EAT THIS: THANKSGIVING MENU

In your first few years of healthy living you may want to do some experimenting at the holiday table.  If your family relies on a lot of ‘family recipes’ then go sloooow with the changes – doing small things like cutting fat, reducing sugar, cutting back on the baked goods.  Before you snatch the ‘important dishes’ away, start ADDING some interesting ones.  Go slow, go easy, and be nice about it.  Do it because you WANT to and it’s fun – not because you have to.  Here’s some tasty options from our kitchens:

START WITH A NICE BIG ORGANIC FREE RANGE TURKEY.  THEN STUFF IT WITH:

CHESTNUT STUFFING
INGREDIENTS:
2 cup – APPLES, FRESH, CHOPPED, CUP
2 cup – CARROTS, RAW, GRATED
4 cup – CELERY, CHOPPED
2 cup – CHESTNUTS, SLICED WATER, GEISHA
1 tbsp – COCONUT OIL
0.25 – CURRANTS, ZANTE, DRIED
5 EACH – GARLIC, CLOVE
3 cup – ONIONS, RAW, CHOPPED
3 CUP – PARSLEY
1.5 cup – RUTABAGA, RAW, CUBED
1.5 cup – TURNIPS, RAW, CUBES
DESCRIPTION:
a Garlic, vegetable, and herb stuffing that is rich in savory flavors! will need: 2 TBSP Poultry Seasoning or: 1 tbsp thyme, 2 tsp sage, 1 tsp rosemary
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a large pot, melt 1 tbsp coconut oil. Add minced garlic and onions and saute until transluscent. Add celery, carrots, turnip, rutabaga and apple and saute until everything starts to soften. Remove from heat. Add chopped parsley and water chestnuts, currants, 2 TBSP poultry seasoning (or herbs) and black pepper to taste. Mix well. Stuff turkey. 1 serving is one cup.

-OR-

QUINOA STUFFING
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup – APPLES, FRESH, CHOPPED, CUP
12 ounce – CELERY, CHOPPED
1.5 ounce – COCONUT OIL
1 cup – ONIONS, RAW, CHOPPED
4 ounce – QUINOA, DRY
0.5 cup – RAISINS, BLACK
4 ounce – WALNUTS, RAW
DESCRIPTION:
This is best after it’s roasted in the bird – recipe makes enough for a 17-20 lb turkey, or a couple larger chickens!
INSTRUCTIONS:
Cover quinoa with water in pan, bring to boil and simmer 15 minutes, covered, until soft and drain. (water ratio is 1:2 quinoa to water, and cook like rice.) Season with freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Saute everything else in the butter or oil, mix with the quinoa, and stuff the bird. Makes about 4 cups.

RAW CRANBERRY RELISH
INGREDIENTS:
4 each – APPLE, FRESH, MEDIUM
1.5 – CINNAMON, GROUND
1 pound – CRANBERRY, RAW
4 each – ORANGES, FRESH
DESCRIPTION:
This is really easy and an incredible addition to turkey, anytime of year. Leave it in the fridge at least over night before serving. Will keep about 10 days. Makes 5 cups (dependent on apple/orange sizing!)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Wash and sort the cranberries. Throw them in a food processor. Core and chunk cut the apples, throw them in there. Peel 3 of the oranges, cut up and add to the processor. Leave one orange unpeeled, cut it up and add it as well. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Process, leaving slightly chunky (you don’t want a creamy puree!) Refrigerate.

OR

CHERRY CRANBERRY RELISH (wow.)

CHOPPED SALAD WITH APPLE VINIAGRETTE
INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp – APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, SOLANA GOLD
0.5 CUP – APPLE JUICE, UNSWTND, CND/BTLD
3 each – CARROTS, RAW, MEDIUM
1 cup – CELERY, CHOPPED
1 each – CINNAMON, STICK
2 cup – CUCUMBER, ENGLISH
2 1 CUP – GRAPES, RED OR GREEN, RAW
3 cup – LETTUCE,ROMAINE,RAW,SHREDDED
0.5 cup – OIL, GRAPESEED
0.25 cup – ONION, GREEN
5 cup – SALAD GREENS, MIXED, ORGANIC
DESCRIPTION:
Use romaine lettuce hearts for the romaine in this recipe, you need the crunchiness. This salad is crunchy and you’ll need to dice everything up well enough that you can eat it with a spoon!
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a small saucepan, bring the apple juice to a boil with the cinnamon stick and 3 1-inch strips of lemon zest. Simmer over moderate heat until the liquid is reduced to 2 TBS. Discard the cinnamon stick and lemon zest. Pour the liquid in a small bowl and cool slightly, then add the cider vinegar, green onion, and season with black pepper. Whisk in the grapeseed oil until emulsified. In a large bowl, toss the diced celery, diced cucumber (peeled), finely diced carrots, halved grapes, and coarsely chopped greens (mixed greens and romaine hearts). Whisk the vinaigrette again and add to the salad, seasoning with black pepper and toss to coat. serve right away!!

MASHED FOTATOES
INGREDIENTS:
0.25 cup – ALMOND MILK, PACIFIC LOWFAT ORIGINAL
2 tbsp – BUTTER, UNSALTED
1.5 pound – CAULIFLOWER, RAW
DESCRIPTION:
Tastes JUST LIKE the ones made from potatoes – a marvellous way to eat cauliflower. Adding the fat (butter or substitute) is completely optional. Use any type of non – sweetened milk.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Steam cauliflower until tender in steamer basket or a small amount of water in a saucepan. In a food processor, blend cauliflower, optional Earth Balance or Butter, milk, and a bit of black pepper until smooth. Serve immediately.

TRY BAKING YAMS OR SWEET POTATOES, CUT UP IN LARGE 2 INCH CHUNKS WITH CHUNKS OF GRANNY SMITH APPLES.  SPRINKLE WITH CINNAMON AND DRIZZLE WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF RAW HONEY OR XYLITOL.  BAKE AT ABOUT 375 FOR AROUND 40 MINUTES.  Yum!

SUPER EASY PUMPKIN PIE (crustless!)

Put all of this in your VitaMix or blender:

3 cups freshly baked pumpkin

1/2c  to 2/3 c raw honey (depends on your sweet tooth)

1-2 TBS pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, allspice, clove, ginger)

3 eggs

2/3 cup milk (I use homemade hempmilk, try almond too)

Give it a whirl until it’s thick and creamy.  Pour into a glass pie plate greased with coconut oil.  Bake in a preheated 375 oven for around 30-40 minutes – watch for it to get browned and firm in the middle.

And this pie is my favorite – it’s amazing, but you have to know how to play with young Thai coconuts:

PUMPKIN TART
INGREDIENTS:
0.5 cup – RAW HONEY
3 cup – ALMOND FLOUR
2 cup – CARROT JUICE, HOMEMADE
1 cup – CASHEWS, RAW
1 – CINNAMON, GROUND
1 cup – COCONUT MEAT, RAW, shredded – not dried
1.25 cup – COCONUT OIL
1 5-6 dates – DATES, PITTED
2 tsp – GINGER, GROUND
0.5 tsp – NUTMEG
1 tbsp – VANILLA EXTRACT
DESCRIPTION:
Tastes like pumpkin, actually has none in it at all! Instead of the almond flours, you can just grind up almonds in the food processor to equal 3 cups. It turns out just as good! Note that the coconut meat is from a raw, young, thai coconut – not the dried shredded kind. If you have no experience with young thai coconuts, you’ll need to do a search on them and learn how to open them – save the milk inside – it’s a powerful tonic.
INSTRUCTIONS:
special: use 1.5 cups coarse almond flour, 1.5 cups fine almond flour. To make date paste, just soak about 8 dates for an hour or so, then puree them in a food processor, only using the water they soaked in to thin the paste a bit if needed, otherwise toss out the water. Don’t make the filling until the crust is set. crust: mix the almond flours, 3 tablespoons of date paste, 1/2 cup of coconut butter together in a bowl. Press the dough into plastic wrap lined springform pan. Refrigerate for at least an hour before filling, and keep refrigerated until you fill it. Filling: Soak raw cashews for 4 hours or more. In a Vita-Mix or high speed blender, blend the rest of the ingredients, including the cashews, until completely smooth. There will be 3/4 cup coconut butter and 1/3 cup date paste. Pour the filling into the springform pan on top of the crust, keeping the filling inside the plastic wrap on the sides. The filling will be really runny, astonishingly runny. Refrigerate until set, which is only an hour or two. Any leftover filling can be chilled and eaten like pudding. It’s amazing.

All of these recipes can be found in the Genesis recipe section!  Cruise the recipes for more ideas!