10 Brain-Healthy Ideas for Your Thanksgiving Celebration
Including Big Batch Apple Cider Mocktails, Pumpkin Tahini Pie, and Mom's Cranberry Sauce
Hello, everyone. I want to thank you for your kind messages and prayers after the announcement of my mom’s passing. Reading through your comments, I am really touched by how many of us have lost a loved one—especially our moms—to Alzheimer’s or another dementia. My heart goes out to all of you. When I was practicing medicine, I thought of my patients as an extension of my family and that’s exactly how I think of all of you.
And thank you so much for reminding me to take care of myself. I am doing my best! I am taking really long walks, snuggling with Orzo and Livvie (who now have full couch privileges), going to bed super early, and cooking. This morning I made a chocolate version of the Protein-Packed Pancakes with Wild Blueberries using my favorite chocolate protein powder. So good! (Paying Subscribers: I have a discount code for you; find it at the end of this post.) I added small cubes of sweet potato to the Sardinian Lentil Soup With Lots of Herbs, swapping in a leek for the onion, and it was the best thing I’ve eaten since I got back from Italy. And I am starting to think about Thanksgiving.
This year, I’ll be a guest at Thanksgiving dinner instead of hosting, so I am obsessing over whether I should contribute a show-stopping charcuterie board (see #1, below), my favorite warm greens and chestnuts side dish (#7), or the Pumpkin Tahini Pie I shared with you last year (#10). I will definitely be bringing a big batch of my Spiced Apple Mocktails, too (#2).
Whatever your Thanksgiving looks like, I have some ideas that will infuse the day with crowd-pleasing dishes that also happen to be brain-healthy. Plus, I have some thoughts on how to manage the stress that surrounds big food holidays. At the end of the day, your brain should feel both well-nourished and restored.
10 Ideas For a Brain-Healthy Thanksgiving
Start with a brain-healthy charcuterie board. Thanksgiving dinner is already full of more saturated fat foods than your typical brain-healthy meal. Meat and cheese are the typical suspects found on a holiday snack board, but I suggest a new twist—create a better-for-you board with marinated vegetables, tinned fish, whole grain crackers, berries, and olives. Include a special cheese if you like, too. (Or, try the nut-based Lemony Cashew Ricotta on page 373 of my book.) Check out my guide to building a brain-healthy charcuterie board here.