With ample time around distant family and opportunities to reconnect with long-lost friends, the holidays are a perfect time to spread a message of compassion to loved ones. What could be better than sharing delicious vegan food and giving humane holiday gifts to show just how much you care—about your friends, family, and animals?
Last-minute Menu Ideas for a Compassionate Thanksgiving
Each Thanksgiving, countless among us find ourselves preparing meals (from entrées to sides to desserts) for unexpected not-yet-vegan guests or hosts. Suddenly, the pomp and circumstance of a holiday meal is combined with a high-pressure opportunity for great vegan food outreach.
No need to panic! There are plenty of delicious, familiar, and easy-to-make dishes that will please the palate of any guest and quickly win them over. You can wait until they’re done showering you with compliments to explain that they’ve chowed down on animal-free fare.
Here are just a few quick ideas to help you wow your loved ones and showcase how delicious compassionate fare truly is:
Under the Feathers: The Curiosity, Intelligence and Personality of Turkeys
Referring to them as “birds of courage,” Benjamin Franklin believed the turkey should be named the national bird as of the United States (instead of the bald eagle). Perhaps he admired the intelligence, beauty or resourcefulness of turkeys – these are characteristics unknown to most Americans who, today, often view turkeys as little more than the center of the holiday dinner table.
Yet anyone who has the opportunity to meet these animals at sanctuaries will tell you that they are highly intelligent animals who, just like the dogs and cats in our homes, are playful individuals with unique personalities. They also form strong social bonds and show affection towards one another. Mothers raise their chicks for five months and fiercely protect them from danger.
Hatching Cruelty-Free Family Easter Traditions
Easter is a celebration of life –and what better way to honor this holiday than by choosing animal-friendly foods and activities that everyone can enjoy?
Instead of painting eggs, the overwhelming majority of which come from birds intensively confined inside tiny wire cages for the entire lives, look for paper-maché or wooden eggs in craft stores to paint, decorate, and hide. You can also make egg-free egg-shaped cookies that are a fun and delicious way to fill your Easter basket with joy!
Valentine’s Day Feed-In Makes Life Sweeter for Animals
Boxed chocolates are a Valentine’s Day cliché, and unfortunately for our animal friends, one that typically contains cow’s milk. That’s why Compassion Over Killing volunteers in Los Angeles gathered in bustling downtown Culver City to serve up scrumptious, cruelty-free chocolates—and to show that dairy isn’t necessary to make a treat that will satisfy your sweet tooth and dazzle your sweetheart.
Spread the Love: Vegan Valentine’s Day Treats
You don’t need a sweetheart to make something special for St. Valentine’s Day. In fact, after you get a taste of these vegan goodies, you might be tempted to
keep them all to yourself. But, if you’re willing to share, there’s nothing that says love quite like chocolate!For the cuddly couple staying in…
Veg Out for Super Bowl XLVI!
This Sunday, Pats fans, Giants fans, commercial connoisseurs, and a handful of folks who simply tuned into the wrong station while searching for the Puppy Bowl will all have one thing in common: hunger. Oh, and maybe football. Super Bowl celebrations and destinations of all types will share the common element of filling, delicious, and plentiful food on par with a Thanksgiving celebration. With this in mind, vegetarian sports fans are wise to be choosy when selecting where to settle down for the big game—after all, it’s a captive market once the game starts and you’ll want a feast of flora to choose from, not a single
veggie burger option!
New Year’s Resolution: Making This the Year of Compassion!
I have always loved making New Year’s resolutions. Why? Because goal-setting
provides limitless opportunity—“I can do anything I want! Anything I have ever wanted to accomplish I can put on this list and achieve!” It’s empowering!
Holiday Feed-In Spreads Holiday Cheer
We’ve already had a busy season, but with winter festivities approaching, Compassion Over Killing’s Los Angeles volunteers gathered in front of the popular Whole Foods Market in Santa Monica for one final 2011 feed-in–to introduce shoppers to the variety of humane holiday refreshments available today.