Tofurky disaster….

Okay…so we were so excited to have a Tofurky.  I’ve waited my whole life to have one!  We thought we would cook it the night before Thanksgiving..since we were going to be away for Thanksgiving…….well……

First of all….I had no idea you had to defrost the thing for 24 hours!  Just like a normal turkey..I mean, who knew?  So, that was my first mistake…but there were directions for those of us who don’t know these things.  Then, I thought it was just ready to pop into the oven.  I didn’t realize you had to slice up potatoes and veggies….like a roast.  You had to take the thing out of this slimy plastic seal…just like a real turkey!

So, I got it all ready…it looked like a brain ready to be sacrificed!  Yuck..but I kept on going……into the oven it went…to be cooked for 2 1/2 hours!!!  Who knew????

Then I got the gravy ready…..again..it was frozen because I didn’t thaw it…but I slowly warmed it up on the stove….it smelled okay..but the taste was horrible.  It basically tasted like soy sauce.  I  knew my children were NOT going to like it..so I dumped it and made my own gravy.

We waited and waited and waited.  Finally, after we were all starving, I declared it done…….

It looked okay and it smelled pretty good….Christopher sliced it up and everyone got a plateful of veggies and gravy.  The middle of the Tofurky was filled with stuffing which looked really good.  I couldn’t wait to cover it with gravy and give it a try!

After about two bites everyone was ready for something else!  What a disappointment!  The best part was the veggies and the gravy that I had made myself!  The “skin” had this horrible texture to it and was impossible to cut.  The Tofurky itself tasted so artificial…..and the stuffing wasn’t much better.  It left a horrible after taste in my mouth.  Seriously, I ended up cooking something else for everyone!

Oh, and the wish bone..it was made from a tofurky jerky wishstix….it was so strange..we didn’t even take it out of its plastic wrapper because no one wanted to touch it.  The worst part was the smell in the house.  Thankfully, we were leaving the next day and by the time we returned the smell of Tofurky was gone from our lives!

What a disappointment!!  I was really so sad…..I had been so looking forward to this…and it was not at all what I thought it would be……I would never recommend this to anyone…I’m sticking with my homemade veggie pot pie!!

Thanksgiving Books for Vegetarians…..

I love to have children’s books for different holidays…but Thanksgiving books are a bit of a challenge…since we are vegetarian.  We didn’t want to have any books that involved eating turkey.

We have found quite a few over the years and I thought I would share them with you…..

‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey – One of my all time favorite books…I love everything about this book…its message, its rhyme and its drawings!

Five Little Turkeys – cute little counting book

The Tasty Thanksgiving Feast by Suzy Jane Tanner – a lift the flap book

Happy Thanksgiving Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli – a typical Biscuit book with a cute thanksgiving message

Thanksgiving in the Barn by Nadine Bernard Westcott – a popup book that celebrates Thanksgiving in a barn..very cute

Thanksgiving Cats by Jean Marzollo – simple little book

A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting – a nicely illustrated book that has a nice message.  This book involves Mrs. Moose “wanting a turkey” for Thanksgiving..so Mr. Moose goes out looking for one…..at one point, when Mr. Moose finds the turkey and is chasing it…he stops the fallen turkey by putting his hoof on the poor turkey’s head..this I didn’t particularly like..especially because it is illustrated…. except for that…it is a cute book that has a happy ending for the turkey!