Happy Thanksgiving 2024

Happy Thanksgiving 2024!

Holidays are all about family gatherings.

It’s all about adding more holiday memories to the warm, nostalgic ones that create the magic we all enjoy!

Families pouring over recipes and planning menus months in advance. Sometimes we just search for something new, especially people on a plant-based diet!

During the holidays, people start getting creative! We start seeing drawings of front porch designs, holiday decorations and ornament ideas.

Southern Living changes the date on their November Magazine from the previous year and publishes it for the new year. (Have you noticed?).

Holiday smells of apple cider, chrysanthemum’s, cinnamon, clove and fall leaves permeate the air! Sage and rosemary scents waft through the kitchen. Everybody gets hungry!

It is the momentum of excitement that builds as we discuss travel plans and expect to see members of our family this special time of year.

Thanksgiving and Blue Zones.

I’ve been reading about Blue Zones for some time. Blue Zones are places where people live much longer than the life expectancy of those around them. I was a little perplexed because the only place in the USA considered a Blue Zone is Loma Linda California. That’s about 3000 miles from here.

I checked out books about the diets for each of these zones and they were not plant-based. They included food indigenous. to their area and often included fish, cheese and wine in their diet.

In any case, I didn’t see one diet that I could truly embrace.

Then I found a series on Netflix. Live to be 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. They showcased people in their 90’s and 100’s that were still very active and healthy. In America, the average 60 year old has 5 long term medications!

It turns out that the biggest commonality about the diet was local sourcing of fresh food. No processed food, no fast food, unamerican!

Other commonalities were purpose, religion and social gatherings.

I thought about how I had become so isolated by our diet that we didn’t socialize anymore. We seldom went to dinner with friends or family because it was such a chore to find anything on the menu to eat.

Plan your dinner with family!

This year, my focus is to enjoy my family and not worry about the food. Certainly, I will make the best choices I can but I am not going to stress about a replacement for Turkey. The pecan pie has corn syrup in it? Probably the pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and salad dressing has corn syrup too. The onions in the casserole are fried. OMG! There’s a cheese board!

Two entrées, soup, salad, the cheese and olive tray, rolls, corn bread, 3 kinds of cranberry’s, two kinds of gravy, 8 sides and 10 desserts aren’t necessary !

Take something you know you really like and can share. Enjoy the bounty. It’s ONE DAY out of 360. Climb back on your bandwagon tomorrow!

If socializing is just as important as the food you eat in order to live longer, then enjoy everyone!

There are several really good plant-based Thanksgiving worthy recipes here. If you have help, it’s great! If you are the sole person in the kitchen because you won’t eat anything you don’t prepare yourself, you aren’t going to have any fun. It’s just WORK!

Two years ago, I made the acorn squash with quinoa dressing, Mushrooms Rockefeller, green beans with crispy onions, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, and a charcuterie board. I was exhausted! Too tired to eat, and everyone else was watching the game and enjoying each other.

This year, my daughter is picking up dinner from a local market. I am going to make a dish with brussel sprouts, butternut squash, pecans, cranberries and onions. My grandsons requested my mac and cheese. I won’t eat it, but it is something they will remember about me on Thanksgiving long after I am gone.

Nothing wrong with providing as much as you want but make certain you don’t sacrifice yourself to prepare food instead of gathering with your family!

Here is a compiled list of some of my favorites.

Thanksgiving Menu possibilities.

	Stuffed Squash Instead of bread, I used quinoa for my stuffing and used it to stuff baked acorn squash. Easy!!!		Jackfruit Tamales It must be a Texas thing to have tamales on holidays. These Jackfruit tamales with Rancher0 sauce rock!
	Fluffy Potatoes I love my mashed potatoes. Have you ever used a potato ricer before? It’s a gamechanger!		Cranberry Sauce Cranberries were voted the least favorite Thanksgiving item. Make your own and it may change your mind.
	Waldorf Salad Replace that calorie laden 7 layer salad with this refreshing fall Waldorf salad. It’s so fresh and light!		Pumpkin Pie Since I don’t use cream you can see where I tested my pie. Pumpkin is always a traditional favorite, even WFPB!
	Squash “Ham” I never have been much for ham but my grandson loves it. This butternut squash version makes a great entrée or side!		Green Beans & Onions My son always insists on the green bean casserole. I make my own mushroom gravy and air fry the onions.
	Pumpkin Curry Pumpkin another way is this Curry soup version. Bake it in a hollowed pumpkin for a special treat.		Veggie turnovers These are entrée sized creamy root vegetable turnovers. Make them smaller for appetizers or sides.
	Mushroom Wellington This Mushroom Wellington is especially decadent! Freeze portions of it for a quick, upscale dinner later!		Mushroom Rockefeller Mushroom Rockefeller are easy to make even more special with creamy artichokes in the mushroom caps.

It is important to preserve the feel of the holidays.

Have the cider, watch that game, create a special dinner.

Light the fire place. Put on some music and share some wine. Reminisce!

Be thankful! Instead of the hectic week of slaving in the kitchen, think about past holidays, friends and loved ones.

Reach out to friends you haven’t seen this year. Be very mindful of anyone that might be left out and completely alone for the holiday.

Stay home, stay safe! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!