Thanksgiving Made Healthy & Easy

Ahhh…the holidays!

If there isn’t anything more stressful than family get togethers, it’s the stress around cooking/shopping/preparing/eating!

Pick a few of the belowmentioned tips and you’ll be way ahead of most, or be an overachiever and do most of them!

Let’s get started:

1. Use more veggies! In EVERYTHING! Not just chopped up but blended in dishes (see below)
2. Your sweet potato dish does not need extra sugar or extra butter: Use maple syrup!
3. Do not cook with olive oil – Use avocado oil or grapeseed oil
4. Use oils and butter sparingly – You don’t need as much as you think (& you can always add)
5. Use ghee instead of traditional butter and for heaven’s sakes DON’T use margarine
6. In general, use less preserved foods and less preservatives. Not only are they unhealthy but they lead to GI upset issues
7. This includes SALT! Use no or low salt mixes or purchased foods and have your own Himalayan salt available to use and offer
8. Mix cauliflower in with your mashed potatoes
9. Cranberries are bloating – Mix in or use pomegranate seeds
10. When baking: Substitute banana or avocado for some (or all) of the oil or butter
11. For dishes with flour: replace some of the flour (generally about 1/4th) with gluten-free rolled oats. It will make the dish less dry as well
12. To make oat flour: Put oats in a bullet or VitaMix. Blend. You’ve now made oat flour!
13. You can do the same with almonds ^ and make almond flour (it’s more dense though)
14. Instead of a traditional pie, make a “baked” dish
15. Make a “crumble” for your baked dish (or pie) by using granola or quinoa for the topping
16. Use quinoa to replace some of the breading for stuffing

READY FOR MORE?

ALCOHOL (because you know you’re going to):

• Mix your wine with Pellegrino or Club soda
• Add ice to your drink (yes, even wine…just do it, who cares)
• Choose club soda over tonic to save calories and artificial ingredients
• Drink more water!

 

WHEN IT’S ALL SAID (eaten) & DONE:

• Go out for a walk
• Drink some organic coffee
• Drink hot tea with fresh ginger root – easy to make fresh on the spot with ginger root and water!
• Don’t perseverate on the calories – ENJOY!

 

LASTLY….

• Please watch out for your pets this season: They can get very sick eating rich holiday food. This happens SO FAST and frequently as they grab it when you’re not looking (because your food IS that irresistible!). Plus the stress of having new or less familiar people in the home can be very upsetting so look into stress reduction tips ( www.AnimalRehabilitation.com has some! ) because the last thing you want is for your pet to fall ill during this time and/or to spend time at the vet’s ER!

—

Which of these tips did you find the most helpful?

Is there anything missing from the above? Remember: #sharingiscaring

Any Questions?