Nutritionist shares his vegan Christmas survival guide
By Team Coach|
Every Christmas brings us together with family and friends, who may or may not be vegan. If they aren't also vegan, the work Christmas party or Christmas lunch at Mum's can be awkward.
During a period that can be stressful on its own (alongside the current cost of living crisis), the last thing you want is to be worried about what you are going to eat.
So Eat Holy's nutritionist TJ Waterfall has prepared a complete survival guide to help you manoeuvre the festive season.
READ MORE: Sam Wood's secret to finding time for exercise during the busy holiday period
'Vegan-ise' traditional Christmas food
Vegan food has come a long way from a 'nut roast' being the only non-meat option. Nowadays there are alternative vegan ingredients such jackfruit, or a mushroom wellington as an alternative to the traditional turkey, and there's vegan mince for those all-important mince pies.
Alert your host as far ahead of time as possible
When joining friends or family for dinner, 'forewarned is forearmed'. If it's being hosted at someone's house, let them know well in advance of your preferences. Offer to take your own dishes, but try to ensure yours complement those being offered by the host. Ditto for vegan wines.
Work events
If it's a work event, make something festive that's vegan to cater for you and any other vegan colleagues.
Take in vegan festive treats in the build up to Christmas and try offering some to your non-vegan colleagues. This shatters the myth vegan food is boring or not tasty - they may actually enjoy them.
Be the 'hostess with the most-ess'
If non-vegan guests are coming to you for a meal, do let them know the dishes will be vegan but they are welcome to bring dishes of their choosing. This saves you compromising on what you will eat, but then you are not enforcing your choices on your guests.
If you choose all vegan dishes for non-vegan guests, my tip would be to create the vegan alternative to something they'd normally eat, so it's not too 'off-centre'. And, who knows – maybe they'll enjoy vegan food alternatives?
Take vegan snacks with you
Christmas drinks and going away for Christmas can prove tricky, especially if you're hungry and have had a few mulled wines. So avoid the pigs in blankets and cheese straws by always having your own vegan snacks with you. If you have some basics on hand, you'll be fully prepared for the onset of the munchies.
Spread the Christmas cheer
Being vegan is a choice. Don't try and force your views on other people; by all means let them try your vegan goodies, but only enter a conversation on veganism if they instigate it, otherwise you might find yourself uninvited to future events. Offer some of your vegan treats and see if they enjoy them – this way they'll see vegan doesn't mean eating odd or tasteless food.
Offer to help with the cooking
It's a big responsibility for one cook to prepare the whole Christmas lunch alone, let alone for them to cater for vegans, so offer to help with the cooking. That way you can also integrate your vegan meal without causing them too much extra work, or worry
Prepare yourself for questions
If you're vegan, you're probably used to people asking the why's and wherefores, but relatives and friends may be curious and ask questions. Don't react defensively, calmly explain why you've made this choice without lecturing and put veganism in a positive spin – if it's positive, it may leave them thinking about their own meat consumption or curious about vegan food.
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