Oh No! a Vegetarian is Coming to Thanksgiving Dinner!
There are many different kinds of vegetarians. There are fancy names for each type but I tell people that I don't eat anything with eyes or mothers.
A Vegetarian is someone who does not eat anything made from animal products. This includes fish, eggs, cheese, milk products and honey.
A Vegan is the same as a vegetarian except they also exclude animal products from their lives. You might want to put the leather napkin holders away if you are having a vegan for Thanksgiving Dinner.
Lacto-Vegetarians will eat dairy products such as milk, cheese, and butter.
Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarians are the best kind of vegetarians. I am a lacto-ovo-vegetarian and I will eat eggs and dairy products.
Pesco-Vegetarians will eat fish.
Pollo-Vegetarians will eat poultry so it should be easy to please them at your Thanksgiving Dinner.
Once you have a better idea of what type of vegetarian is invading your feast you can prepare for them.
Tip #2 - Find out why the person in question is a vegetarian.
Many times people have tried to bother me by enjoying a juicy piece of meat in front of me while making orgasmic noises. A comment that stays with me is, "Mmmmm... I can taste the fear!" I always let them know that I am all about killing animals, I just don't want to eat them. I have leather shoes, pants, and a jacket. Please do not assume that every vegetarian is also a member of PETA.
If you do have the unfortunate luck to have a PETA member for Thanksgiving Dinner, I am sorry. The best thing you can do is let them know that you respect their position but would rather not discuss it at the dinner table.
Tip #3 - Ask the vegetarian to bring a dish.
My Thanksgiving Dinner traditional meal is spinach lasagna. I am always pleased when I am asked to bring a dish to any holiday meal. I make a fantastic spinach lasagna; Shout out to my mom. If I am not asked to bring a dish then I will ask the host or hostess if they would mind me bringing something. Please do not say no if the vegetarian asks to bring a dish.
It is not the end of the world if one dish does not match the rest of the menu.
Tip #4 - Play it cool.
As a vegetarian I always feel uncomfortable being invited to a carnivore's house for dinner. It is not because I am worried that I will starve. Honestly I usually have had a little snack beforehand. It is because I do not want a fuss to be made over my eating habits.
Remember, if worse comes to worse you can always kick them out!
Sources:
Personal Experience
The Healthy Vegetarian
https://www.msu.edu/user/daenzerr/rd491/types.htm
Published by Loki Morgan - Featured Contributor in Technology and Lifestyle
Loki Morgan is a Microsoft Certified Professional with over ten years experience in the Information Technology field including technical writing. Morgan has published online content with a focus on compute... View profile
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- The Many Types of Vegetarians
- The Different Types of Vegetarians
- How to Prepare a Thanksgiving Dinner with a Vegetarian Guest
- The Three Types of Vegetarians
- Vegetarians Beware: Your Yogurt and Cheese Might Contain Animal Products
- How to Prepare for a Vegetarian Dinner Guest During the Holidays
- Bringing an Ethnic Dish to Your Spouse's Family Gathering
- A Vegetarian is someone who does not eat anything made from animal products.
- There are many different kinds of vegetarians.
32 Comments
Post a CommentGood tips! I was a vegetarian for many years and found it a lot easier to refrain from meat back home (Malaysia) than here in the USA since not many people are as thoughtful as you are!
Great Information, Loki. I never thought about vegetarians at my house for any dinner. I would suspect that they would tell me that their eating habits are different. If they fail to do that I would expect them to eat what they wanted and leave the rest alone. I'm not trying to be snide, I just wonder, now, how many vegetarians I've had to dinner that I didn't know about.
There are always lots of dishes at a big meal like Thanksgiving that a Vegetarian can work around. It would be very poor manners to comment on what or what not a person is eating. Not that that stops anyone!
Great article. I've posted many vegan recipes lately. Must admit have thrown in some others, too, that are meat-based (check out the "Turtle Burger" article for a chuckle!) Enjoy!
Great article ~ informative and funny. I do have to chuckle at the idea of being a pollo-vegetarian, though--sort of like being an atheist rabbi. My son-in-law is a vegetarian but if we use chicken broth in a recipe he doesn't have a cow (pun intended). Most of the time I try to have enough side dishes and / or one of his favorite heatable Trader Joe's veggie entrees for him... just because!
Linda McCartney said she never ate anything with a face, though I think she included worms as well! Heard a story of a veggie given turkey and he throw it out of the window! I don't rant at meat eaters, but I do get sick and tired of people sometimes sneering at my veggie lifestyle.
Kyla, thank you for the feedback. (=
Great article. I think I'd put more emphasis, though, on what foods an individual abstains from rather than trying to catalogue all vegetarians & vegans. I've know a good many people in my life with a whole variety of ethical, cultural & medical reasons for their habits of consumption. I like that you emphasized the "why" and talked about making people comfortable. This is what is important. And honestly, vegetarians who presume to judge anyone else for their eating habits are just as ignorant as the steak waving carnivores. When respect and hospitality are lacking, any person quickly becomes intolerable.
Good tips! My MIL is a vegetarian, My SIL is a vegan. We always make all side dishes vegetarian or vegan (as much as possible) and then serve a main vegetarian dish as well as turkey, etc. It's nice to see more articles like this lately!
I don't know why people think it is funny when they eat meat in front of vegetarians. Though it never fails someone always thinks it's funny. I think they should really do away with the pesco, etc vegetarians they're oxymorons. Just call yourself a wannabe-vegetarian and get on with it :o)!