My Thanksgiving gratitude gift for my husband and the THT chef

There's many things I'm grateful for when it comes to my husband Erik, but one thing I love most about him and am so grateful for, is how utterly supportive he is of my dreams and business aspirations.  

On our first date, I told Erik I wanted to start a plant-based, meals to-go service while we made vegan manicotti and pasta from scratch together.  We were using tofu and turmeric to make the pasta as an assignment I was working (as a chef with over 15 years experience, Erik had never heard of making pasta this way -- bonus points for me!).  

And now, almost 2 years since that date (the manicotti was delicious by the way), we've made my dream meal service, Trisha's Healthy Table (THT), come true.

Erik's never doubted my abilities to succeed in work and life and better yet, helps me give my all to be the best me I can be.  And that, means the world to me.  

I'm grateful for Erik's support not just because he's a kickass chef and cooks all the THT meals, but because at my every "holy shit, what are we doing!?  Can I actually do this?" moment, he never lets me quit and never shows an ounce of doubt in my abilities to start a business that truly cares about helping people improve their health and eat healthy food that tastes damn delicious. 

From sharing his recipes with you, editing my newsletters at 1 am, quitting his restaurant job to work for us (a scary thing for him to do) and helping me launch eCourses in 2017, Erik is an integral part in helping me help you, learn how to eat better.  

A Trisha's Healthy Table member came to pick-up chili and cornbread on Monday and shared some timely insight she learned at yoga that day that inspired me to write today's post.  It went something like this...

"Not expressing the gratitude you hold inside for someone is like buying them a present, wrapping it, but never giving it to them."  

Not only were Erik and I honored to hear she was grateful for us, but it helped me write this blog. There's countless days when I think about how lucky and grateful I am to have Erik in my life, but I still hadn't written and shared those thoughts, which was something that was really important to me.  

So today I'm finally giving him one of the gratitude gifts I've kept to myself, for him and you to share.  

Today, Erik and I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving -- we ate in the company of a large and truly wonderful family that took us Northerners into their South Carolina home.  

Here's some of the delicious food Erik made for Trisha's Healthy Table and for me for Thanksgiving...

Erik's creamy tahini mashed potatoes and oyster mushroom gravy.  Oh it was SO good! And so healthy!

Creamy tahini mashed potatoes, oyster mushroom gravy, green bean casserole and lentil loaf (I also added cranberry sauce to the plate and bread. Yum!).  100% plant-based, vegan and oil-free.

We also enjoyed a walk in Harbison State Park where the trees have finally changed to fall colors here (which I'm also very grateful for).

Erik and I enjoying the fall leaves in Harbison State Park, SC. Thanksgiving Day 2016.

Take Control Now Question

"What are you grateful for Chef Erik for?  His recipes, him supporting me to better serve you, or his freakin amazing food? 

Or, who haven't you expressed your gratitude gift to yet but should've?  When will you?" 

Please help Erik know how amazing of a human, husband and chef he is by clicking "comment" below and sharing your thoughts.  Or, let someone else important in your life, know how much they mean to you.

Love and Leafy Greens,

Trish
 

3 steps to successfully eat plant-based on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving and the holidays in general can be a challenging time to eat a healthy, plant-based diet.  Especially if you just started improving your diet this way.  What we don’t want to happen is that you throw your hands up and say screw it from Thanksgiving Day to January 1st amongst all the holiday gatherings and unhealthy food.  

So today I’m sharing with you 3 critical steps you need to take in order to successfully and enjoyably eat plant-based over Thanksgiving.  

STEP 1:  Set a realistic goal for what you want to eat on Thanksgiving and write it down multiple times, multiple places.  

Do you want to eat vegan on Thanksgiving and not worry about oil or the amount of high-fat plant foods you eat?  Maybe allowing yourself to eat vegan treats that have oil or high fat plant foods in them, will save you from eating butter laden pies.  

Maybe you’re still transitioning to eating plant-based and you want at least 75% of your meal to be tasty and healthy, plant-based.

Or, maybe you want to eat the healthiest and most delicious meal of your life on Thanksgiving day.  

Whatever your goal is, you have to be very specific about what that goal is and how long you’ll stick to it.  More importantly, you have to write your goal down AND tell other people.  

Saying your goal in your head and only to yourself will make it less likely you’ll actually achieve it, than if you write it in your planner, take a photo of it and save it as your lock screen on your phone AND tell your husband and your kids your goal.  Get specific and get very real with what you want.

STEP 2.  Tell your host your dietary needs.

This is a crucial step.  Don’t skip it.  

If you don’t tell your Thanksgiving host what your food needs are, one of two shitty things will happen...

1.  They’ll cook something you don’t want to eat and you'll eat it to be nice or out of guilt.  In this scenario, you've compromised what you really wanted to eat for Thanksgiving and your goals.

2.  They've cooked you something and you tell them you can't eat it.  In this scenario, you'll piss the host off and now instead of finally getting to sit down with a glad of red wine and enjoy the holiday, they'll scatter around the kitchen trying to figure out what they can feed you.  

If you're nervous or not sure how to tell your host about your dietary needs on Thanksgiving, here's a script to help you...

“Hey (name).  I want to give you a heads up about my dietary needs for Thanksgiving.  I’ve recently started eating plant-based meals and it’s important for me and my health that I stick with it during Thanksgiving.  On Thanksgiving day, I’m avoiding all meat and dairy.  I’m more than happy to bring a dish to share and a meal for myself, so you don’t have to worry about it.  Thanks for understanding and I’m really looking forward to seeing you.”

STEP 3.  Have food for yourself to eat.

Whether you make it, you buy it or the host cooks it, know what you’re eating and where it’s coming from before you sit down at the dinner table.  If you don’t have a plan, there’s a good chance you won’t have enough to eat and then you'll say screw it and eat anything on the table (lol I've been there!).  

If you’re in Columbia, South Carolina, my husband, Chef Erik is cooking plant-based Thanksgiving menu items you can buy at our new healthy meals to-go service, Trisha’s Healthy Table.  And yes, it's open to the public.  If you’re interested, please sign-up for email updates at www.TrishasHealthyTable.com  The menu will be posted and emailed in the next 2 days.  You can buy oyster mushroom gravy, cinnamon kale salad, roasted butternut squash soup, green bean casserole and apple pie.

Now I want to hear from you.  I want you to take action now on the information you just learned. Here’s what I want you to do….

Take Control Now

Give yourself 5 minutes and think about what you want for yourself on Thanksgiving day.  What’s the healthiest way you can eat and still enjoy Thanksgiving?  Who will you tell your goal to once you've decided?  Write your goal and who you’ll tell it to as a comment in the blog.  

10 Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

I love Thanksgiving.  Growing up, my family drove 1.5 hours every year to Staten Island.  We enjoyed an absolutely amazing meal at my Aunt Sue and Uncle Richie's her.  Some of my favorite childhood memories are centered around Thanksgiving and this time in New York.  My brother Tim's nickname Timothy Turkey originated from my Uncle Richie's jokes at the Thanksgiving dinner table.  I'll never gorget how my little brother would make the largest plate of food you'd ever see and then before he'd eat it, swirl and mix it all together.  On black Friday we'd then take the Staten Island ferry into Manhattan and enjoy broadway plays or dinner in Little Italy.

One of the only writing assignments I remember of my childhood is embedded in my brain because of Thanksgiving.  I even remember learning what an adjective is and how to use them writing about Thanksgiving.  I was one of the only students in the class (which didn't happen often) that understood how to use adjectives to describe an appetizing Thanksgiving dinner.  And it's because of the amazing food my Aunt Sue would make every year that I could describe the sweet, crunchy taste of the slivered almonds on glazed green beans.  I can still remember the embarrassment and slight excitement I felt as the teacher read my Thanksgiving dinner essay aloud to my entire 7th grade class.

I first saw Dr. T Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. discuss the research of plant-based nutrition in 2005, just a few weeks before Thanksgiving.  My very first two weeks of attempting to eat a plant-based diet was during Thanksgiving!  Can you imagine?  I "failed" miserably -- I didn't give my Aunt Sue a heads-up, had no idea what I could've eaten instead and came completely empty-handed.  So once I saw that cheesy spinach dip, it was on!  

It's been over 10 years now and I've enjoyed many healthy and delicious vegan Thanksgiving dinners and so can you!  Now that we're in week 3 serving Trisha's Healthy Table meals to-go, our supporters are starting to ask if we're making Thanksgiving meals.  The short answer is "oh yes." In doing research for our menu, I came across 10 vegan Thanksgiving recipes that you could add to your table whether we make food for you or not.

10 Healthy, Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

*Some of these recipes use oil although non of them use more than 4 TB which can easily by omitted especially if it's 1 TB needed to saute.  Learn how to saute without oil here.  It's easy!

1.  Festival Kale Salad with Sweet Apple cinnamon vinaigrette and pecan parmesan by OhSheGlows.com  I've made this recipe from her cookbook and it's honestly the best kale salad I've ever had and it uses a low-fat dressing that tastes so good.

2.  3 ingredient cranberry sauce from IsaChandra.com

3.  Southern style cornbread dressing by FatFreeVegan.com  Originally from the South, this chef knows how to make traditional Southern recipes healthy without compromising flavor. 

4.  Simple vegan stuffing from MinimalistBaker.com

5.  Cauliflower mashed potatoes with creamy mushroom gravy from MinimalistBaker.com 

6.  Butternut pecan sweet potato casserole from MinimalistBaker.com

7.  Meatless loaf by FatFreeVegan.com  This is an oil-free and delicious look "meat loaf".  

8.  Lentil loaf with a maple sweetened glaze from eatingbirdfood.com (love that name).

9.  Pumpkin pie from Cathy Fisher.  I love all of her recipes.  They're tasty but she only uses whole plant foods when she cooks.  She makes some of the healthiest and tastiest recipes.

10.  No bake almond butter cup bars  These aren't a traditional Thanksgiving dessert that I'm use to, but they look so good I just had to share.

Take Control Now

What's one plant-based recipe you could incorporate into your Thanksgiving dinner this year?  What would you like to see Erik cook for Trisha's Healthy Table meals this Thanksgiving?

Answer by clicking 'comment' below.