Easy tips to upgrade your favorite Thanksgiving dishes.
I love Thanksgiving. It’s an opportunity to pause and express gratitude for all the blessings in life. A time to reconnect with family and friends. Oh yeah, and it’s a day to eat some really good food. Every time we eat, we can either increase or decrease our cellular health depending on the choices we make. Unfortunately, due to ubiquitous GMO grains, toxic vegetable oils, and factory farmed animal foods, making healthy food choices can be a challenge, especially during the holiday season.
This year, I encourage you to upgrade your traditional Thanksgiving meal. I can testify that it’s possible to savor many indulgent dishes on this day and still feel great afterwards; you simply need to be open to trying new things and making your health the priority. I’m blessed to have a supportive family that is on the same page when it comes to eating well and taking care of ourselves. We eat an organic, grain-free, GMO-free, and sugar-free meal, incorporating plenty of tasty traditional fats: a spread our cells and taste buds love. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it…
Cellular Healing Diet menu:
- Sea salt brined and roasted non-GMO, pastured turkey.
- Grain-free stuffing, made with cubes of my Cellular Healing Diet bread loaf.* For a real treat, make an extra loaf and slather warm slices with Bone Marrow Butter*. It’s my new favorite good fat to spread on just about anything.
- Garlic mashed potatoes, made with Vitamin K2 rich grass-fed butter and cream. Ladle on homemade bone broth gravy for an added gut-healing flavor boost.
- Stevia sweetened cranberry-orange sauce, loaded with anti-oxidants.*
- Oven roasted winter squash and shaved brussel sprouts.
- Arugula salad with raw goat cheese, walnuts, and mustard vinaigrette.
- Classic pumpkin pie, topped with whipped heavy cream and cinnamon.* I suggest serving it with my favorite organic coffee for the perfect ending.
*See below for these great recipes
In addition to preparing a health-supporting Thanksgiving meal, here are some other strategies for staying energized and trim throughout the remainder of the holiday season:
- Focus on people. Take the time to have quality conversations and catch up with friends and family you only see on occasion.
- During meals, emphasize consuming high quality protein, lots of veggies, and healthy fats. Go for grass-fed meat and pastured poultry and eggs, leafy greens, and non-starchy veggies. Good cooking fats include coconut oil, grass-fed beef tallow, and grass-fed butter or ghee. High-quality fat keeps you satiated, heals your cell membranes, improves cognition, and regulates blood sugar. If you fill up on the good stuff you won’t have much room left for toxic food.
- Offer to help with post-meal clean-up to get yourself away from the food table.
- After a meal, go for a walk outside to get fresh air, aid digestion, and promote relaxation. Even better, get a group together to join in an outdoor recreation activity.
- Stay hydrated. At parties, try carrying a small glass of mineral water with fresh lemon or lime slices to keep your hands occupied.
- Organize fun games and crafts all ages can enjoy. Try new and classic board games, music playing and singing, or making holiday ornaments.
If you’ve eaten toxic food or had too much alcohol, take 2-4 BIND activated charcoal capsules before bed to accelerate toxin elimination from your system. - Most importantly, remember that the holidays are about much more than food. Focus on what’s important and appreciate each moment.
Cheers to the start of a happy and healthy holiday season from my family to yours.
Now I want to hear from you: What are YOUR ideas for healthy upgrades to classic holiday dishes?
Cellular Healing Diet Bread Loaf
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- ¾ cup arrowroot powder
- ¼ cup flax seed meal
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 medium pastured eggs
- 1 teaspoon raw apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon stevia or 1.5 teaspoon xylitol or 1 tsp raw honey
- 1 tablespoon baker’s yeast (does not activate much but adds flavor)
- Coconut for greasing pan
- Blend eggs until frothy, then add vinegar and mix.
- Combine almond flour, yeast, stevia/xylitol/honey, arrowroot, flax meal, salt and baking soda.
- Mix dry and liquid ingredients.
- Grease medium-sized loaf pan with coconut oil.
- Pour batter into greased warm pan and allow dough to rise for 1 hour (it will not rise much).
- Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes or until a centered toothpick can be removed cleanly.
- Cool and serve warm with grass-fed bone marrow butter. Makes great toast!
Grass-Fed Bone Marrow Butter
- 6-8 grass-fed beef marrow bones
- 1/2 cup grass-fed butter, cut into chunks and softened
- 1 tsp. sea salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste (optional)
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place bones on sheet lined with parchment paper, with the marrow side facing up.
- Roast bones for 15-20 minutes, until marrow is soft.
- Allow bones to cool and scoop marrow into a bowl.
- Add marrow, butter and salt to a food processor and blend until thoroughly whipped.
- Chill and enjoy!
Cranberry-Orange Sauce
- 2 twelve ounce bags organic fresh cranberries
- 2 cups water
- 2-3 tbs stevia for taste
- The juice and zest of one orange
- Pinch of sea salt
- Grate the orange peel and set aside.
- Place cranberries and water in stain-less steel pan and cook on medium-high until berries burst.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir in orange juice, zest, and stevia.
- Continue cooking 10-15 minutes, remove from heat, allow to cool, and store in fridge overnight.
- Garnish with more orange zest before serving.
Classic Pumpkin Pie
The Crust:
- 1.5 cups almond flour
- 3 tbs melted grass-fed butter
- 1 tsp stevia
Filling:
- 1 eight-ounce package organic cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups organic pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup xylitol
- ½ tsp stevia
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 pastured egg plus 2 yolks, slightly beaten
- 1 cup organic half-and-half
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted grass-fed butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp of pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ tsp ground ginger (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix melted butter with almond flour and pat down into a pie dish. Bake approx. 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until crust is slightly browned.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add pumpkin and beat until combined.
- Add xylitol, stevia, and salt. Beat until combined.
- Add eggs mixed with yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter. Beat until combined.
- Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon and pie spice and beat until incorporated.
- Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes or until the center is set.
- Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature.
- Slice and top each piece with grass-fed whipped cream, crushed walnuts, and dust with cinnamon. Enjoy!
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 1 Timothy 4:4
