The leaves are falling, mornings are cooler, and travel plans are being made. It’s November! And that means Thanksgiving.
This will be my second Thanksgiving after changing my diet to a whole food plant based, and this year I am pulling out recipes and planning all sorts of great tasting feast dishes. But, last year, I remember Thanksgiving looming like the great “test” or the big hurdle to cross over. A lot of my joy of the season was sucked away as I worried about the food. Would I need to turn into the weird relative that insisted we all eat a tofu dish shaped into a turkey? Because that sounded horrible.
I decided that if I wanted turkey, or anything else, on that day, I would eat it. This way of life isn’t about feeling deprived! It’s about abundance and enjoying. I decided that I would try a new plant based recipe as a side dish: roasted acorn squash filled with chickpeas and wild rice with a tahini dressing drizzled on top. You can find the recipe I used here:
I also made fresh cranberries, roasted brussel sprouts tossed with a whole grain and apple cider dressing, and mashed potatoes from cauliflower. This year I plan to add this apple pie:
https://nutritionstudies.org/recipes/dessert/apple-pie-that-wont-make-you-die/
As it turns out I was totally unprepared for one fact: I didn’t want to eat the turkey. After 6 months of eating whole food plant based, and enjoying an abundance of great food and feeling great, I had prepared for the day by saying to myself that I “deserved” some turkey on this national holiday. So I sat at the Thanksgiving table conflicted. I had a plate full of delicious squash and rice and beans and potatoes and cranberries, brussel sprouts and rolls. But as I looked at the platter of deliciously well-prepared turkey headed my way, and it surprisingly didn’t look as good as I remembered. In fact, it looked like it would hurt my stomach. The cook did an expert job, and so I am not referring to the cook when I say what my tastebuds relayed to my brain. It looked dead and greasy as opposed to alive and flavorful.
In the end I skipped the turkey and I don’t think anyone noticed. I enjoyed a feast of sides and realized that Thanksgiving probably had always been about the sides anyway.
And I practiced the rest of the lifestyle medicine prescriptions. I walked outside, I sought out positive social connections, I let unreasonable expectations and all the associated stress, go up to the universe, and I sipped on some tea and counted my blessings under the stars after the last dish had been done and the last guest bid goodnight.
The result was a Thanksgiving to remember; one where I really gave thanks for the people around me, the time together, and the feast of delicious food in abundance.
