodate your
eating needs. My mom made sure I had gluten free options on Thankgiving which was so kind and thoughtful of her. And my brother made sure everything was GF for me on Christmas Eve – which was pretty easy since we did seafood!
On Christmas Day, I went to my aunt’s and her daughter has celiac, so she’s a pro at GF cooking. We had an awesome meal and then she brought out a tray of gluten free Christmas treats! Oh that made my day!
I need to try the navy beans w/ mashed potatoes combo sometime. Great way to sneak in extra protein.
It really isn’t that hard to have just as good a meal without meat. I am not a vegetarian but I also don’t like a lot of meat anyway and I didn’t eat any meat on Christmas Eve (everybody else had some beef brisket or something… DID NOT LOOK APPETIZING TO ME AAHA) and on Christmas Day we have stopped doing ham and do lasagna and stuffed shells… so also very easy to accomodate non-meat eating.
So many of my friends and family don’t get how I survive without eating meat every single day.
“If you’re only eating it a few times a week and don’t eat tofu, how do you get protein?” I have to explain how protein is found in almost everything. Over and over and over again… :p
So I’ve mentioned before I’m not a vegetarian, but I eat that way prob 90% of the time (or less if you count seafood, more if you don’t). On Christmas Day I was eating at Eric’s and I had vegetarian dinner… aka I had 2 rolls and a giant baked potato for dinner haha. I looked ridiculous but luckily it was a crazy day so no one noticed and/or said something- I purposely sat myself in between all the boys cuz I knew they wouldn’t pay attention or care. They eat pork and other meats on Christmas that I just don’t really like/my stomach doesn’t like so I just went the potato route haha. Normally they do accommodate my ridiculous eating but I think since I’m not normally there on Christmas and it was a weird crazy day, no one thought of it… which I don’t mind because I kind of hate when people make a fuss over my food- and thats part of the reason I could never be a full time vegetarian haha.
Stuffing is the best part of a turkey dinner anyway so I never miss the meat either.
I’ve been quite lucky as well and my Mom makes a point of making sure there are lots of veggies etc. for me to eat and my mother-in-law always uses our visits as an excuse to try out new recipes (“just for you”). They both admit that my being a vegetarian has made them try new things and incorporate more veggies into their meals, always a good thing for everyone involved. Makes me feel better about being ‘different’ too. My attempts to go vegan is stressing them out though, not gonna lie!
I could never be vegan. I love butter. And cheese. And yogurt. Lol
I tried to get my mom to buy a local organic turkey for Thanksgiving this year, but they were like $5 a pound which is astronomically higher than a regular turkey. I couldn’t ask her to spend that much just for me, so I skipped the turkey also and didn’t really miss it!
I had a good first vegetarian christmas too! Same thing, fixed a normal plate without any turkey or ham. My fam also served BBQ pork, so I passed on that one too.
I didn’t miss the meat either, plus, I loved having more room on my plate for veggies!
That’s too funny! My boyfriend had the same experience…he was vegetarian for like 15 years and his family was aghast when he started eating meat again! Now he eats all of it! They always give him a hard time now too.
Amber that is awesome that your family is so supportive of your new vegetarianism! You’re right though, skipping the turkey and gravy really doesn’t make THAT much a difference in your plate! Good for you!
My mom is always super accomodating too. This year at Christmas she picked up a yummy pasta salad for me since the rest of the gang was having steak. Moms are great!
Your dinner looks so tasty!! and I love the navy bean trick!! I’m totally going to do that next time- you’re a deliciously sneaky bunch
My family don’t DO a traditional turkey dinner anyway (my mum doesn’t like chicken or turkey) so I have never really had the traditional thing. We had our usual random buffet of stuff, so I had some meat, but I could have taken it or left it to be honest, I’m not a big meat eater at the best of times. I agree that the potatoes, stuffing etc is the best part of the traditional christmas dinner, so yours looked great as far as I was concerned.
I’ve never been a big fan of ham anyway, so missing Christmas suited me just fine!
I grew up eating Chinese mainly, so the idea of eating big hunks of meat on its own (well, with other things on the plate, but you know, NOT cut up and cooked with other things in a stir fry etc) is still a bit weird.
BF is big on roasts and we usually do one every other week, but I always prefer to load up on veggies and stuffing and gravy.
Im no vegetarian, but I am SO not a meat eater. I’ll have the occasional piece of chicken and thats about it. Honestly, the amount of turkey I ate (mostly in turkey soup after the fact) made me feel awful. My body isnt used to it anymore, and doesnt really need it. Besides, it sounds to me like you got all the best parts of “turkey dinner” anyhow.
Sounds delicious. I’m glad that you were all able to take part in your favorites and hooray for organic food options!
I don’t think I would miss turkey on Thanksgiving or Christmas either. My favorite part is the stuffing and mashed potatoes, as well! But I do love my turkey subs so therein lies my problem.
Looks like a yummy Christmas!
Haha, you’re right, your turkey pic is enough to make anyone a vegetarian!
glad to hear that your first vegetarian thanksgiving was not stressful at all!! Extra fruit is never a crime in my book
everything looks great too! I kind of wish that people didn’t spend so much time about food during the holidays – but instead focus on family & friends. Who cares what anyone else eats, you know?
Congrats on making it through your first Christmas as a vegetarian. Looks like you still got to eat some yummy food.
I harassed my mum into buying an organic turkey too! Good for us
And congrats on your first Vegetarian Christmas! I certainly don’t have that kind of willpower, that’s really some dedication you have there!
I am 90% veggie and it’s pretty easy! I am so happy you enjoyed your first veggie xmas
I think the sides are the best part of Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner. As far as I’m concerned, ham is only mehhh. I’d rather have the potatoes and green beans. At Thanksgiving I only had the tiniest piece of turkey, but giving up the ham is no problem at all.
You should post your mushroom gravy recipe!! It looks good!!
I just stumbled across your blog and have found a lot of similarities! I just graduated and just turned pescatarian as well. This was my first veggie Christmas and everyone was in a panic – “Oh my God, what do you EAT?!” I had an amazing dinner (including a nut and mushroom “roast” which was delicious and veggie gravy) – everyone kept apologizing for eating their three different kinds of meat in front of me, and “tempting” me – but honestly, I didn’t miss it one bit!
Looking forward to reading more!
[...] On my plate: soy turkey, veg stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, mushroom gravy. My second vegetarian Christmas was a huge [...]