Twas a week before Christmas….can you believe it? Despite 2020 being an incredibly challenging year and a time when many of us were forced to slow down and enjoy simple pleasures, I feel like it’s still flown by! I’m not sure why this is the case as they do say that ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ and many of us have not been having fun. We’ve had financial pressure, job losses, cancelled holidays, isolation and let’s not forget the stress of constantly trying to stay safe and healthy in a global pandemic. Yes, 2020 has been a strange beast. Yet within the turmoil, I feel so grateful for many things. I feel grateful for my cosy home and the fact that I get to share this with a loving husband and beautiful pooch. I feel grateful that I’ve had the time to try new recipes, make sourdough from scratch (something I never thought I’d do!) knit massive jumpers and start this blog! I feel grateful that because I was forced to slow down and take a break from working, my silent reflux miraculously disappeared meaning that I can now sing notes that I thought were lost to me. I feel grateful that I’ve had the time to exercise more, take long walks in the countryside, live in loungewear and not bother to put makeup on or colour my hair as frequently. Most of all I feel thankful that I’ve been able to continue to bring joy through song; teaching singing via a computer screen, which is something I never thought I could or would do!
However, there are also many things that I’m sad about; not being able to visit my family in Australia this Christmas, not being able to take overseas holidays, not being able to see friends as much as I would have liked or give people a good ol’ squeeze! Not being able to sing for a living has been hard and I also miss feeling completely safe, something that many of us took for granted before this year. However, I know that I’m one of the lucky ones and overall I’m thankful for everything that 2020 has given me.
Perhaps this is why I feel like Christmas is more important than ever this year. It feels like everyone needs a ‘lift’ and even though it will be a much more intimate affair than usual, it’s important to give ourselves time to celebrate and reflect on the blessings in our lives, especially here in the UK when it’s dark and chilly and easy to give in to the gloom! This is also our first completely vegan Christmas because last year I did cook a traditional roast for my English family who joined us on Christmas day.
So the question is, what does a vegan Christmas look like? And can it be just as special as a traditional Christmas? I certainly hope so!
The number one challenge is shifting our mindset away from what we have always known Christmas to be. Human beings find so much comfort in tradition and the older the traditions are, the more difficult it is to break these habits! If we have grown up eating turkey and pulling Christmas crackers at the dinner table, we want to do this every year because it’s nostalgic; it takes us back to our childhood and the happy memories and feelings associated with that. But where do these traditions originally come from?
When it comes to food, turkey is an incredibly popular choice for the main meal and around 10 million are eaten for Christmas in the UK every year. Did you know that Turkey was introduced into the UK from America in 1526 and it became popular among the rich after Henry VIII was the first English King to add it to his feast? However, even as recently as the 1930s, one turkey cost a week’s worth of wages! It was only after farming methods changed in the 1950s that it became an affordable choice for the average person and soared in popularity. Before this, beef, chicken, goose and even peacock were most commonly eaten.
But after half a century of tradition, why should we decide to forego the humble turkey this year? One reason is that modern farming practices mean that the majority of turkeys are reared in indoor sheds where 25,000 birds can be housed in one building with very little daylight. This means that they have limited opportunities to express their natural behaviours. Also, because of the crowded conditions, turkeys can experience footpad lesions (caused by high levels of ammonia on the ground from faeces in the litter), heat stress and even be subjected to having their beaks trimmed to prevent pecking and this can be very painful.
Like many animals, turkeys are intelligent, sensitive and highly sociable. They create strong bonds with one another and like dogs, they are incredibly affectionate. How can it be that we wouldn’t dream of eating a dog and yet we will happily chow down on a turkey? Is it conditioning? Is it habitual? Is it disassociation? Whatever the reason, it is now easier than ever to choose to have a cruelty-free Christmas.
Every year, more and more vegan options are available in the supermarkets. From mock meat roasts made from tofu, seitan or pea protein to delicious vegetable wellingtons, the choices are endless! If you’re feeling a little adventurous you can even make your own main course! I will be attempting the famous Bosh! Mushroom Wellington this year. Actually, it seems like a lot more people are taking the veggie option when it comes to their Christmas meal as I was shocked at the amount of vegan food that was sold out online, even two weeks ago. From vegan roasts to party food to even vegan pigs in blankets, the supermarkets have very much jumped on the V train so I certainly don’t feel like I’m missing out on the fun!
But how about all of those other treats we like to indulge in leading up to Christmas day? Well, I ordered a vegan panettone from Abel and Cole which I’m very much looking forward to cracking open and when it comes to mince pies I’ve decided to try my hand at making my own this year using store-bought puff pastry (which is naturally vegan) as I don’t like it when the mincemeat is too sweet. But if you’re short on time pretty much every supermarket now sells vegan mince pies and they can even be found in Café Nero, Costa Coffee and Greggs! For more info click here. Best of all, there is nothing inferior about these treats when it comes to taste (I challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference!) and by buying them you are helping to contribute to a cruelty-free world.
I’m not a big fan of Christmas pudding but there are plenty of vegan versions of this as well and again, it tastes the same as the traditional version! You will also find an array of vegan ice cream, vegan cream and vegan custard in the supermarkets so you can still indulge in what you love without animals paying the price. I will be making Nigella’s vegan gingerbread this year and serving it warm with plenty of cream and icecream. You can’t get much more indulgent than that!
But let’s be honest, the star of the Christmas meal is often the veggies, isn’t it? I absolutely LOVE the ‘trimmings.’ Nothing beats crispy roast potatoes tossed in rosemary and polenta, maple glazed parsnips, sweet roasted carrots and shredded sprouts with garlic and chestnuts, all covered in a delicious gravy. I think I’ll even make these chestnut and cranberry stuffing balls this year to make the feast extra special! Even if you’re not vegan, surely you still get excited by the veggies? Let’s face it, the meat on the plate is only a small part of the whole Christmas meal. This means that organising a vegan Christmas is surprisingly easy! The leftovers can still be made into sandwiches the next day or the roasted veg tossed into a homemade curry and if you’re looking to bulk it out a bit more why not roast a can of jackfruit in the oven and throw it in? Jackfruit is available in most supermarkets, is incredibly versatile and once it’s marinated in spices and roasted for 40 minutes it takes on a very similar texture to meat so is perfect to use in place of pork in a hog-less roast bap or to replace the leftover turkey usually used in a curry.
I must say though, the biggest indulgence I have treated myself to this year is to order an array of very posh vegan cheese from La Fauxmagerie in London. I have been eyeing off their cheese for months now and the reviews were so complimentary that I thought I’d give it a go as I used to love treating myself to the occasional cheese board. Both Nick and I have largely avoided plant-based cheese since becoming vegan because the supermarket brands are highly processed and just don’t taste as good as real cheese. I must say though, I had a little taste of the vegan camembert when it arrived the other day and was shocked at how incredible it was! It looked and tasted exactly like real camembert and I still don’t know how this is possible since it’s made out of nuts. Crazy I know! I’m looking forward to fully indulging in the entire cheese selection this weekend in front of a Christmas movie.
Yes, buying high-quality vegan cheese is going to set you back more than if you were to buy your average camembert from the supermarket but the more popular it becomes, the cheaper it will be as companies will be able to mass-produce it and pass those savings onto the consumer. We saw this when plant-based milk was first introduced. It was more expensive than dairy milk but now that supermarkets are doing their own brands and it’s so popular, the price is very affordable.
Like anything, for change to happen, people need to shift their habits. Sometimes it’s daunting creating new traditions because the comfort is in the old and the familiar. It also takes a little more thought and a little more effort to break away from recipes we’ve always used. I think in general, human beings can be adverse to change because of deep-rooted fear in the unknown and let’s face it, this year has been full of fear and the unknown! But change is never impossible. I think back to the Christmases I had in Australia growing up. We would always have a roast dinner even though it was the middle of summer! My mum would be sweating over the stove as we splashed around in the swimming pool. We would even sit down and have hot Christmas pudding with custard (although thankfully the custard was always cold! In fact, I had no idea custard was even meant to be heated until I moved to the UK).
Of course, these traditions came across the shores decades (and even centuries) ago when people emigrated from the UK and they brought comfort and a taste of blighty and so they were passed down through the generations. It’s only the last few years that many Aussies have really started to forge their own traditions that suit the climate and the lifestyle much more…prawns on the BBQ, Pavlova for dessert and a vast array of tasty salads. It makes much more sense to eat this way on a 30-degree day!
And I could say the same thing about the vegan diet. It makes much more sense consuming more plants and less meat when we know how destructive the meat industry can be on our planet. Not to mention the unnecessary cruelty that animals face on a daily basis simply to please our taste buds. You may not be ready to fully dive into the world of plants and that’s ok! Christmas is about indulgence after all and we all deserve to treat ourselves. But know that with each passing year it gets easier to choose plants over animals as more tasty options appear in the supermarkets, more recipe books tackle vegan cooking and more people are talking about living a plant-based or flexitarian lifestyle. It’s only a matter of time before it becomes mainstream as the world begins to crave a more sustainable way of life.
So why not try to be a little vegan today? Christmas is all about giving so why not give back to the planet and the animals by choosing a vegan mince pie? Or by having a go at making a mushroom wellington? You could buy vegetable gravy granules instead of those made with beef or chicken or you could make veggie stuffing rather than using pork. Just because it’s a small change doesn’t mean that it isn’t valuable and worthwhile. After all, good things come in small packages. 😉
Looking for some vegan inspiration? Check out my previous posts:
- How to be a little Vegan: Part One
- How to be a little Vegan: Part Two
- How to be a little Vegan: Part Three
If you would like to share your thoughts on this subject, I would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below or SUBSCRIBE via email so you never miss a blog post or delicious recipe again!