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Vegetarian Directory
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& much more
[Our vegetarian nutrition page -- protein, iron, calcium, D, iodine, omega-3, zine, B12.]
Food & the Environment

Vegetarian phrases in world languages

The International Vegetarian Union has several pages with translated phrases for vegetarian and vegan travelers. Also included are sound files for French, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, and a few other languages.

Ontario Vegetarian Food Bank partnership

image: Canned Tomatoes

We are currently accepting non-perishable food items at our Resource Centre.

The Meatrix

A mix of humor, pop culture references, and an important message on factory farming.

3:47 min Flash animation

Looking for a vegetarian roommate or job?

Current postings for housing, jobs, and personal ads in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver.

Family, friends, and social situations

Like any lifestyle change, your decision to begin eating a healthier diet may lead to some difficult or uncomfortable situations. Learning how to explain your dietary choice to others in a non-confrontational manner will help other people in your life adapt to your new eating habits. See our Diplomacy page.
Vegetarians and the Holiday Season
Friday, 11 December 2009

Season's Greetings.
From PETA's eCard site.

Whether it is Christmas, Chanukah, Solstice, or Kwanzaa – enjoy a vegetarian feast. We have links to the best recipes, tips on what to serve, gift suggestions, and E-card links.

Avoid stress when vegetarians and meat eaters will be at the same meal. See our Surviving a holiday dinner page for suggestions on:

  • Catering to vegetarians (when you aren't one yourself)
  • Being invited to a home where meat is being served
  • Inviting non-vegetarians to your home

Sections below:
Time saving tips
Holiday recipes
Shopping ideas and gift memberships
E-cards

 Time saving tips

  • Call a vegetarian-friendly restaurant [Toronto, World Links] and order an entrée or side dish that you can pick up. Bring your own containers. Le Commensal (several locations in Quebec and one in Toronto) has an excellent selection in their buffet. They also carry pre-packaged savoury pies, pâtés, fancy desserts, etc.
  • Larger natural food stores [Toronto, World Links] carry Tofurky (“a bird-free feast with all the trimmings”) and a wide variety of vegetarian dips, pâtés, faux meats, frozen entrées, non-dairy ice cream, pies, soy nog (in December) and much more.
  • Arrange for some or all of the guests to contribute a dish.
  • At some point after the meal, ask for help with the dishes and clean-up. Many hands make light work.
  • Prepare some of the items ahead of time. Use easy recipes with which you are already familiar.

Holiday recipes

[image: green beans and cranberries]Vegetarian Holidays information & recipe sheet
View our printable two-page holiday fact sheet: vegetarian-holiday.pdf (180 kb). It includes the following recipes: Easy Festive Bake, Stuffed Tofu Turkey, Good Gravy, Sweet Potato and Parsnip Casserole, Chestnut Soup with Greens, Ginger Cranberry Mincemeat Pie, and Vegan Egg Nog.

Roasted Chestnuts
How to select, roast and serve chestnuts.

Holiday recipe links

VegCooking.com
Vegan recipe site by PETA. Special gourmet holiday recipes page includes: Vegetarian Pâté en Croûte, Rosemary and Hazelnut-Encrusted Seitan, Red Wine and Shallot Gravy, Green Beans With Fresh Cranberries (see photo above), and Apple Bavarian Torte.
[image: Artichoke & Wild Mushroom Strudel]

Christmas Celebration Feast
Viva! presents a large selection of delicious recipes for a four-course meal including Artichoke & Wild Mushroom Strudel (picture to the right). Choose from starters, main course items, side dishes and dessert. Ingredient weights are in both metric and imperial. 

Recipe Zaar
30,000+ | Ratings | Nutrition info | Change servings | Flag recipes | Many photos
They have over 1,600 recipes marked as vegetarian and Christmas (285+ of them are marked as vegan). There are also over 300 vegetarian Hanukkah recipes, and over 75 vegetarian Kwanzaa recipes. Excellent search and sort feature. You can also search for other holidays.

VegWeb.com
2,000+ | Ratings | All vegan | Flag recipes | Some photos
Several winter holiday recipes. 

All Recipes
3,600+ | Ratings | Nutrition info | Change servings | Flag recipes | Some photos
A search for Vegetarian Christmas yields several choices. 

For Jewish holidays including Purim, Passover, and Chanukah – an excellent list of recipe links is available from Jewish Veg.

See Top recipe sites for more detailed information about many of the above sites.

Holiday shopping ideas  [image: Extraveganza cookbook]

• Many vegetarian restaurants have gift certificates available.

• Gift membership to vegetarian organization (for example, see below).

• See our books page for some of the best veggie cookbooks and other books available. Or shop in person at our Resource Centre. 

• Vegetarian T-shirts. These can be ordered online or if you are near Toronto, stop by our Resource Centre.

• Kitchen equipment, leather-free clothing, baby stuff, food items, etc. See our Marketplace page for online gift ideas.

Don't buy animals as presents!

A Reminder from Kelly Gredner, director of Companion Animal Exploitation.

The innocent face of a kitten, puppy, rabbit, or other small animal is
sometimes difficult to resist. We like to think that we are "rescuing" them
from the store from which they are living, but what we are really doing is
contributing to the exploitative industry of "pet supply". It seems like a
good idea at first, but the excitement of a new companion can soon wear off
when the responsibility becomes too great, and the novelty fades. The animal
can end up in an overcrowded shelter, given away, left behind in a move, or
even just set loose in a park.

If you are thinking about getting an animal as a gift for someone this
holiday season, please reconsider. Please think about the life of the animal
first. If you are absolutely certain that the person or family in question
wants a companion animal, and is ready for the lifelong commitment, then
give them a gift certificate to their local shelter.  

[image: cover pages from Lifelines magazine issues]Gift memberships

A membership to Toronto Vegetarian Association can be an ideal gift for a friend or relative this holiday season. They will receive Lifelines, our bimonthly newsletter, which is filled with news, articles, recipes, restaurant reviews, and event information.

It is a gift that will make a lasting impression. Memberships are available for an annual donation of $20 or more.

For an additional $20, you can include a Vegetarian Discount Card.2010 discount card Cardholders receive savings at over 70 vegetarian-friendly restaurants, natural food stores, cooking classes and vacation spots.

Purchase a gift membership online (specify the recipient in the comments field). They are also available at our Resource Centre.

E-cards

[E-card: Small acts of kindness change the world. Picture of a winter scene with a man feeding birds.]

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has some nice holiday e-cards that you can send via the internet to your friends and family. See right, for an example.

PETA also has several holiday cards at their E-card web site. Most are animated, and several have moral messages such as "don't buy animals as presents."

Viva! has a cute Christmas e-card with sheep that says "Baa Humbug"

 

Celebrating in Toronto 


See Where to find holiday fare in Toronto.

Note: many restaurants are closed for several days during the holidays. Best to call ahead.

Happy holidays to all!

Reindeer animal liberation
Reindeer Liberation