Woman in Real Life

I had so much fun creating a spring tablescape using lovely, affordable finds from Giant Tiger, a Canadian-owned discount retailer that sells fashion, food, decor, linens and more. I'm pleased to partner with Giant Tiger again to bring you ideas for a budget-friendly yet beautiful Thanksgiving table. Thanksgiving is all about food, family, fun and, of course, gratitude. While those things should be the focus, it's nice to set the scene and welcome guests with a festive seasonal table. A tasty, colourful dessert doesn't hurt either! In that vein, I am sharing a new recipe for easy-to-make, family-friendly vegan strawberry mousse.

Read on for table decor ideas and a celebratory dessert recipe!

*This post is sponsored by Giant Tiger. All opinions are authentic and my own. Thank you for supporting the awesome companies that partner with Woman in Real Life.*

When you become a vegan or vegetarian, holiday dinners don't have the allure they once did. If everybody else is looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners centred around a big (let's face it, dead) bird, the herbivore might feel a little left out. Whether you are said herbivore or you are welcoming one to dinner (son has a new girlfriend, huh?), this Easy Cheezy Tofu Loaf is a simple addition to your festive food menu.

Is cranberry sauce a must-have on your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table? It is for me. I love the fresh, tart contrast it gives to more subdued holiday dinner fare like mashed potatoes. Canned cranberry sauce can work in a pinch, but it's so easy to make your own fresh, natural cranberry sauce that I think that's the better way to go. And you can make cranberry sauce a couple of days ahead too, to save time on meal prep once the big (busy!) Thanksgiving or Christmas meal day arrives.

Our Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up on Monday and I know I'm not alone in thinking that it came around so quickly this year. We had warm weather through most of September so it felt just like the summer we didn't get in July and August. Nevertheless, Thanksgiving is just about here and it's the perfect time to gather with family and friends to express thanks for all of our blessings. Family is the biggest blessing of all, and thanks to my wonderful in-laws, I'll be enjoying an incredible meal that I don't have to cook. However I thought I'd set a simple, pretty Thanksgiving table and have a nice pre-Thanksgiving meal with my immediate family. We like to make an easy tofu loaf or cook a store-bought Tofurky roast to have alongside mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.

I'm also grateful for the wonderful women in the Year of Feasting blogging group. Today's post marks the fall edition of Year of Feasting, when the bunch of us, led by Dannyelle at Life is a Party, share our ideas for seasonal party decor. Find more decor ideas through the links at the end of this post.

We celebrated our Canadian Thanksgiving just over a week ago. October has been a whirlwind so far and I didn't even get a Vintage Bliss Tuesday post up last week. We had a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner at my sister-in-law's house. She has so many sweet vintage touches in her rural home that I thought I would share a few pictures today. Her home has such a warm and comfy feel. The emphasis is on family (four kids, two dogs, one cat, two turtles, many chickens and a few ducks) as well as food (she's Italian after all!).

We are still enjoying the loveliest of falls. I have been regularly reminding myself of how much joy I got from this beautiful season when I was younger, until the fear of winter took hold of my heart. I'm trying my hardest to live with gratitude in the moment and see the beauty in each cool fall day without focusing on what's to come.

Part of what makes a day particularly beautiful for me is warm muffins and hot beverages, like my breakfast of vegan berry muffins and decaf coffee with coconut creamer, above. A cup of tea never hurts either. Lately because I have a bit of a cold, I've been easing my throat with hot water with fresh lemon juice and a squeeze of agave for sweetness. For a nice hot chocolate after a long woods walk, try this vegan warm cocoa recipe that my family enjoys.

Our Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend. I'm not hosting, but I thought I would play around with table settings to get us all in a Thanksgiving mood on this Vintage Bliss Tuesday. I challenged myself to set the table using only items that I already had lying around the house. I even clipped a few yellow flowers from the last holdouts in my outdoor flower boxes.

My family had not one, but two Thanksgiving dinners this past weekend, one at my sister-in-law's house and one here at home. So, this What I Ate Wednesday, be prepared for a lot of photos of vegan turkey!

Speaking of vegan turkey, a friend of mine recently asked me what to feed a visiting vegetarian for Thanksgiving. Her question made me think that maybe there are others with the same dilemma. So, here is my little primer on what to feed a veg head for Thanksgiving.

 

Happy What I Ate Wednesday, and Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! (And good luck fighting the crowds if you are going shopping on Friday!)

I have not been inspired cooking-wise this week. It happens. So, for healthy and quick, I usually go with stir frys. Here is my lunch from yesterday...a stir fry of mixed frozen organic veggies and extra-firm tofu, with kamut udon noodles and teriyaki sauce. I added some Lundberg Family Farms sesame and seaweed rice chips on the side and washed it down with Silk chocolate soy milk.

On Thanksgiving Monday, my nieces and their parents decided to go to a local pumpkin farm, and they asked us to come along. I'm glad they did, because we all had a lot of fun (and we would have sat on our butts at home otherwise).

Always nice to see my boy with a smile on his face. I'm sure that smile had something to do with the extra day off from school.

This month, What I Ate Wednesday focuses on the theme "Spooky Snacks & Healthy Halloween Treats."

I certainly treated myself (oh yeah, and my family) to some fun snacks this week, including two of my favourite easy and delicious squares. Pictured above, berry oat bars. Yum.

It's Thanksgiving weekend in this beautiful country of Canada, and I certainly have lots to be thankful for.

My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law are cooking. A big thanks for that! They usually prepare a mix of traditional Canadian Thanksgiving foods with their own special Italian foods. Because I don't eat turkey, the Italian stuff is my favourite!