Avoid sabotaging your hard earned healthy habits and ensure continued success on Thanksgiving (and the rest of the year) with these life preserver tips!

1) Get a health sponsor. Choose a friend or family member you can trust or a professional health advocate…anyone you can trust to be there for you to text, call or talk with in person  when you need reminders or help with stress management around the holidays.
2) Take a long time to finish your meal. Seriously, make it a goal to take at least 20 minutes to enjoy your meal.
3) Converse and give thanks between bites to encourage mindfulness and
avoid eating rapidly.  The practice of being mindful and thankful is more sustaining to feelings of pleasure than the short-lived pleasure of the tasty food itself.

Thanks for all the positive feedback from last week’s Thanksgiving Recipes Reinvented newsletter–so glad to hear that many of you are looking forward to trying new, healthier recipes for your holiday this year!

I’ve got a few more for you: cranberry sauce, a couple of gravy recipes, AND another stuffing recipe. The best part? All of these recipes are sugar-free, grain-free, gluten-free, easy, healthy and TASTY. My kind of cookin’!

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup unfiltered apple juice
• Juice from 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons raw organic honey (make it 4 tablespoons if you like a sweeter sauce)

In a large soup pot, add the cranberries, water, apple juice, and orange juice and bring to a boil.  Add the ginger, cinnamon, and honey and simmer, stirring often until the cranberries are broken down and the sauce becomes thick, about 10-15 minutes. Compliments of Everyday Paleo.

SUPER Simple Turkey Gravy

If you want to keep your gravy incredibly simple, just take all the drippings and scraps from your turkey pan and mix in blender or food processor. Pour into a gravy boat and enjoy. Compliments of Primal Palate.

Turkey Gravy

Ingredients in Gravy:

• Drippings from pan
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoon of coconut flour (or 1-2 teaspoons arrowroot or xanthum gum for thickening)
• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

How to:

1. You can either make this gravy in the pan your roasted the turkey or a small sauce pan.
2. Take the pan drippings and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Take a whisk in add in coconut flour and whisk vigorously so you don’t create any lumps. Add the remainder of the ingredients except for the salt. Taste the gravy then if you need salt to taste then add.

Compliments of Cindy’s Kitchen.

Pork Sausage Stuffing

Mmm, sausage. No bread. No starchy carbs. Just herby, meaty goodness to serve alongside your turkey and healthy cranberry sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 packs of button mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons each, rosemary, thyme, and sage, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp each, fennel seeds, anise, and paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp coconut oil

**Note: Adjust stuffing measurements accordingly depending on amount of people being served. This stuffing filled a 16 lb turkey, as well as a 5 qt braising pan.

How to:

1. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
2. Place bell pepper, mushrooms, and celery into skillet and saute.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground pork, onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, fennel seeds, anise, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
4. Add ground pork mixture to skillet, and cook until pork is browned slightly.
5. Remove from heat, and discard any liquid in the pan.

Compliments of Primal Palate. Yummers.

The holidays are a wonderful time to share healthy food with those you love the most. Fill ’em up with the good stuff. 🙂