How many are having a RAW Thanksgiving?

[katchmoleen]

And what's on the menu? This will be my first major raw holiday. I have done July 4th and several birthdays, but this will be a big test! I will also need to cook at least part of the meal for a bunch of SAD eaters. I have several raw holiday books and ebooks, and I have read through some of the threads here on Thanksgiving. So.....just curious. What is on your menu? Have you done an all raw holiday before? Do you share your RAW food with the SAD eaters and what do they think? Was it hard? Was it easy? Tell all!

I haven't got a full menu yet, but I will definitely be doing the Noasted Turkey and mushroom gravy, a raw cranberry relish (I made that when I was SAD, love it!), maybe a waldorf salad, pumpkin pie, and maybe pecan pie or blueberry pie. Going to sit down with the fam real soon and plan. Part of the problem will be that I will not be at my own home, and will have to stuff Vitamix, food processor, and dehydrator in an already stuffed car, arrive LATE Wednesday, and get a big meal prepared for Thursday! I am exhausted already. So I will be looking at some things that freeze well.

[carrie6292]

I am definitely having a raw thanksgiving - but, for myself... My husband, son and I will be going to my in-laws for the day (after we get home from church) and I will be making myself the Portobello Steak's and Mashed Potatoes from Matthew Kenney's Everyday Raw. This will be my main meal. I'm looking for a side dish - a good stuffing recipe or my old fallback - Broccoli Salad. I will also be making the Spinach Cheese Balls from RFC and the Portobello Burgers from Everyday Raw - but, i'm forming these into balls and will make some sort of sauce or ketchup to go with them. I'm also making the Pumpkin Tyme Pie and Chocolate Hazelnut Torte both from Everyday Raw. I might make Brownies too...

I'm traveling Friday thru Sunday, so I'm making a few of Russell James' Bread creations... i might make his filling to his samosas or thai wraps or I'll just make a "tuna" salad. I've been wanting to try the one one from RFC. I'm also going to take with me sliced tomato, baby spinach and sliced onion along with an avocado and some mayo so that I can make sandwhiches with my bread. I'm going to attempt to make some raw cookies to take with me. We are visiting my sister-in-law and she does not approve of the way i eat nor does she ever try anything that i make. So, ideally, i'm making all of this for myself and for my husband and son... they're not raw, but they do eat what i make! I'll bring along some zucchini noodles too... maybe make a pad thai sauce for them. I love pad thai.

I know this sounds like a lot, but i'll be away for 3 lunches and dinners - for breakfast i only have fruit.

Any good stuffing recipes out there????

[xPIXIEx]

Carrie, what is RFC? I like the sounds of the spinach cheese balls!

And noasted turkey w/ mushroom gravy? Do tell where I can find this. :)


I'm really going to try to do a raw thanksgiving. I want to, but lately it's been so hard for me to get in to the raw groove and stick with it. I'm so lacking in the self-control department right now. :( With that said, I have NO idea what I would make if I were to do it. So, I'm glad that you made this thread.

I do share some of my raw food with SAD eaters. It's mostly just the raw desserts, though. I've had many people like the raw treats I make.

[Shine]

It's my plan!! I know others won't be, but I know some will try stuff I make. I am going to do the Noasted Turley based on your eating three serving :D I fugure it's gotta be good!! I would like some sort of mashed tater and stuffing, so I will be looking for them. I think I might just puree a sweet winter squash with some oil (maybe some coconut oil to bring out sweetness??) and I want to make Alissa's Pesto Stuffed Portobellas with baby bellas. Pumpkin pie is a must.

I need to sit down with my book and start making a list. I really want to do this! :D

[Beth]

I'm going to make some recipes for myself on Thanksgiving.
So far I want to make the Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy and the Pumpkin Pie from Alissa's book. I don't have a dehydrator yet so I picked these because they don't need one and also they look really good! I will look at the Noasted Turkey and see if that is something I can make. It's only me but I figure I could have great leftovers! And since I have the free time it's a great time to make some of the recipes. I'm looking forward to it!

Shine--I'm making a list too--started doing it today. Have fun!! :)

[carrie6292]

I would also like the recipe for the Noasted Turkey.... Is it something that sad eaters would enjoy?

RFC is Raw Freedom Community. It's a board similar to this one that is hosted/run by Carmella and Don from Sunny Raw Kitchen. It's a really nice site! Lots of yummy recipes!

Maybe Thanksgiving will give you the motivation you need to get back into raw. Whenever i'm lacking in my desire/drive/determination to be raw, i do a juice fast. That's why i'm on one right now.

[RawKnitster]

I'm doing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 8, and a raw dinner for 2.

Not sure what is on the raw menu yet. I have found that trying to imitate the Thanksgiving meal doesn't work for me. None of the raw mashed potatoes and gravy, or pumpkin pies are good enough.

I'm thinking of making empanadas mini-tarts for an appetizer. Dinner might be Alissa's carrot-pecan burgers with saffron (instead of fennel), and/or stuffed Portobella mushroom, onion-garlic bread, a sweet salad of butter lettuce, glazed pecans, dates, and pear with a honey-lemon-ginger dressing.

Following that up with a really tempting dessert. Either Chocolate Creme Pie, Frozen Goji Berry Souffle, or Pumpkin Thyme Pie (which is made with carrot juice instead of pumpkin.) Whatever pie I make is going to have the crust used in Matthew Kenny's Pumpkin Thyme Pie.

And cacao truffles. :D

[xPIXIEx]

RFC is Raw Freedom Community. It's a board similar to this one that is hosted/run by Carmella and Don from Sunny Raw Kitchen. It's a really nice site! Lots of yummy recipes!

.


Great, thanks!

I found the noasted turkey recipe. Just done a quick search on here.


Now I've really been thinking about doing a raw Thanksgiving. Much more so than before thanks to this thread. I'm starting a list to go over with the hubby. I'm thinking about cheesecake & pesto stuffed mushrooms. Maybe some sort of salad?...of course plenty of other stuff as well, but that's about all I've got so far...in the short amount of time I've been thinking about it.

[IamLoved]

Hello,

I did an all raw Thanksgiving 2 years ago. Like RawKnitster I am also not making "traditional" Thanksgiving foods this year. My favorite Thanksgiving foods are the rolls and mashed potatoes and you really can't duplicate that flavor, so I would rather make something raw that is super yummy that I will love. Although I did LOVE the stuffing recipe from Anna at Purely Delicious I think I will save that one for Christmas. For Thanksgiving this year I have decided to make lasagna, pumpkin pie (which I think is every bit as good as the original if not better) a chocolate pecan pie, and kale chips to snack on. I will probably have something with cranberries for breakfast. Maybe a cranberry/pineapple juice. That sounds yummy. I will also be cooking the traditional SAD Thanksgiving meal for my family with help from my 12 year old daughter.

[Mindy Sue]

I am, but just for me. The rest of the family will have the traditional SAD food. I'm not fixing myself anything special, just my favorites. :D

[anniez]

I had big plans for my raw Thanksgiving, but have scrapped a lot of them. I had been fixing too many nut recipes and not feeling as well as usual, so I am making myself some lighter foods. I, too, cook SAD for 8 (with some help) and I am the only raw. I will not be tempted by their SAD food, even though our traditional Thanksgiving foods are things I used to love! My tastes have changed so much that I just don't LIKE those things anymore. I am definitely having Alissa's Cranberry Sauce and the Avocado Chutney. I have some Butternut Squash Patties in the dehyd right now that I will freeze for tukey (or in my case un-turkey) day. I will have a crudites tray with a dip for the family and a raw dip for me. I will also have some stuffed mushrooms, but I don't know what stuffing I will use. I wish you the best!

Annie

[JoyceH]

This Saturday we are driving down to Western Mass for a vegan Thanksgiving. Luckily my family is fine with not having a turkey on the table as I've seen some horrible undercover videos lately that haunt me. So I don't think I could handle seeing a poor dead turkey on the table...so there will be cooked vegan lasagna and other traditional Thanksgiving side dishes like squash and potatoes.

I'm bringing down a really delicious tasting raw vegan 'stuffing'. I modified a recipe by Elaina Love that's posted on the RFC. You can also check out my latest blog posting for a photo and all the details and recipe. It's really good! And both my husband and I are very picky!

http://beautifullivingfood.blogspot.com/2009/11/adopt-turkey-save-life-and-make-some.html

I'm also going to make this gorgeous orange confetti kale salad from Ani Phyo's book that's a winner. My husband is not fond of kale salads but love this one!! It's really festive for Thanksgiving and xmas with the cranberries.

And I'm also bringing down the best raw pumpkin cheesecake. Recipe is by Matthew Kenney and a version is in his Everday Raw. This dessert is one of my all time favorites. It tastes like creamy decadent gourmet pumpkin pie! It's that good!! I highly recommend it. Your SAD family members will be so impressed with raw foods!! :D

The weekend after Thanksgiving I might make the full Thanksgiving dinner from Sarma Melngailis' new book which looks fantastic. A bit or work so I might do it over 2 days just for the fun of it.

I hear that Purely Delicious magazine also has recipes for a full raw thanksgiving too. I'm going to head over to the Healthy Living Market and pick myself up a copy!! Gotta see what they are doing !!! :D :D

And if anyone lives close to Grezzo, boy I bet they are going to do something terrific for Thanksgiving!!

[JoyceH]

Some other recommendations for Thanksgiving from my own past experience with raw recipes:

Pecan Pie by Alissa Cohen, in her Living on Live Food book. this is a great recipe and my picky family loved it 2 years ago. No one noticed it was raw or healthy!

Anna's Yummy Apple Cobbler from therawtable.com. This is amazing and tastes just like a baked cobbler. I haven't made it in a while and will do it again this season! It's a true winner! Our SAD family also loved this one!
http://www.therawtable.com/recipecoll/applepie.htm

Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes by Matthew Kenney in Everyday Raw. These are the best tasting faux mashed potatoes hands down! They are made with jicama instead of the usual cauliflower or parsnip.....Mashed cauliflower with cashews tastes like mashed cauliflower with cashews in my humble opinion. Go with Matthew's recipe for the best imitation! You can find the recipe posted on RFC:
http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/showthread.php?t=5808

A super classy broccoli salad that has been to a couple different Thanksgiving dinners is this recipe posted on goneraw.com:
http://www.goneraw.com/node/616
Read all the comments and positive feedback. It's truly one of my favorite raw recipes of all time! You'll please even the toughest SAD eaters with this one! (I use pinenuts in lieu of the cashew for this one!!)

[Lara]

my husband and our 8 year old daughter and I will be serving at cafe gratitude on thanksgiving! yes! SERVING... and then in exchange, sit down for a free gourmet raw thanksgiving meal. I love that restaurant!
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, there's 2 CG's in SF, 1 in the North Bay and 1 in Berkeley and they are all doing this CRAZY great and fun deal.
Anyway, good luck to all you and happy thanksgiving. The turkeys thank you!
:)
Lara

[VeGenesis]

How many are having a RAW Thanksgiving?

Katch - the question seemed funny to Percy and I.

Here, people who have a Thanksgiving celebration usually focus more on being thankful. We plan to do the same as last year. Percy's sisters, mama, our three boys and daughter and Percy and I will gather around a table of food - raw, unprocessed food. Anyone may talk about the things that they are thankful for in the last year. Say a prayer and choose any food to prepare and serve to us.

Except for our baby girl (we all know she is thankful to be home with papa and for her Snoopy dress - she tells us all daily!) - The rest of us are making lists of what we are thankful for.

For us, thanksgiving is a time to be thankful - and all these tropical fruits are really something to be thankful for! :D

My list includes RFT and Allissa, many of you, and Dr Doug Graham. God brought you all into my life this last year and it has really meant so much to me and my whole family. May you be blessed!

[katchmoleen]

We do that too, Lan. It is great to have a holiday not focused on buying buying buying.

But I am thankful for the food, too! ;)

[katchmoleen]

OK, my girls and I sat down tonight and planned our menu, so I can know what I can make ahead and what will need to be made that day.
Noasted turkey with mushroom gravy
Mashed "taters"
Spinach Cream Pasta
Cranberry orange relish
Green Salad
Pumpkin Pie with macadamia cream
Chocolate Hazelnut Pie

The Noasted Turkey and the pies can be made ahead of time. The rest will be made that day but with the exception of the pasta are quick and easy. But I will have my girls to help so that is good. It looks like I will have to pack the dehydrator, food processor, and Vitamix into an already stuffed car!

[Shine]

So my mom has decided to do a raw Thanksgiving !! How cool. I think she'll have a couple "comfort" things for her. And I don't mean eating...I mean comfort cooking. I'll be a small gathering, just my mom, husband and me. She told me to bring Alissa's book over on Sunday and we'll create our menu! And my dad said he'd do a raw Thanksgiving pie in the evening :) What a fam!!

Gonna re-read this thread and see what some others are doing. Like I said, small gathering so we won't need too much.

[revdrcyn]

My Thanksgiving will definitely be raw, just don't know where or when -- or what for that matter -- not yet.

My dh and I have been invited to the homes of several congregants, so I will probably take a huge salad and 1 or 2 of Alissa's recipes.

My focus will be on gratitude . . . especially for being and raw and for everyone here on RFT.

[RawKnitster]

And I'm also bringing down the best raw pumpkin cheesecake. Recipe is by Matthew Kenney and a version is in his Everday Raw. This dessert is one of my all time favorites. It tastes like creamy decadent gourmet pumpkin pie! It's that good!! I highly recommend it. Your SAD family members will be so impressed with raw foods!! :D



Thanks for all the good info, Joyce. I love this recipe, too. I recently tested it by making half the recipe. Ended up with 2 4-inch tartlets. Don't know if my SAD family likes it because I didn't share. It is one of those foods that is so different you keep eating bite after bite to try and capture it, then before you can decide how good it is, it is gone!

The crust of this pie is especially wonderful. I've got a crust in the dehydrator right now.

[carrie6292]

I'm also making the Matthew Kenney Pumpkin Pie :) I cannot wait to try this since it has so many rave reviews!

And, I'm also making the Chocolate Hazlenut Torte (Tart).... our menu's sound very similar!

[katchmoleen]

If someone could send me Matthew Kenney's recipe, I would be eternally grateful!

[JoyceH]

...........

[JoyceH]

If someone could send me Matthew Kenney's recipe, I would be eternally grateful!

It's posted online on the RFC:

http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/showthread.php?t=5808

[katchmoleen]

Oh, thanks! Trouble is, I have this cute little pumpkin just waiting to have a purpose in life, so I guess I will stick with Alissa's recipe! :D

[IamLoved]

Hello!

Ok this is a bit off topic, but since Lan brought it up (sort of) I thought I would mention it.

Every year we have a Thankful Jar that gets put out around the first of November. All of us write down things that we are thankful for on small peices of paper and put the papers into the Thanksful Jar. Then at each meal during Thanksgiving (we split our meal into three parts, breakfast, main meal and dessert) we read through the Thankful Jar until we have read everything in it. This is a wonderful exercise for my children as well as myself and is a lot of fun for everyone in our family. It has become a nice tradition and I look forward to hearing what my children are thankful for each year. I also save these from year to year and it is cute to look back through them years later to see what people said. Every peice of paper will start with "so and so is thankful for..." so we know who said what. It is nice and really puts the focus on where it should be, giving thanks to God for all that He has done for us. So it's not Really about food. Or at least not JUST about food! :)

Anyways, just thought I'd share. Sorry for being off topic.

[Green_Woman]

I love Thanksgiving - it's my favorite holiday and the only traditional Holiday I celebrate each year, so it's very special to me!!!

When I was a girl, my parents would do things like invite the homeless in to share our meal or take food to people. We always read Scriptures and either put on Pilgrim Plays or read about the history of the Holiday and what it means to modern Americans, etc. We also sang ALOT and baked tons of pies... I remember that I was always assigned the Mashed Taters and Gravy... to this day, family members say I always made the best taters. :D

It's funny, since there's really nothing to that... which is why they gave it to me, I think. ;)

We were an education-focused bunch of Thanksgivingers! :D

I LOVE making big Thanksgiving feasts!!! LOVE IT!!! That's how I celebrate - by sharing Abundance and Gratitude and Love with whomever is in my life at the time!


So this year my darling one is coming up (or I'm going to his house, we haven't decided) and I'm whipping together a huge spread of RAW deliciousness for us to share over the weekend... I'm going to try a few new recipes if I can find the time to prep for them the week before!

This will be our second 100% RAW Thanksgiving, as I was High Raw for several months last year and we went to Tree of Life to feast with fellow Rawbies.

[anniez]

my husband and our 8 year old daughter and I will be serving at cafe gratitude on thanksgiving! yes! SERVING... and then in exchange, sit down for a free gourmet raw thanksgiving meal. I love that restaurant!
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, there's 2 CG's in SF, 1 in the North Bay and 1 in Berkeley and they are all doing this CRAZY great and fun deal.
Anyway, good luck to all you and happy thanksgiving. The turkeys thank you!
:)
Lara

Lucky you! I can't even begin to imagine having a raw restaurant around, let alone one the calibre of CG!

Annie

[anniez]

I still don't know what I'm making for me, but I have the family squared away, so now I can focus on my food!

For sure:

Alissa's Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy

A big crudite tray with a couple of good dips and maybe a pate!

Green Salad with dressing

Carrot Bread, Blueberry Bread, and Banana Bread, all of which are in the dehyd right now. (If they last that long!)

Alissa's Pecan Pie

Annie