Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Dear all,

what are your favourite meals for special occasions like Christmas? (Especially when you have to cook for more people than usual)

Hi Windmill,

https://www.drmcdougall.com/articles/in ... -planning/

Above link is Mary McD plan for Thanksgiving (may be like December holidays)....

Happy Herbivore also has a book on preparing food for special occasions / holidays.

Probably tons more that I miss!!!

Go for what makes sense to you.... I could probably find some more links if that would be helpful. Just let me know.

Personally, I keep it simple (even when hosting) and order out for the folks who wouldn't do plants... and prep what is easy for me for the rest. Have had personal experience with lots of fruit / veg trays decimated....

Wishing you Happy Holidays!!

Stephanie

Thank you! I will have a look

What do you do when you are invited?
Do you bring your own food?
Do you ask what will be served?

windmill wrote:
What do you do when you are invited?
Do you bring your own food?
Do you ask what will be served?

Hi Windmill,

Other ideas if you are looking for something holiday festive - Chef AJ has hosted live cooking demos for this (and last) Thanksgiving with several no-SOS / WFPB chefs (some McD visiting chefs) - you can google and find on YouTube. Depending on your goals, be careful of dates and nuts... (many recipes are fine, others you may want to modify)

Will try to answer your questions as best I can.

When I am invited --- usually this is from family / good friend that already knows that I don't eat what everyone else does. That's because I gave up meat / dairy / oil in about 2003. So, most folks are "used to me" or my "weirdness" at least. When I changed diet, I tried to not discuss too much - it is funny that folks don't much notice what you eat (or don't eat) most of the time....

I try to bring food to share, when it is appropriate to do so. I like to bring: chili (can bring crock pot and many omnivores like veggie chili), fruit tray, veggie / hummus (sometimes whole grain cracker) tray. Then, I know that there is something there that I can nosh on.

I always ask what I can bring and offer some choices as well (except for family - where I just do whatever... they are all pretty vocal and would let me know if I crossed some line )...

I do not ask what is being served (but depending on circumstance, I would let the host(ess) know that I am eating a certain way on "doctor's orders"). I would only let someone know if it is a sitdown meal -- and I want to make sure that the person is not uncomfortable and is aware that I won't be joining in XYZ meat. Buffet style, no issues. You can even avoid the buffet line the whole time (if nothing compliant) and people won't realize.

From what I have experienced, generally nothing anyone will serve is going to be compliant. At minimum, it will have oil. Worse than not having food at all is when someone will make effort to prepare something special for you --- and it also will not likely be compliant, but you will feel obligated to eat it because they went out of their way.

I try to just enjoy the social gathering - don't focus on the food - and have a great time catching up with people.

Suggestion - eat before going (even if you aren't hungry) and stay away from any foods that may trigger or Pleasure Trap you.

Cheers,
Stephanie

I had so many ideas for our Christmas dinner but in the end I just "had to cook" for our guest. My son and I just stayed at potatoes and mixed vegetables. So for the food part it was quite a poor Christmas. At least my husband had a very bad conscience afterwards... and now I am allowed to serve whatever I want for New Year's Eve.

My go to for entertaining lately has been compliant paella.

It is very easy to make SOS and fat free. Here is a recipe to get you started.
https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2014/01/b ... aella.html

For company who may be put off by brown rice, I have subbed 50/50 white rice and riced cauliflower.
The veggies I like are roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts, peas, fennel, green beans, sundried tomatoes (not oil packed), garbanzo beans. Use alot of good quality saffron and smoked paprika. I also use a low sodium veggie broth. I usually serve hummous/babaganoush (oil free) with crudite as appetizer. Big green mixed salad. I do put salt shaker out on the table for guests to use if they wish. dessert can be something simple like chilled citrus with dates.

I have a paella pan an dI have perfected cooking it so the rice is just right and its very colorful and festive.

I also like making gado gado in the hot weather:
https://www.littlepotatoes.com/recipes/ ... ado-salad/
I make a fat free peanut sauce using PB2 no sugar added peanut powder, lime juice, low sodium soy, sriracha, garlic, water. Make lots! I never measure, I have been making it so long now. Sorry, just play with the proportions or look online for a recipe. Water and pb2 powder the top two ingredients, the others there for flavor.

You can cook and chill the potatoes in advance, I also sub store bought baked tofu for ease. I have a large platter where I arrange the green and purple cabbage, white and purple potatoes, green beans, carrots, cukes, tofu or tempeh, radishes, shredded green papaya, chayote. I dont use rice crackers, but might be nice to have for guests. I find if you leave out the tofu or tempeh guests feel like they have not had a main course. You could ask them to bring some some hard boiled eggs...as that is part of more traditional gado gado. I would probably make some spring rolls filled with red pepper, mint, cilantro, sprouts, rice noodles, mushrooms as an appetizer with a chili garlic dipping sauce and fresh fruit for dessert.

We have Shepherd's Pie on Christmas Eve.

My parents and my wedding anniversaries are close in date, and we were celebrating 60 and 30 years in summer 2022. My husband and I thought it would be fun to do a nice smorgasbord type picnic with them outdoors at their assisted living place, as we are all avoiding indoor dining for Covid safety. My parents are pretty traditional in how they eat and would be put off by anything too “ethnic” as my mom calls alot of the food we eat. I was racking my brains as to what to make so everyone felt happy, but was also something special and out of the ordinary since they don’t get out much anymore.

I ended up making a southern style charcuterie board, but vegan style. I made this pimento cheese which was a big hit: https://thevegan8.com/vegan-pimento-cheese/. I got store bought miyokos kitchen sun dried tomato vegan cheese, and some vegan cream cheese with hot pepper jelly. I also made: https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/ve ... lnut-pate/. I had some wasa rye crisps and Nairn oat cakes. I made low sodium pickled green beans, okra, and had lots of fresh crudite like celery, carrot, jicama and cucumber. I also had sliced peaches, nectarines, raw pecans. I was able to make everything in advance when it was cool, as it was August after all and I did not want to be in hot kitchen making a hot meal.

It all looked very colorful and appetizing and even my Dad who is a stubborn 87 y.o. and loves his prime rib and butter and sour cream baked potato said it was delicious and seemed to enjoy the experience. Some of the items not in anything I would eat ever day, like the cream cheese/pepper jelly. But it felt like a celebration and made for a nice memory which at this stage is everything for my parents.