Healthy Holidays #1: “Something must be done about the food” ― Mary Jo Putney, Thunder & Roses
Happy almost Thanksgiving! My family was planning on coming but changed their mind at the last second so I have no guests at my house and that’s just fine by me! I’ll get to see them in December. I’m going to my in-laws house tomorrow but I always bring some of the food because, in case you haven’t noticed by now, I love to cook. Last year I was inspired by The Herd to bring healthy food to Thanksgiving and it went over well except that I almost got killed for not bringing macaroni and cheese, so I’ll be bringing that along with my favorite healthy recipes.
While I absolutely believe in eating in moderation, I personally have never been good at that moderation thing so I’d rather have 3 plates of salad than one spoonful of macaroni and cheese. I also try really hard to eat mostly fresh fruits, veggies, and protein (I don’t worry about lean v. fatty protein); therefore, most of my recipes fall under the category of paleo or low carb. I mention this because it’s super easy to find really delicious paleo and low carb recipes on the Google machine, if you need recipe ideas.
Terrible at moderation? Get organized & stay #healthy over the #holidays w/ these tips via @bookwheelblair Click To TweetI actually started my Thanksgiving cooking last weekend. Twice a year for Thanksgiving and Christmas I make everything from scratch, so that means I need to be organized otherwise I’ll never get everything done. I’m also that crazy person who has to make everything five times harder than it needs to be and I can only get certain ingredients from certain places. So, on Sunday my poor husband and I went to three different farmer’s markets and to the guy on the corner (no joke, the guy on the corner always sells the best collard greens) and picked up all the necessary fixins.
Here are my tips for making food ahead:
- If you’re making a casserole, bake it halfway through earlier in the week and then you can finish it off on the big day – I use this tip for my macaroni and cheese and it works every time.
- Use your crock pot – I haven’t made collard greens any other way in years.
- Prep what you can’t cook in advance – I always roast veggies and they get soggy if I cook them in advance so I get them all ready to throw on the baking sheet and then they’re ready in 20 minutes on Thanksgiving day.
- Made breakfast in advance – Every Thanksgiving and Christmas morning we have some sort of egg casserole. I throw a bunch of veggies and eggs in a baking dish the night before and throw it in the oven in the morning. By the time breakfast is done the next dish is ready to go in.
- Reusable is not a sin – OK, so many of you might disagree with me, but I hate washing dishes so I use reusable bakeware for my holiday cooking. This year I’m making macaroni and cheese muffins because look how cute these muffin cups are!
The awesome thing about doing my cooking early is that I have tonight free to apply my Thanksgiving themed nail wraps and dance in my Forever Lazy to the Amy Winehouse I Heart Radio station.