I am making some kick *butt* side dishes this thanksgiving because well.. the obvious. So my side dishes are... Green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, candied yams ( homemade not canned), cream cheese stuffed jalapeno peppers, baked macaroni and cheese, spinach dip, and homemade buttermilk biscuits.. and i am also making a carrott cake and a banana pudding, southern style, (my sons fav) I know that none of these are *vegan*, which I eventually want to become vegan, but looks like I will have to be more creative What is everyone else having?

Chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon
Mushroom and onion gravy from Veganomicon
Mashed potatoes (I was going to do something different but DH's family loves mashed potatoes)
Roasted sweet potatoes
Some TBD veggie dish, possibly mustard brussel sprouts, zucchini and hominy or green beans and mushrooms.
Apple tart with date/walnut crust

My inlaws will be cooking turkey and my brother-in-law may bring some wannabe turkey thing like tofurkey but I'm not sure if he is coming.

sounds healthy Mine.. not so much. That is SOOOOOOOOOOOO my point though. These are all once a year things so I am giddy plus its my first thanksgiving that I am cooking for my kids The carnivores ( lol) will be eatting Turkey, however, I will not.

* Ive been reading this book called " You dont need meat" and he calls meat eaters carnivores, so funny*

Nelie, would you mind posting that gravy recipe? It sounds fabulous!

So far I have green beans, carrots with olive oil and chive, herb roasted red potatos, and a big acorn squash that I haven't a clue what to do with. I'm also baking some pumkin bran muffins

All of that could easily be made vegan, you know

I'll post later when I know what I am making.

June,

When I get home I will post it

Oh also, I found out my brother-in-law won't be coming and he is the huge mashed potatoes fan so I think I'm making roasted fingerling potatoes instead of mashed potatoes. I found a recipe on fatfreevegan.com that has a recipe for fingerling potatoes and fennel, I might try that.

And yeah I try to make Thanksgiving healthy mostly because I love healthy, whole foods. You don't have to have a lot of fat laden foods to have a nice meal

I wouldnt know where to start to make all that vegan, I was at the grocery store last night ( 1 a.m. to avoid the crowds) and I spent alot of time in the dairy section... milk, eggs, cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream.. holy moses! lol

Veganomicon supposedly has an awesome mac and cheese recipe. Of everything you've named, I believe I've seen most of them in at least one of the vegan cookbooks I own or on websites. Maybe you should peruse the book store for options?

Here are some online recipes that may interest you in the future (just googled for vegan options of recipes)
Mac and cheese
http://www.recipezaar.com/180878
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/pasta/vegan.shtml

Jalapeno poppers
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/sidev...ganpoppers.htm

Buttermilk biscuits
http://jewishvegan.blogspot.com/2007...-biscuits.html

Green bean casserole
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/11...casserole.html

Garlic mashed potatoes
http://www.veganchef.com/rgmp.htm

Spinach dip (there were a few but I've never had it/made it so not sure what it should have in it?)
http://www.ivu.org/recipes/snacks/spinach.html

Carrot Cake
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=8925

Southern style banana pudding
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/05...a-pudding.html

Maybe its just me because Im not very well educated on Soy... but from what you hear soy in moderation isnt bad, but too much can be bad. Whats your .02 on that.

Well from what I've read, dairy and animal fat can be bad for you which is the main reason I was able to actually give up dairy.

As for soy, I think you should eat it in moderation. I eat it very rarely myself but then again I don't eat a lot of things that try to mimic dairy so it is pretty easy. If you gave me a choice of something made with soy or something made with an animal product, for health reasons, I'd choose soy every time.

June,

I posted the mushroom gravy recipe to the recipe veg recipe forum
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show....php?p=1935639

Nelie, that was very sweet of you to find all those recipes!

As far as soy is concerned, I think it's healthy in moderation on a regular basis and specifically, I think having a special holiday meal a few times a year that is heavy in processed soy and "faux" products is healthier than cholesterol, saturated animal fats, hormones and all the other junk dairy products have.