Mindfully Cooking and Eating on Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays to cook for. All my children will be home, including my married son with his wife and my adorable grandson, Evan. I am so excited to spend quality stress-free time with them all.

What’s on the menu? I sat down with my recipes and started to make a menu and shopping list.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Butternut Squash Soup

Persimmon and Spinach Salad

Roasted Turkey (of course)

Sweet Potato Apple Stacks

Garlic Roasted Vegetable Medley

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Hot Apple Pie

Citrus Fruit Bowl

My son also requested mashed potatoes for my grandson, so of course I’ll have some of that available.

By the way, if you took advantage of the holiday special, you received the holiday menu planner with 8 recipes for free, including the Persimmon and Spinach Salad, Sweet Potato Apple Stacks and Garlic Roasted Vegetable Medley noted above. If you didn’t grab yours yet, you can still do so now at 50% off by clicking here. You won’t be disappointed.

Now, looking at this menu, I am conscious and mindful of making sure to have food choices from the various food groups: lean protein (turkey), starch/grains (sweet potato apple stacks and butternut squash soup), vegetables (variety of roasted veggies), healthy fat (olive oil in cooking) and fruit (citrus fruit bowl). There is also a “fun food” which is the homemade hot apple pie.

Next step is mindfully eating. That means staying fully conscious during the meal, maintaining an awareness of your food choices and amount of food you are serving yourself and you are eating. While this can be challenging in a social situation, if you set your intention before the meal, you’ll do great.

Start by serving yourself small portions of your favorite “this only comes around once a year” foods. Balance your plate and stay tuned in to listen to your inner signals as you are getting satiated. Stop when you feel comfortable, even if others are still eating. If you do this, you will be able to enjoy the homemade apple pie (or whatever your dessert) without having that dessert tip you over into the “I’ve got to open my buckle” state.

Plan ahead for success, eat intelligently and stay mindful. Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!