A Healthier Thanksgiving Round 2

Thanksgiving might have been last weekend, but I was head down, nose in the books, in an all out midterm mode for school last week. Needless to say, I survived my first set of midterms at The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), which means I am one step closer to achieving my dream job! If you are like me and love turkey and thanksgiving eats and wish every other weekend could be thanksgiving, than here are some recipes ideas for the cool weather ahead.

Turkey. This might sound stupid, but check the ingredients list on the turkey before you buy it. You would THINK it would say Ingredients: Turkey but no! apparently we feel the need to add a chemical S$%#storm and copious amounts of sodium to our turkeys these days. Depending on the brand you buy, some will be a better choice. The best option would be an organic turkey (Blue Goose sells these) but I realize this is not always available.

For making gravy, take the pan drippings and put into glass liquid measuring cup and right away into the freezer when your turkey is done. I made a homemade stock using the giblets and leftover veggie tidbits (see image below), and then added this to the gravy drippings with xantham gum for a healthy and clean eating homemade gravy. The reason you put it in the freezer is that all the fat will rise to the top and you when you are ready to whisk your gravy together, you can skim all the fat off. I am not ‘fat-phobic’ but I find this helps you avoid having a terrible post turkey tummy ache after dinner from all the other rich foods you are consuming.

 I’ve made lots of different side dishes in the past and I think this roasted root vegetable medley is now my favourite. The colour is beautiful, it’s simple to make, and tastes fantastic with turkey. I cut down the maple syrup in the recipe because I don’t like really sweet things (CCNM folks, phosphorus much??) but you can adjust to taste. Feel free to use a variety of fall vegetables. I had sweet potatoes, heirloom carrots, parsnips, onions, and beets.

http://artoflivingwell.ca/recipes/vegetarian-a-vegetable-sides/1038-baked-root-vegetables-with-maple-syrup-and-cinnamon

This stunning paleo apple pie dessert was the best part, I made it the day before and enjoyed it in the afternoon because I’m always so full after thanksgiving dinner. Personally, I don’t really enjoy the pie late at night and I find most people go for a slice, or two, of pie after dinner out of habit more than anything. It’s better to stop eating when you are full and realize the pie isn’t going anywhere, you can always enjoy it the next day! For this dessert, I combined two recipes from the amazing food blogger Elana Amsterdam at Elana’s Pantry. I also reduced the coconut oil slightly in the crust still came together perfectly.

http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-pie-crust/

http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-apple-tart/

And what do you do with all that leftover turkey when there's only two of you and? Make turkey soup of course?

Coming up next, an October Superfood of the Month, stay tuned!