Spare a Turkey this Thanksgiving

…and eat a Tofurky.

This will be my last product review since MoFo is winding down. And, I am going to end it on a pretty darn glutinous note.

Turtle Island Foods contacted me to see if I would do a shout out to all of you Thanksgiving celebrating (and gluten eatin’) peeps about their Tofurky Feast.

I will be the first to admit that giving up vital wheat gluten was one of the hardest parts of my going gluten free. Seriously, I LOVED that stuff. So, when they contacted me about trying this roast of yum, I thought, “sure… I’ll let my family eat/review it, and I’ll just look at it, smell it, and try not to touch it”. :)

Before I was diagnosed with celiac disease, Tofurky of all sorts would make appearances in my fridge. And, although I preferred homemade seitan at the time, I had a special place in my heart for this stuff. Maybe it’s the novelty. Or maybe it’s the fond memories of my sister and I over 15 years ago (both vegetarian at the time) being the only one’s at our family Thanksgiving dinner to put those thick slices of “holiday flavored meat substitute” on our fine china at mealtime. Or, maybe, just maybe, I actually loved the stuff. I was never one for meat analogues, but man, something about a Tofurky roast really hits me in a soft spot.

So my family and I picked one up when we were perusing the frozen section of Whole Foods this past weekend. The box was fairly large (the roast is now 20% bigger!) , and included Wild Rice & Whole Wheat Bread stuffing, Savory Giblet Gravy, a super moist Organic Chocolate Cake from Amy’s, and a (pair of?) Tofurky Jerky Wishstix.

Not bad for someone who’s looking to have a traditional style Thanksgiving meal, veganized, and quickly to boot. The roast was done in less than an hour, and the cake just needed to thaw. That’s it! Yet another benefit of eatin’ vegan this holiday season.

Of course, my son and daughter went crazy for this feast. My son was begging to eat some of the roast before it even had thawed. He remembers the glory of Tofurky, oh yes he does. My daughter, who is just under 2 years old, had never had such a treat in her life. And, although she happily gobbled it up, she was much more pleased with the slice of Amy’s cake that I offered her.

The cake, by the way, looked super duper moist and delicious…and if you know me, I am not one to praise prepackaged baked goods very highly. So, I would consider it a “win”.

The verdict: yeah, they loved it. I think the cake made my son extra happy. He complains that I don’t make cake often enough, and he’s probably right. My husband, well, he would have eaten the whole darned feast right away if I would have let him- but I had to take photos.

I did have to make extra gravy… because I used the gravy that was included in the feast to roast the Tofurky. Plus, we are a family of gravy lovers… so more was in order, anyways. And, of course, it is certainly no feast in my eyes without some delicious mashed potatoes and a few veggies to go along.

My only complaint was that I couldn’t eat any of it. :(

But, I’m sure am happy that my family enjoyed it.

This is certainly a great option if you’re craving a traditional style roast, and you can tolerate an entire plateful of gluten. The roast looked better than what I last remembered, too. If you happen to go out and try one this holiday season, let me know what you think! I know I will certainly be jealous… :)

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