Giveaway – Field Roast
Our main winner is CQ: My family and I don’t really…”gather”. But one time I was meeting up with my parents and my grandma (whom I hadn’t seen in a long time) for lunch in NYC, and despite my having explained to my parents a zillion times what I would and would not eat, and gave them a list of possible restaurants where we could eat, they chose a restaurant that wasn’t on my list and sure enough, it was a Chinese restaurant where everything (including the sauces) had meat in it. We had to leave and go find somewhere else to eat. It was…yeah, pretty awkward.
Also, my Field Roast contact said I could pick a couple of more winners to receive a coupon, so we have two runners up!
Kirsten: I’m a newbie, but the latest experience that kind of qualifies was my sister saying on the phone, “so are you now going to be a vegan?” Kind of reminded me of the time my mom asked, “so are you going to come home for Christmas and be gay everyday?” Yes people, every day, all day!
Marti: [rant with some cuss words]…(OK, THAT rant isn’t going to win me any Field Roast, but I decided not to put up with ANY family not-vegan drama many years ago and that’s pretty much the end of the story…) But look, it did!
Check your emails shortly!
Ah, fall. The changing leaves, the cooler weather, and…the holidays! Depending on how you spend your fall/winter holidays and with who, they can either be great or a miserable experience. I cook our Thanksgiving dinner, but on Christmas we truck it to grandma’s house, and of course there’s no food for me there. So if I don’t feel like making something and bringing it with, i’m out of luck.
That’s where things like the Field Roast Celebration Roast (which I did take with me a few years ago) and Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute come in handy. Sometimes there’s no leftovers from Christmas Eve, sometimes you have the flu, sometimes you are just lazy, okay? And a mini-roast or a fancy pastry-wrapped roast are a lot nicer than the granola bar you have stashed in your purse.
The kind folks at Field Roast have a special package today for one very lucky winner, two free product coupons (one for each product mentioned) and a t-shirt! Simply comment here and tell me your most awkward vegan family gathering experience. A winner will be chosen tomorrow at 11 AM, CST. US only!
163 thoughts on “Giveaway – Field Roast”
Most awkward family gathering! The most recent one. The ILs came to visit shortly after having sought out my online activities. (I’ve already said more than I should)
In laws came down to visit, but decided to go to a distant relative’s place for Thanksgiving, instead of our place. We ended up cooking our whole vegan meal, then packaging it up onto separate plates for ourselves and going over there…..sheesh. We put our plates in the microwave, then sat down at the table (couldn’t eat anything they had). That was just plain awkward.
I haven’t had any awkward moments….yet….but family gatherings are pretty uncomfortable just waiting for some ignorant uncles and cousins to made an issue out of it. The Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute sounds amazing!
My first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian when I brought the turkey a sympathy card!!
When the family asked if I was going to cry when they put the thanksgiving turkey on the table.
Well serving a vegetarian feast to meat eaters lets say it didn’t go over to well lol, but I like the dinner.
After twisting my carnivorous aunt’s arm to try some vegan “turkey” last Thanksgiving, she took a piece, swallowed it and announced “This cheese sucks!” Her days of trying anything vegan are OVER!
Our family provided us with a pizza at Christmas the year we announced we were forgoing meat. It was homemade with butternut squash and fennel… and real cheese. Awkward! I think we ended up mostly eating the pie that year.
I don’t have any specific family gathering experience, just the “can you have this, can you eat that” questions. I’d love a roast to take to Thanksgiving though!
When my husband’s aunt literally ran away, scared of our vegan turkey! Like a vampire to a crucifix!
Always the constant “try this-oh wait, you can’t.” So annoying.
I’ve lucked out and have had meat eating family at least try all the food I made and said it wasn’t too bad…
When my aunt made me special mashed potatoes without gravy, but it still had butter and milk and I had to explain to her that I don’t eat those either. At least she tried.
Awwww shucks! I’m in the UK. I know the company, I had the best Field Roast Mexican Chipotle suasages when I was visiting family in New Hampshire… I will look out for this Celebration Roast though next time I’m in the US. Lucky US VeganMoFos!
Every family gathering: My aunt is reminded that I’m vegan and agrees to make rice vegan. When I get there, I see that she put meat in the rice anyway. Her defense is”it’s just a little!” sigh. I’ve given up and accepted that I will just always have to bring my own.
My family and I don’t really…”gather”. But one time I was meeting up with my parents and my grandma (whom I hadn’t seen in a long time) for lunch in NYC, and despite my having explained to my parents a zillion times what I would and would not eat, and gave them a list of possible restaurants where we could eat, they chose a restaurant that wasn’t on my list and sure enough, it was a Chinese restaurant where everything (including the sauces) had meat in it. We had to leave and go find somewhere else to eat. It was…yeah, pretty awkward.
The awkward moment at the table is when they finally notice that all I am eating is side dishes. Then there is this comment – “What do you mean you don’t eat Turkey? Not even on Thanksgiving?” The other awkward moment is when I am handed a raw turkey and instructed to prepare it. Raw turkeys are scary, people. Really scary.
Last Christmas dinner, my family decided to do a Middle Eastern themed fare, since there were 3 vegans in the group. My mom “had” to cook her husband a ham. I think it was more awkward for him to eat slices of ham on top of falafel, than it was for us to stray from the norm.
I usually go with my friend to his families house on major holidays that I can’t be with my own family. Every year, without fail, I will go with him to his families house, where I have been assured there is something vegan for me. And every year without fail, there will be cheese, or milk or eggs in everything they thought was vegan….this year I’ll take my Field Roast! =] =] =]
When my mother-in-law, after 9 years of both her son and myself being vegan, asked “But you eat fish, right?” Love that woman, but really?
My most awkward family gathering would be the recent wedding of my son. The brides family planned the meals to include everything they were use to eating which was heavily SAD based. I ended up eating the salad and of course a piece of wedding cake. Decided I didn’t want to ruin their day and said nothing to anyone about leaving us out of dinner plans!
Telling people that the thought of putting flesh of another animal in my mouth makes me ill, and seeing them squirm !
My family has become pretty good about making stuff for me to eat. I remember, though, around the first year or two that I was vegan, when my mother made an apple pie for me for Christmas dinner. (My family is BIG into pie!) She’d done all this research to make sure that the filling was completely vegan, and I casually asked her what all was in the crust. She told me it was a Pillsbury roll-out pie crust (from the thwack can), and that the can was still in the kitchen. Upon checking, I found out that it had lard in it. I told my mother thank you for the thought, but that I couldn’t eat the pie. When told why not, she asked “What’s lard?” *headdesk*
She’s WAY better now about making vegan food.
“are you still on your diet? how about a little tuna?” no thanks grandma…
LOL – I love the wry way you told this. 🙂
My most awkward family dinner was the time my boyfriend’s mom made corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s day, and proceeded to ladle out for me the vegetables she had cooked in the same pan as the meat. All kinds of meat juice all up in those poor veggies. My boyfriend had to tell her that, in fact, vegetables cooked in meat juice are no longer vegan. She was mortified, I felt terrible, etc. etc.
We are no longer together.
When my grandma put crayons in the soup!
That would have to be the time when my brother, who is a true blue carnivore, invited us vegans over for one of his magnificent pizzas. I haven’t had one since I’m vegan but I’ve heard lots of friends and family rave about them, and this time he promised to make it vegan. He spent days shopping for ingredients and put lots of time and love into it. I just don’t like vegan pork and pineapple with my vegan cheese though and neither did anyone else, including Chef Bro. But we happily ate it anyway, casually suggesting that he try other, less exotic combinations. He’s eager to try again and I’m so looking forward to his next cruelty-free creation. 🙂
The most akward family gathering for me was a few years back on thanksgiving. We brought our own Tofurkey. My step-dad said, ” You’ve got to be to-f**king-kidding me. ” Yeah. Akward.
My immediate family is very supportive. Recently, at an extemded family funeral though, I was told there was nothing I could eat. I went into the kitchen and ate spoonfuls of peanut butter! 😉
It’s super awkward when my family asks why I’m vegan as we are eating. I have to explain why cow secretions and chicken vaginal discharge aren’t appealing to me…
When my entire family came together for Thanksgiving last year, and my grandmother came with a turkey and said she didn’t put butter on it so the vegan (me) could eat it…you tried, grandma! So close!
When I visited my family over Christmas break, my boyfriend and I offered to make us all pizza for dinner. We brought over pizza stones, homemade dough, and homemade sauce. When we arrived, my dad was in the garage grinding the rust off of a cookie sheet that has been around as long as I have. Luckily we brought pizza stones. Also, my step mom insisted on topping her own giant pizza. The toppings included shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, jalepenos and ground turkey. My step mom is Chinese, and is unfamiliar with standard pizzas, which explains why her toppings were several inches thick and uniform across the entire pizza. Not to mention the only cheese they had (and they needed cheese, although the rest of the pizzas we made as just sauce) were those little cubed up bits of cheese for salads, and they spent a lot of time grating the individual cubes in order to get shredded cheese.
Seriously, there have been no awkward mishaps I can think of! My family is awesome–even extended family go out of their way to bring a vegan dish along with one for omnivores when we have holiday meals potluck style! But holy cow, the field roast en croute is the best thing that has ever happened to me at the holidays. Last year we ate two and I plan to buy extras for the freezer this year!
My husband and I have been Vegan for many years. Went to the in-laws for Thanksgiving last year and the only thing we could eat was lettuce and the pie I brought. Kind of awkward when they kept asking if we wanted some of this dish or that dish. I didn’t want to be rude, but how many time over how many years do you have to explain what being Vegan means. This year Thanksgiving is at my house….Mwahahahaha.
I haven’t experienced the holidays as a vegan yet since I changed to eating plant based this past spring. It’ll be interesting to hear if anyone makes any comments about my choices!
I haven’t had an awkward Thanksgiving moment, but I remember when my boyfriend and decided to go veg…his family found it amusing.
All of these stories are hilarious! I can’t think of any awkward holiday stories off the top of my head, but something that comes to mind Field Roast related is when I served one of their roasts for a gathering with mostly non-vegans several years ago. I’d explained to the group that Field Roast was made with wheat. So they assumed it was to be eaten like bread, and they all started slathering Earth Balance on it.
One Thanksgiving my mom was nice enough to veganize some of our family’s traditional dishes. My eldest brother noticed that I was able to eat more than usual and inquired what was up…. once he found out, he said I ruined the holiday. He threw his plate in the trash and refused to eat anything for the entire day. Makes me laugh and cringe everytime I think of it.
My most awkward family vegan moment was my first vegan thanksgiving, when I was cooking for me and my vegan boyfriend. first, I had to cook in a hotel kitchen, very tiny, with very little access to tools. my dad was buzzing around asking me what i could eat: ‘can you eat peanut butter?” “what about pickles?” “bread?”
…”dad, i CAN eat anything, but i CHOOSE not to eat anything made with or from animal products!’ so annoying. but kind of adorable.
When I went to my first family holiday party after being vegan and my mom and aunt kept insisting that I didn’t need to bring anything, that they would be making vegan dishes. “Don’t worry, we will have at least two kinds of fish.” It took forever to explain fish was NOT a vegan option.
I’ve hosted ever since… always served field roast and everyone’s loved it.
My MIL has actually burst into tears over being told “no thank you” when she offered me someting that had meat in it. I pretty much take my own food since I ate her “vegetarian” butternut squash soup and later learned it was made with chicken broth! (yeah, she lied to my face & told me it was veggie broth. And yes, it made me ill.)
Well since we’re baby vegans we haven’t had one yet. But we hope to have lots of awkwardness as we tailgate for Thanksgiving this year at the Cowboys football game!
My most awkward vegan family gathering was all of them before I decided to start bringing along my own food, with enough to share, so everyone could see I was eating something that tasted better than they were. It also made it easier to explain exactly what I could/would eat since, for the life of me, I could never understand why people — particularly my immediate family — are unable to comprehend when I tell them that I will eat just about anything as long as it didn’t have parents, which includes cheese! Happy Holidays!! 😉
A gathering last summer in Georgia with the whole family for the grandparents’ 60th anniversary. We were all at a resort which served meals family style. The breakfast had a lot of dishes which we suspected could be vegan unless they were cooked in butter or dairy. We asked our waiter “would you ask the chef what of these dishes contains no dairy?” He returned after talking to the chef with this reply, “the chef says the only dishes without dairy are the bacon and the sausage.” Well, he answered our question.
Maybe the most awkward was having the family have to discuss my eating as if I wasn’t there. Rude!
I would say just about every family gathering we have. When we visit family, my daughter and I have to bring all the food that we will eat the entire week that we’ll be visiting. That is breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus snacks for five or six days. That’s a lot of food to be driving across several states and then having to either load it in the refrigerator or continue to keep the food on ice as we use it. in order for us to actually sit down and have dinner with everyone. I have to cook before them and then hope that I get done before they sit with their fried foods and convenient foods. It gets to be really awkward and uncomfortable when for a holiday meal, everyone sits to eat and you’re still in the kitchen trying to prepare everything yourself for your meal when the rest of the family had several hands to help. It’s frustrating and annoying at the same time. We haven’t all sat down together in years.
I went to visit my grandma in Pittsburgh, who I love dearly, and every time we sat down to eat she would offer me meat. Every time I would refuse it she would shake her head and tell me that I need protein. All I could do was keep my mouth shut and eat my veggies.
My most embarrassing moment: a very solid vegan bean loaf that should have been cut with a sawzall. I like to think I am a good cook – that was NOT good!
Going over to the in-laws for a holiday meal and sitting there with an empty plate because there was not one vegan thing. Mother in law offered me a can of corn to eat, the corn on the table had butter, but I declined. Awkward. Right up there with the Christmas my mom kept referring to my “situation” her name for my vegan lifestyle.
My partner and I visited my father for the fourth of July one year and he prepared us soyrizo, but didn’t take the casing off, which is plastic. We didn’t know how to handle the situation, so we just pretended that it was too spicy and consumed only the additional foodstuffs.
It was probably me freaking out on my dad for putting the utensils used in the meat dishes in the vegan dishes and everyone thinking I’m a crazy bitch!
Telling my 10 year old niece at thanksgiving that having turkey that eating turkey was the same as her eating Sparkles her parakeet to find my mother in-law standing behind her. To this day (she’s 13 now) she won’t eat turkey or chicken. See….scare tactics do work. Get them while their young. Mwhahahaha
I am fairly new to veganism, so I will just say that I come from a verrrry Southern family.
“Soooo, no eggs? Or sausage? Or pigs in a blanket? NO BUTTER? WHAT DO YOU EAT?!?!”
My family is pretty great. They always make at least one vegan dish when I visit them. I’d still love to win that field roast.
I went to a family barbeque after my first year of being vegan. I of course requested some vegan sausages after avoiding fake meat products for a year. My aunt prepared me a lovely looking sausage in a bun that was handed to me by my known-to-be-a-prankster brother. I took a bite, then stood up freaking out! I seriously thought they were playing a really mean joke on me by giving me a real all meat hot dog! After running off and bursting into tears, my little mexican grandma ran to get me and showed me the package of the vegan dog I had just tried. AKWARD. My family still teases me about the event at every family gathering.
The MIL said I could use her kitchen to cook my own food for xmas. Of course, I burned the apple crisp, set off the smoke detector, and then spent two hours soaking and scraping the oven floor.
I haven’t had any terrible moments, but it can be pretty awkward having to bring my own food to family gatherings, especially around family I only see every year or two.
I’m a very new vegan, so no holiday experiences yet. My family is pretty supportive, but it’s always pretty funny when my mom expresses guilt for eating meat in front of me. Can’t wait to try Field Roast products this Thanksgiving!
Hmmm…most awkward… That would probably be last Thanksgiving when my wonderful mom went cooked up a vegan spread (and other meat items for the fam). My aunt scarfed down several slices of chocolate tofu pie, rolling her eyes and making noises, proclaiming how delicious the pie was. Then after she was finished, my mom told her it was made from tofu, and my aunt pretended like she’d never gorged herself on the pie, saying, “Oh, it was OK, I guess.” She’s not that open to alternative thinking as a whole.
I thought the pie was delicious, and I was so happy my mom made a ton of food.
idk about awkward, but my uncle and grandfather once got into a fistfight after Christmas dinner. My father (Mario to my uncle’s Luigi) had to break it up. It sounds horrific, but I’m laughing out loud as I picture it. My dad’s kind of a tiny guy.
On a lighter note, my depression-era grandmother always limited us kids to five black olives apiece. Now I eat as many as I want and cherish every bite.
Last Thanksgiving i was told the bread was ok for me to eat
because “it only had a little bit of butter in it” 🙂
As a very newlywed my mother inlaw cooked dinner for the whole family and took special need with my vegetarian meal. Unfortunately, she used a lot of chicken broth and butter in the potatoes and I got really really sick. She felt super bad about it all and then I decided that I could only eat whole veggies and potatoes she cooked since I didn’t want to explain “vegetarian” again with ham products she would put in everything.
Once I had a relative tell me that eating turkey on Thanksgiving was the least I could do for my country. What ever that means!
My aunt and uncle invited me over for lunch and forgot I was vegetarian. I assured them I was fine eating salad and sides, but they panicked and started running back and forth to the fridge, putting every vegetarian item they could find on the table.
Having to say over and over that no, I won’t have the giblet gravy but that it isn’t a negative reflection on the person whose house I am at.
Gosh, probably my MIL gagging at the thought of tofu!
It’s not as much on Thanksgiving as leading up to eat when a gazillion people ask – what do you eat? With the gratitude feast at my house – everything but the Turkey is doable for me. (and i get my own potatoes).
When I got my ears pierced at 15 (rebellious me) without my parents consent and came home to my grandparents visiting for dinner.
When my family gathers together, it’s almost always awkward. The worst time was last year at Christmas, a few family members we hadn’t seen in years randomly showed up. Surprised, we didn’t have any gifts for them when it came time to open gifts…it was very awkward! Everyone made it through unscathed though. *Whew.
My first Thanksgiving being vegan was awkward because my grandma made me a special vegan meal, complete with a dessert. I thanked her profusely and told her how glad I was that she understood what it was for me to be vegan, since it was confusing for her at first, and I asked her for her recipes. Well it turns out the pie that I was stuffing my face with had eggs, and when I explained to her that eggs aren’t vegan she felt bad, she had only remembered the part about not eating dairy and thought eggs were okay. Oops! Still nice of her to try.
When my little sister loudly announces to the table that the cornbread stuffing I brought is vegan and that she refuses to eat it. Some version of this is repeated each holiday unfortunately.
My most awkward experience was my first Easter as a vegan. I went to my brother’s house and after dinner (but we were all still at the table) his father-in-law thought it would be funny to start telling really gross stories about killing turkeys while I was talking about why I went vegan. My nephew said “Hey grandpa let’s go play some pool in the family room”. I was still really new to being vegan and had absolutely no idea how to respond to the turkey stories. Thank God for thoughtful nephews.
In February of 2012, I flew out to California for a family thing. My mom and stepsisters share a birthday. Their mother’s birthday is around that time. One of them is dating a guy whose birthday is around that time.
I’m the only vegan. I had the weekend from hell because I barely had anything to eat at the horrible restaurants they chose. One is this magic club in L.A. It’s a steakhouse. Their vegetarian option is cheese-coated. Nobody thought to arrange for a vegan meal for me so I cobbled together some sides. The next day they went to some awful Italian type place where I had to wait forever for a crappy sandwich.
I was so glad when it was time to fly home. I don’t think I had a good meal all weekend.
Sorry, I meant February of 2008.
At least once a year on one holiday or another, a family member will find it funny to try the food I’ve brought with me and exclaim how it tastes like grass and hippie. To get then back, I usually chose to share a horror story about the meat and dairy industry.
I win.
Last year for thanksgiving I made a peanut butter tofu cheesecake. My MIL thinks she is the world’s best cook. When my brother in law took a piece of my pie and not hers it was awkward. And when he asked for my recipe the look on my MIL face was priceless.
Parents arrived at my apartment on Thanksgiving day, and my dad’s front tooth was missing! He hadn’t had the time to get the dental implant fixed before they left…so I called a friend that was coming to dinner to give her a heads up about the whole situation! Ha ha, good memories.
Most awkward family experience – my aunt was so confused and buying all these gluten free products (I am not gluten free), she just thought that vegans could not eat gluten but they could have eggs and milk. My family always tries to make things vegan, but they often fail and i always feel so bad telling them that although I appreciate the effort, I can’t eat what they prepare.
At pretty much ever family gathering, my aunts observe me eating my veg-friendly plate, then shoot concerned looks at me as if I’m going to get sick if I don’t eat whatever meat item is on the table. Since I stopped eating meat 4 years ago, I haven’t been sick even once!
Just when my friend who I had a crush on realized that I don’t eat honey. He freaked out and started laughing, but thankfully it was just us around.
I’m a newbie, but the latest experience that kind of qualifies was my sister saying on the phone, “so are you now going to be a vegan?” Kind of reminded me of the time my mom asked, “so are you going to come home for Christmas and be gay everyday?” Yes people, every day, all day!
Hmm, I must’ve blocked all mine out of memory, although I know that I’ve definitely had more than a few. Now I just try to say less and lead by example. If I do say something I try to be calm and rational and not get overly excited!
Having Thanksgiving at a friend’s family’s house… And only being able to eat the one dish I brought. Also, my first gluten-free (and vegan) Thanksgiving, the “pull apart” rolls I made nearly broke everyone’s teeth. Mortifying.
Every year my uncle makes the same lameass ‘joke’ about me being vegan. The more I stand up for myself each time, the more awkward it is!
My father and his wife really wanted to be accommodating when we came to visit, so they went to the local pub where they hang and eat, and they asked the cook/bartender to make us a pizza. It’s a small town in Kentucky, and I don’t think they quite understood what vegan was. They proudly displayed a frozen veggie pizza…with cheese. I really felt horrible and awkward, but I moved forward, said thank you but we don’t eat cheese you’resosweetireallyappreciatetheeffort, and got the food we’d brought along out of the car to eat.
On my first vegan Christmas, my aunt kept telling me that she knew what vegan was and that she would make something for me (which I thought was very nice of her). When I got to her house, she showed me the cheesy quiche that she had prepared. When I sheepishly told her that I could not eat it, she got flustered, slammed the plate on the table and yelled “Don’t you eat anything?!?!?!?”
Yup. That was fun.
I don’t have family, but since going vegan four years ago, every meal shared at work is terribly awkard. So many questions and overall discomfort around me, like I’m an alien.
Last Thanksgiving we got into a pretty heated discussion about why my not eating meat was such a big deal. It all started when I had a plate of meat shoved literally in my face when them exclaiming “oooohhh yum doesn’t it just smell so good!”. Um, no. And its not like it was a surprise, I’ve been vegetarian/vegan for 6 years!
First thanksgiving as a vegetarian, we took a cranberry sauce mold shaped like a turkey to my dads house. We even took a tiny set of carving forks and knives for him to cut the “turkey!”. Not too awkward but really funny!
My most awkward vegan family gathering was maybe last Christmas Eve. It was the first holiday my husband and I were celebrating with a vegan meal. I was cooking Christmas Eve. My mom was cooking Christmas Day. The holidays always make me nervous – but cooking my first vegan holiday meal was beyond nerve wracking. My family arrived and mocked my attempts. As I dished out the food I was a bit petrified. I didn’t taste as I went along. But with each course and each bite I won them over – to the point that my dad even said the next day he didn’t need a turkey! Awkward turned fantastic! I’d love to add this to my vegan holiday table this year!
When my daughter was a freshman at a major university, she invited her roommate from India and another student from Maylasia to our home for a “traditional Thanksgiving” dinner. When I brought out the Field Roast, they kept calling it turkey. I explained to them that the tradition was for Americans to eat chocolate turkeys (which I bought)….they loved our meal and couldn’t wait to tell their family back home about their first American Thanksgiving.
I love this. 🙂
Eating Tofurkey sandwiches on the sly in the kitchen during my cousin’s BBQ themed wedding reception…
Mom: ” Oh Crystal, I’m so glad you’re here! I made you shrimp salad. That’s vegan, right?” The things you hear from my family in Nebraska around Thanksgiving…
The year I forgot to put sugar in the pumpkin pie was pretty choice. It was the first time I’d ever made it, too, so it left my family thinking that’s what vegan pumpkin pie tastes like.
My husband and I have been pretty lucky and haven’t had too many awkward encounters, but occasionally we have to go to a chain restaurant or steak house with the family, and it can often seem like being vegan is the most difficult thing ever when we have to order a custom meal at the restaurant. We just want to show them that our diet isn’t impossible, but when a restaurant literally has nothing to serve you but lettuce, I sure can seem that way!
When my grandma said that she made a mayonaise cake just for me so that I could eat it because it didn’t have any “milk or butter in it!” Ummm…yeah.
Courtney
OMG! My favorite!
I totally want that t-shirt!
I have a US adress, so bring it on!
For me the most awkward moment (and probably the only one) was this one time I attended a get together from my Dad’s side of the family. My aunt made a huge pot of pasta with a meat sauce. She knew I was vegetarian so she made a separate pot just for me. I thought it was incredibly sweet. Well, during serving time I walked up with my plate and was stunned when she scooped a few spoonfuls of pasta on my plate with lots of bits of meat in it. She smiled at me as if she had done good and I just stared in disbelief. I stuttered as I tried to tell her ‘I… I can’t eat that…’ She looked at me confused and said she made it just for me. I showed her that my dish still had bits of meat in it. She said I should pick it out. I handed her back my plate and said ‘Sorry, but I can’t.’ She suggested I eat some bread and butter and then looked up and said ‘Let me guess… you can’t have that too?’ I just lowered my head and walked back to the table and watched everyone else eat. *sigh* Now I bring my own food wherever I go. Even if someone offers to make me something ‘special’.
my most awkward family moment was about 5 years ago. My dad got wasted on christmas eve and as my mother drove us home from my grandma’s party, my dad literally BEGGED to go to the movies. Then told us kids how awesome we were. Ok, it was more funny than awkward, but still! My dad never gets drunk!
We both come from veg-friendly families, so no horribly awkward moments. We did host a vegan, gluten-free, and processed-sugar-free Christmas a couple of years ago in order to accommodate all diets. That was a little intense.
Many, many years ago my husband and his mom got into a huge fight at christmas about us being vegan. After that fight, she became okay with the whole vegan thing but I still joke with my husband about that because he made his mom cry!
I’ve been lucky to have a pretty supportive family on both sides of the family! The problem is that they are intimidated to cook for me and don’t invite us over (for dinner) as often anymore. Luckily I love to cook so I am always suggesting things and bringing yummy dishes to share with the whole family, and they gobble them up! Slowly but surely they are all coming around!!!
An elder told me all the vegans she knows stink. I simply said my cholesterol had plummeted and I felt great. What else can you say?
When she heard, I was vegan at Thanksgiving dinner, my aunt’s mother tried to relate. She said that her son is vegetarian, but asked why I wouldn’t eat eggs “because they certainly don’t hurt the chickens” with a chuckle. My loving husband spoke up with “probably not what the chickens would say.”
At our most recent gathering I not-so-subtly exclaimed “I can’t eat anything here…” within earshot of my aunt, the host. Twelve years gone and there still is never even salad, haha.
My grandmother (Never remembering that I’m vegan and doesn’t really get it, so I just say that i’m vegetarian) to me:
“I thought vegetarians were supposed to be skinny.”
Sigh.
I don’t have any specific family meal moments, but, every time I eat with extended family, I have convince them that I don’t eat chicken broth (or beef broth), fish, lamb, butter, or cheese.
I’m just thankful the mean-spirited jokes have subsided.
I am all about making the holidays NOT awkward for me and my family, because, dammit, if you invited me over, you better let me bring things I can eat OR make something and not make a fuss!!. Yes, I’m a holiday badass (this from my then-12-year-old).
Truth be told, my family KNOWS me and they KNOW I’m freaking opinionated, so they try and keep me happy (or inebriated!). I actually will only go to family gatherings where I know I’ll be comfortable and my (and my kids’) choices will be tolerated, accepted and embraced (if there are other opinions, and I’m sure there are) they keep them to themselves
Plus I only bring FREAKISHLY AMAZING food, so no one complains…
(OK, THAT rant isn’t going to win me any Field Roast, but I decided not to put up with ANY family not-vegan drama many years ago and that’s pretty much the end of the story…)
I think it would have to be when I visited my husband’s family for the first time. My future MIL sent my future FIL to the store for things I could eat. He came back with hot dogs, steak, chicken, bacon…. 2 bags of groceries and not a single fruit or veggie in sight. Since I’m cranky when I’m hungry, it was not the start of a good weekend.
Each year at some holiday, my mother-in-law, being the kind and caring woman that she is would buy me a lasagne to eat. Not only do I not like lasagne at all, but it’s packed with cheese and pasta, neither of which I eat. Finally, I had to tell my dear MIL that I was fine eating what I brought over or nothing at all.
Now, if she got a Field Roast, life would be peachy, or something like that. And I would not have to be in charge of bringing my own vegan food, although it’s so tasty that all the omnivores and carnivores want it, and eat it. So there…
My in laws needed some educating on what constitutes an animal product. The first time my now-husband took me home to meet his parents, his mom cooked chicken especially for me, because they were having beef. The second time she cooked fish. Now I cook when we visit.
The time when my aunt told my family that she couldn’t bring anything because she packed the fridge with fruits and veggies for me. The only thing in her fridge was a bruised up apple!
I always have awkward family gatherings since becoming vegan! The worst was when my aunt had a cook out and knew I was vegan. She made all the burgers and hot dogs and then a price of chicken. I asked where the vegan burger was and she said she thought it was dog food and gave it to the dog. She figured she would make me chicken because it was the only thing she had that I could eat being vegan….
The first time I brought a Tofurkey to a family gathering, as I finished eating, my mom said, “I didn’t want to tell you, but [my aunt] says those are gross. I’m so sorry.” But I was all like, “but it wasn’t gross…” She’s come a long way since then!
When I was 16 and my grandma said, what do you mean bacon isn’t vegetarian?
My first Thanksgiving after giving up meat my mom was surprised to discover I was not going to eat any turkey. “I don’t eat meat, Mom” “But it’s THANKSGIVING, surely you can make an exception for one day!”
Hmm. The various dinner parties I went to around the holidays during my first year of veganism were always the worst– nothing really to eat other than carrot sticks and celery. Not to mention having to constantly explain the vegan thing each time someone offered me a bacon-wrapped-something-or-another. Blech!
My inlaws live on a 700 acre ranch in Texas with their son and his family. Beef, chicken and the occasional wild hog and deer are heavy on their menu. When we announced that we became vegans last October and came to visit them in the spring, they weren’t sure what we could eat that they had other than a green salad. We had brought some food items with us (beans, nuts and cooked rice) to eat while they dine on meat and macaroni/potato salad laden with eggs and mayo along with chunks of ham and cheese.
Unfortunately I didn’t plan on my inlaws wanting to ‘sample’ what we were eating as well, which left us with very little to eat all weekend since their samples were serving portions. It became awkward when at one of the meals our inlaws had taken most of meal we had pre-prepared for ourselves, leaving both of us with less than a single portion to split for the both of us.
Anyway, our next visit we will be better prepared… 🙂
Probably my first thanksgiving as a vegan. I didn’t make anything in preparation and when I showed up people just kept insisting that I eat the meat dish they had prepared and my aunt acted like I was an ungrateful brat for not eating the desserts she had made from scratch.
My family has been very supportive of my choice not to eat meat. No crazy things happened at Thanksgiving, but my MIL always says she doesn’t know what to feed “You people” when we visit. haha.
My most awkward family gathering was my first Thanksgiving as a vegan. I went to the trouble of veganizing all of my grandmother’s recipes. I wanted to fly under the radar to avoid and teasing from my family. While I was making the gravy some of my cousins came in the kitchen to question me about making my own little pot of gravy. Long story short…they distracted me, resulting in me burning the gravy to the point that I filled my parent’s kitchen with enough smoke to set off the smoke alarm. My vegan secret was out. Luckily they have come to terms with it and no longer smother me with questions (that I’m happy to answer…over and over again) at every family gathering. 😉
Not sure I’ve ever had what I would consider an awkward holiday experience, but I do know that my family (who loves meat) loves the Field Roast En Croute. They were all mesmerized by it when they tasted it! 🙂
My most awkward moment was having dinner with my sister, her husband and there son. They did not know I was a Vegan and I didn’t say anything knowing I MIGHT be able to eat SOMETHING they served. Well they had a BBQ and only had 1 vegetable. When my sister noticed thats all I was eating all 3 of them probed what was wrong and I finally told them. Well, you would think I was the one committing murder!!!!! They even brought God into it justifying eating meat. Well, it wsn’t worth an arguement. I knew I couldn’t enlighten them to the truth about consuming flesh 🙁 Needless to say, I don’t eat there very much!! I am hoping to change their minds though.
Last Christmas, my mother and I made several vegan dishes to bring to my grandmother’s house for supper so I would have food I knew I could eat (only vegan in any part of my family). One of my uncles had been eating said dishes and asked what we put in them, and finally asked if this was my weird vegetarian food (I’d been vegetarian for most of my life), to which my mother pointed out that it was vegan because I’m vegan, and when the whole table got quiet, my grandmother said “well we all have our crosses to bear so let’s leave her be.” I know she and my mother were trying to be supportive of me, but talk about an awkward conversation.
It was about four years ago. I went to see family that I almost never see. We all went to this italian restaurant that was catered and had out nothing I could eat. My family that saw me eating nothing told the waitress to bring out something vegan. It was spaghetti in a bowl full of olive oil.
Later on I made a trip to get some food from an indian place, I brought it back to my aunts’s house. She was shocked because they had a fridge full of leftovers, more than they could eat. I explained that only eat plants, and one dish by one they realize there’s nothing in there for me. She said “A vegan? Wow, I’ve never heard of that before.”
It was more of a work gathering so it was far from vegan but extremely awkward. As we all got ready to join in the common area, the office manager announces “oh Amy there’s nothing you can eat…sorry”. The they had me answer phones while they ate!!!! I quit 2 weeks later.
For my first vegan Thanksgiving, I made a full Tofurky with all the fixings and brought it to my aunt’s house. First, my mom insisted I didn’t tell anyone I was vegan now. Second, I had to wait until all the food was cooked to heat up mine (i still have to do that.) Then later my cousin tried the Tofurky, called it dog food, and proceeded to tease me with his father (we are in our 20s and out of college, his dad is my mom’s age.) It was really mature on their part. Now I bring the crusted Field Roast and they don’t bother me!
Thanksgiving is always a tough one in my family. My mother prepares a wonderful, home-cooked meal but of-course, none of it is ever vegan! One year, I was assigned green-bean casserole and instead of using the canned soup, etc, I used fresh green beans and fresh mushrooms and it got a thumbs-down from my mother who only likes it the traditional way! Another year, I made sage and caramalized onion sweet-potatoes–amazing–but my father spit them out! And, this past year? My father accidentally tried my vegetarian gravy. You would have thought that I gave him motor oil for his mashed potatoes. This year should be interesting. It’s laughable (though I wish my family were more open-minded towards my way of eating)!
A few years back, I asked my parents if I could host a vegan-thanksgving potluck at their house. They were all about it until the day of, when they thought all the food was weird and spicy and started cleaning up while all my guests were still eating… It was super ackward and will never be repeated!!!
My mom made a vegetable soup, but didn’t tell my husband and me that it was made with chicken stock. We figured it out a few hours later though :/
The awkward moment for me comes before the actual holiday, when we argue over who’s hosting it. I find it much easier to do it myself, then all the food is vegan and we don’t have to worry about it.
My most awkward experience was when my aunt was nice enough to make us our own dish… jello with marshmallows on it… I had to explain that not only was it no vegan, it wasn’t even vegetarian. I felt so bad because she had specifically made it for me… :/
Sunday dinners at my BFs parents’ house – they never let me bring any food or help cook and insisted on serving me various veg frozen meals still in their containers plopped on the dinner plate.
Over the years, I’ve followed a vegetarian diet on-and-off. And now it’s mostly vegan eating. But what I’ve found is that increasingly more and more people I meet are eating this way as well. I’ve not had any particular awkward moments as much as pleasant surprises at how many people are eating more healthy foods.
Most awkward…fixing my daughter and son in law dinner and then my daughter decides to leave and go get McDonalds. Uggggh.
I’ve only experienced one awkward family gathering, fortunately, but it was a doozy that happened only a month after going vegan (12 years ago) when I was informed that a cousin on the side of my family I’d had no contact with for many years (I’ll call her “C”) had metastasized breast cancer and wasn’t expected to live long. I flew to Florida to see her along with some other family members. There ended up being nine of us: C, her husband and 16-year old daughter, her parents (my aunt and uncle), plus another cousin and her husband and toddler. For the most part, there was respectful interest in how and what I ate, mostly because all the other adults were overweight, on lots of prescription medications for a wide-ranging variety of chronic ailments, and/or suffering from acute illness, with C’s being the most severe. Each night someone chose a different restaurant for all of us to eat at (this was in vegan un-friendly Jacksonville), and I had no problem finding something to eat at all of them (on my night to choose I cooked a vegan dinner for everyone, which was a success), until it was C’s turn to choose. Irony of ironies, it happened to be on World Vegetarian Day and the start of Vegan and Vegetarian Awareness Month ~ and she chose Outback Steakhouse. I couldn’t even get vegetables that weren’t slathered in butter (I was told that getting them plain was not an option there!) The only thing available to eat was the blooming onion, and though my vegan diet has become far healthier over the intervening years, even then I didn’t care to make a meal of deep-fried anything. So I drank a beer. Though “C” had the most to lose (or gain), and I’d never said a word about the links between diet and cancer (the whole get-together being awkward enough anyway on many levels), she seemed to exude hostility toward my lifestyle and food choices. And this passed on to her daughter, who sat beside me and refused the vegetable sides that came with her steak, eating only that hunk of flesh and a glass of milk, and asking me in confrontational tones what was wrong with drinking milk (“it doesn’t kill the animal,” etc etc). Meanwhile, my other cousin snarkily asked, “Does it bother you to watch us eat this stuff?” as she ate her lobster and steak dinner. Committed-but-newbie vegan that I was, I answered these questions as tactfully and honestly as I could, while watching all my sick, overweight family members chow down on the slaughtered corpses of sea and land animals in this horrifying restaurant-of-death on World Vegetarian Day. Not one of my happier memories!
If only we could have gathered around a Field Roast at a vegan restaurant instead!
(For anyone who has read this far and is wondering, my cousin battled her cancer in the usual ways – chemo, radiation and surgeries – while it continued to spread to her bones, liver and brain and eventually killed her, my other cousin’s husband made some positive changes to his diet but didn’t stick with them, and I stopped communicating with that side of the family again shortly after that trip. But 12 years later, I’m still a grateful and thriving vegan, despite having been diagnosed with MS 18 years ago and taking no medications).
I had my non-vegan extended family over for a Christmas Day gathering. I served all vegan appetizers and spent two days making a beautiful dessert table of delicious vegan pies, cakes and cookies. My mom insisted she bring something and did…a plate of my family’s favorite deviled eggs! Needless to say the eggs were instantly swooped up along with the chips and dips (vegan). Unfortunately since I had been posting on Facebook my progress of the vegan baking, the word spread thru my family and no one TOUCHED the desserts. I was disappointed and hurt at first but then I loaded up all my hard work and took them out of town to the other side of my family who had no ides they were vegan, they loved them!
This wasn’t family, but a potluck with some friends… They guy hosting said he’d make some vegan chili (after I had offered to do so). After we got to his house he was talking all about how his beans weren’t getting soft, so he added some chicken stock to the mix… I just had to shake my head and explain that this chili was not vegan. He tried to argue with me as it was only a little bit of stock, but I was not having it…
We totally had that happen at a potluck! A woman came with her dish and list of ingredients and just as everyone was about to dig in someone asked her “Your ingredient list says ‘stock’, I assume that means veggie stock?”
She shook her head and was like “Well, no, obviously chicken stock… what the heck is veggie stock? Do they even make that?”
The whole room fell silent. It was awkward to say the least.
Most awkward gathering was when we made a huge family breakfast Christmas morning. I made a small plate of vegan bacon for my family next to the big platter of real bacon. My meat eating nephews liked the vegan bacon better and ate the whole plate before my kids got to the table!
Going out to a $40 something a plate Thanksgiving dinner with my in laws (who had called to make sure there was stuff I could eat) and finding that I could only eat salad.
Driving down to San Diego and asking my dad to find a good place for dinner as I’m hungry already and will be starving by the time I show up. When I show up he lets me know he picked a place he think I’d really like only to walk me over to a fish restaurant. Still confused what he thinks I’d really like there.
This was actually at a friend’s party but she said she’d prepare something veg for me. So I went there with just a bottle of wine. Turns out “something veg” was some pieces of lettuce that were next to pig ears! ewwww. I got drunk pretty quickly that night lol
I haven’t had an awkward gathering with my families. Just occasional annoying comments here and there sometimes.
Last Thanksgiving while the rest of the family prepared their usual omnivorous dishes my wife and I made a Field Roast and some small vegan side dishes for ourselves. As they cooked we ran out for a few missing items, leaving my grandparents napping in the house. When we returned my grandparents had awoken and already dug into the food! They somehow managed to eat almost all of our Field Roast and side dishes but none of the other stuff! We went hungry that Thanksgiving, however, it was pretty satisfying to hear how delicious they thought the Field Roast was!
The first Thanksgiving I was vegan, I expected a lot of flack from my family about it. But it turned out everyone was pretty nice. What I didn’t anticipate was my mother using the opportunity to grill everyone at the table, from my 80-year old grandmother to my quiet, teetotaler sister-in-law, about their drug use. “Come on. You’re telling me you never smoked a little pot?”
When my parents wanted to cook a turkey at my house but I wouldn’t let them use my roasting dish. Sorry guys! Ew.
My most awkward was when I made all the food for my own baby shower at my sister’s house (so it would all be vegan), and then she complained about not liking hummus and brought out a bunch of non-vegan food and set it out next to all the delicious food I had made. Also, I had asked her to buy chips for the party, and she bought Cheetos, Nacho Doritos, and Sour Cream and Onion Lays. Vegan chips are so easy, and she couldn’t even be bothered to buy ONE vegan bag.
Being told there will be no vegan food from my boyfriend’s mother time after time. Even when there was supposed to be vegan food she informed us last minute there will not be anything after all. It is like she just messed with our minds. I am glad she moved 4+ hours away!!!
My most awkward is more of an ongoing thing… family trying to make something vegan, but not totally understanding the rules… For example, they make a big salad, but then slather it in dressing that has dairy in it. Or my mother-in-law making carnitas for the others, and mixing a bit of it into the beans before the Mister can stop her. “But it’s only a little bit!” Things like that.
I am newly vegan since finding out I am pregnant, so I haven’t had a thanksgiving yet 😛 But my family’s Labor Day picnic was awkward enough! Sorry BBQ-only-means-meat fans, there’s seitan in this “pulled pork.” 🙂
Twice now my wife and I have had horrible experiences with food at family weddings. The first time, I was a bridesmaid, and ASSURED by the bride there would be a vegan option. Wedding day came and… nope. Bacon wrapped everything. We didn’t say anything until someone asked why we weren’t eating the food. We casually explained and then had two martini glasses full of caesar salad shoved towards us by an angered chef. Nice try- but caesar salad isn’t even vegetarian, let alone vegan. Lucky for us it was an open bar- with no food in our stomachs, we got THE DRUNK.
The next time was last year when the two brides made it a point (knowing the experience we had previously) to put a vegan veggie burger on the menu. Good job ladies! So we got up to the buffet, grabbed the patties labeled as “vegan” and sat down to eat. One bite in, it was obvious. These were not veggie burgers. We left our plates and tried to figure out where the veggie burgers may actually be from the caterers. Turns out, they had put all the vegan burgers out first and labeled them as meat burgers accidentally. So not only were they all gone, but the omnivores had eaten them unknowingly. It got awkward when the rest of the people at our table tried to convince us to eat the meat burgers on our plates with lines like “Well it was good wasn’t it?” or “So, you love cows so much you’re going to let their meat go to waste?”. So awkward!
We also brought vegan cupcakes (not a wedding faux pas, the brides totally suggested it!) so we could share dessert time with everyone during the cake cutting. We left the pan of cupcakes in the fridge and when it came time to cut the cake, someone (we suspect it was one of the bride’s mothers) had gone in and eaten them all!
You bring your own food, you don’t bring your own food… sometimes you just can’t win. Thank goodness for open bars!
I went to visit my roommate’s family for Easter last year. They are cattle ranchers. The first night we arrived, chili was on the menu. I had brought my own veggie burger to make, and did so unabashedly. It was about 15 minutes into the meal when her older brother says, “So…about this whole vegan thing…”
It wasn’t awkward so much as hilarious. I was proud of him for waiting as long as he did before asking about something that was so strange to them. 🙂
Nothing too awkward. Just maybe the time when my FIL (who is heavily medicated) told all of us vegetarians and vegans (about half the family) that if we weren’t going to eat the food they served in his house (even though his wife had done the cooking and she was fine with us bringing vegan alternatives to share as well), that we could get “the hell out of my house!” We all kind of just sat there looking at each other, which pissed him if even more, so he stormed out onto the porch to smoke a cigar before going to bed. The next day, he acted as if nothing had happened. LIke I said, not too awkward…
Most awkward? When my parents called my daughter’s pediatrician to tattle on my husband and I, because they couldn’t fathom for a nanosecond that a licensed physician would condone and advocate a plant-based diet for a baby.
I guess it was most awkward for my parents when it blew up in their face – for us, it was (unfortunately) just SSDD dealing with non-vegan relatives.
Every Thanksgiving is awkward for me! Everyone is eating meat!
The 10th year in a row a relative asked me why I was not eating any turkey.
I get asked why I act like I am too good for normal food.
“Oh, she’s one of those” one from a relative to another upon being told I didn’t eat the same way they did (“those” said in the most sneering way imaginable) – yikes.
My family is pretty cool; in-laws, too. However, the first time I went home after going vegan I had this conversation about 20 times (different foods, same conversation)
Family member: Would you like some strawberry cake?
Me: No, thanks.
Family member: Why not? You don’t like strawberries? [awkward pause] Oh, right.
I entered and won a contest last year,got my congratulatory email, but never received my prize.