This is an updated reblog from last year’s post, but most every point still rings true. Except for the alcohol!
For those of us here in the U.S., turkey time is upon us once again. It’s absolutely my favorite holiday. I find it an heroic little celebration struggling to survive amid the premature Christmas decorations and Black Friday freak show. This day symbolizes gratitude, one thing I think many of us overlook in our day-to-day. But before I get all sappy on you, let’s get to the real reason I love Thanksgiving – the food.
I was all prepared to whip up a great post loaded with lots of clean Thanksgiving recipes and inspirational tips to get you through the day. I even found a fabulous Thanksgiving Feast post from one of my favorite clean eating blogs, The Gracious Pantry. But as I started I realized that I was faking it. I don’t really want to eat clean versions of my Thanksgiving favorites. This is the most highly revered meal of the 2,190 I will have this year. Why in the world would I cheat myself out of enjoying it?
Another reason I love this day is family. This will be the first year since we moved from Texas that I will host my kinfolk (well, 2 of them). I commend these brave souls for traversing the suburban Colorado landscape in the winter. Yes, 2 inches of snow on the ground qualifies it as winter here folks. So it won’t be a huge gathering, but we’re gonna eat man!
My mom and dad have always made the holiday an extra special memory for me, and I intend to continue that tradition for all of us. The stuffed, baked potatoes slathered with my mom’s homemade gravy, homemade bread with more than 1 tsp of butter, and the pie. Oh yes, my friends, I will partake in the pumpkin pie dolloped with real whipped cream. I’m even going to enjoy a few glasses of wine egg-nog flavored soy milk. Yep, you heard it right, I will be DRINKING some calories as well (pause for reaction). And I’ll clearly be whooping it up in the process!
As I’m loading my plate, I will be mindful of the last time I ate with such abandon. It was my last night of a girls’ trip last Spring to my hometown of Austin, Texas. We don’t have a lot of authentic barbecue choices where I live now, so I really wanted to take pleasure in some good brisket and potato salad before I left. We dined at the County Line, and it was heavenly, as expected. I literally stuffed myself. The first few minutes were fabulous, but as I continued plowing through my meal, I began to regret my disregard for portion control.
When it was all over I felt like I was literally going to burst. I dealt with that misery the entire rest of the night and into the next morning. And let’s not forget my more recent string of holiday missteps…SO, I won’t be making that same mistake again, and will exercise some modicum of discipline this Thursday. You can see more about my philosophy on this in Anatomy of a Cheat Meal. In any case, I will be enjoying a little bit of everything I adore, which is what I like to call balance.
What is your plan for the holiday? What are your thoughts on getting through the season?