Thanksgiving is right around the corner… save a turkey by celebrating your holiday with compassionate alternatives. Encourage your friends, family, and neighbors to join you. The great taste and superior nutrition of festive plant-based dishes will convince everyone that the turkey is better off alive! No Thanksgiving meal is complete without smooth and creamy garlic herb mashed potatoes. Give this animal-friendly version a try.

Ingredients:

4 baking potatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 shallot, minced
1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. olive oil
1/3 cup soymilk
salt & pepper (to taste)

Mushroom Gravy
1/4 cup flour
1 cup cold water
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms (any variety)
1/8 tsp. sage
pinch cumin
black pepper (to taste)
1 Tbs. soy sauce
2 tsp. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1/2 cup cold water
2 tsp. oil

Directions:

1. Scrub and dice the potatoes; cook them in boiling water until tender.
2. Sauté the garlic and shallot in 1 tsp. of olive oil.
3. Drain potatoes and mash coarsely with a fork; add garlic and shallot, soymilk, remaining olive oil, and salt & pepper to the potatoes; mash with a potato masher until smooth.
4. Brown the flour in a heavy bottomed saucepan over high heat; stir the flour well until it is a uniform golden brown color.
5. When the flour is brown, quickly add 1 cup cold water and whisk until all lumps are gone and gravy is smooth.
6. Remove from heat and add garlic, mushrooms, sage, cumin, pepper, soy sauce, and Worcestershire; return to heat and blend; add 1/2 cup cold water and oil, if desired (Note: oil is not needed but it adds richness and flavor).
7. Blend well and serve.

For this and other great vegan recipes, visit www.VRG.org!

Don’t have time to make delicious holiday gravy from scratch this year? Road’s End Organics can help! Enhance your meals with this easy-to-prepare gravy… just mix with water, heat, and enjoy! Free of cholesterol, fat, and unhealthy animal products, Road’s End Organics Gravy Mixes are available in three varieties: Golden, Shiitake Mushroom, and Savory Herb.

Since 1998 Road's End Organics has been providing healthy, organic, plant-based alternatives to many favorite comfort foods. Sold in more than 1500 natural food stores, cooperatives, and chain grocery stores, their products are also used in a variety of college cafeterias and vegetarian restaurants throughout the country.

For more information about this and other products, visit www.Chreese.com!

A recent survey reveals that the number of teen vegetarians in the U.S. is rising. In fact, it's tripled in the last ten years, according to the latest Harris poll. Three percent of teens are vegetarians!

Meaghan Smith is an example of the growing number of kids seeking a healthy alternative to the Standard American Diet (SAD). She was 11 years old when she decided to eliminate meat from her diet. Initially, her dad was surprised and expressed concern over her decision. However, dietician Page Love points out a wide variety of excellent protein sources besides soy. Wheat-based foods like seitan and several “mock meat” products are available as a good replacement. Rice, beans, and nuts are also great alternative protein sources.

For some kids it's a fad, while others are more serious. Either way, experts say, shifting towards a plant-based diet can be a healthy change for children. Meaghan said, "Everyone thought it was a phase, and it's been my eight-year phase." Along with the growing number of vegetarian teens comes a growing number of resources for those seeking a healthy, compassionate diet. A plethora of books and online resources provides guidance, recipes, and more on raising vegetarian kids.

To read the full article, click here!

Go turkey-free to save lives & win prizes this holiday!

Did you know that more than 300 million turkeys are slaughtered for meat every year? That's about one bird per American. They are hatched in incubators and never meet their mothers or live in nests. Instead, they are raised in huge windowless sheds where they never see the sun.

In Defense of Animals is offering some very appetizing prizes just for taking their special ThanksLiving Pledge. First prize is a delicious Tofurky Vegetarian Feast for four that includes an organic soy Tofurky Roast, Cranberry Apple Potato Dumplings, Giblet and Mushroom Gravy, Wild Rice Stuffing, and Jurky Wishstix. Other prizes include cookbooks.

Be an inspiration for the holidays and take the ThanksLiving Pledge today!

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