If you find yourself with a healthy heart, mind and soul this Thanksgiving please USE THEM! If you view the way you eat as a diet, then your attitude (I know because this was me for so many years) for tomorrow is one of “screw-it, it is a Holiday Feast and I am going to enjoy it!” However if you view food as energy, and you are trying to eat cleaner, smarter and enjoy real, whole foods then don’t let Thanksgiving leave you feeling like crap for the next week.
Thanksgiving is a day we should enjoy our family, friends and be grateful and thankful for all we have. Food brings us joy, comfort and more importantly on Thanksgiving it brings us together. But food does not need to bring us down! Don’t fret about your Feast! It is just another say where each bite you place in your mouth is still the energy you need to live happy and well.
Being that I was out of the Country for the past few weeks I did not get my “Healthy Tips” for your holiday meal posted. I promise a full menu of clean, healthy holiday alternatives for next year!
I will say my family has been super supportive and open to making a few changes that will start the process of perhaps “lightening-up” our Thanksgiving feast.
First props go out to my Sister who gave the ok to replace our mashed potatoes with sweet potatoes, and to replace our long-standing spinach casserole (bread-crumbs, cheese, sour-cream, cream of mushroom soup…you get the picture) with a green bean recipe that rocks!
2nd round of props goes out to my Mom who bought her first Free Range/organic Turkey. That conversation went something like this.
Mom, “Why would I spend $9 a lb (she was guessing) on a turkey when I can spend $1 a lb at Costco?”
Before I could plead my case my Sister jumped in (GO Zan) with “Well sure, why would we want to buy a turkey that grew-up running around a field when we can buy one that was caged and stuffed with hormones and antibiotics?”
Mom went to Whole Foods and our beautiful, free range, hormone and anti-biotic free turkey is taking a water bath! This makes me proud, and happier than she could possibly know!
So the Family is making baby-steps and more importantly they are understanding that in a Country where we strive to obtain the best and nicest of material possessions, we seem to skimp and scrounge for the cheapest food we can possibly find to put in our bodies. It makes no sense at all. We are what we eat, I don’t know about you, but I want the very best quality of ingredients providing me with my energy, nutrients, and vitamins.
I heard on the news that tomorrow the AVERAGE calorie intake for an American is 4800! That means you could gain ONE lb, in ONE day! But more importantly is the quality of that quantity, think about the butter, the saturated fat…you get the picture.
So though I did not get the full menu out this year, here are a few easy recipes you can add, or use as swaps. And please remember if you have no control over where and what you are eating tomorrow, you CAN ALWAYS just eat a few bites of eat dish. Our meal will still have a lot of foods that are not really that great for me, it is up to me to eat smaller portions and pass on those things that I DO NOT chose to eat. I am thankful and grateful to have a few choices that I know will taste great, and be great for me!
Coconut-Cardamom Sweet Potatoes
(Don’t say you hate sweet potatoes, these are not the same as those candied yams your Aunt tried to force on you!)
Serves 10. Hands-on time 20 min. Total time 1 hour, 10 min
INGREDIENTS:
5 med sweet potatoes, peeled and cut
¾ cup light coconut milk
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp sea-salt
1/8 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/3 cup unsalted pecan halves, chopped
Preheat oven to 325. Bring large pot of water to boil, add sweet potatoes and boil for 10 min or until soft. Drain and transfer to a mixing bowl.
(kitchen aide or hand-mixer will work).
Add coconut milk and spices. Mix on med until smooth, scrapping down the sides.
Transfer to a 9 x 9 baking dish. Sprinkle pecans over the top evenly.
Bake for 45 ot 50 minutes, or until edges are brown. Cool for 10 min and serve.
The 411 on the Sweet Potatoes (1 cup): Calories 200/ Fat 7g /Fiber 4 g/ Protein 4 g/ Cholesterol 0 mg
Regular mashed potatoes (1 cup): 256/ Fat 14 g (half of this saturated)/Fiber 2 g/Protein 4 g/ Cholesterol 6 mg (note: these are regular mashed with butter and milk, if you add sour-cream, or whole milk I don’t have the 411 but I think we can all assume these numbers go way up!)
Green Beans with Roasted Chestnuts
Serves 10. Hands-on time 20 min. Total time 30 min,.
INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ lbs French Green Beans (or whatever green beans you can find)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
2 large shallots thinly sliced, about ¼ cup
1 ½ cups canned or jarred vacuum-packed roasted chestnuts, sliced
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth (or veggie broth)
Juice ½ lemon
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Fill a bowl with ice water. Boil beans for 3 to 4 minutes until crisp then drain and add to ice water for 2 min. Drain again and set to the side.
(the blanching can be done up to two days in advance)
Heat oil in skillet, add shallots, and cook for three minutes, stirring often. Add chestnuts and cook for one minute. Now add broth, bring to simmer, and cook until reduced by half, stirring occasionally.
Now add beans to the shallot mixture and toss until heated through, about two minutes. Add lemon juice, salt, pepper and remove from heat. Serve hot.
The 411 on ¾ cup serving of Green Beans: Calories 170/ Fat 2 g/Fiber 6 g/ Protein 7 g/Cholesterol 0
The Family Spinach Casserole 1 cup: Calories 380/ Fat 33 g/Cholesterol 42 mg
Recipes are from Clean Eating magazine.
