Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes

Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes are easier to make than you think. 

Many who are trying to fight liver or heart disease assume that Thanksgiving is a day off from healthy eating. Or if you have a failing liver, you try and avoid the whole food and family scene altogether. Changing traditions can be hard. Skip to the bottom for all my Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes. 

I was a downer that 1st^t year after being diagnosed with Hepatitis C and end stage cirrhosis. I didn’t even watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade on television. In fact, I let go of all of my traditions. There was more than a little anger and sadness mixed.

 Some things are hard to let go of.  Gosh, I miss a spiral sliced ham with the bone in. For you, it might be letting go of drinking beer while watching football, or eating yourself into a food coma. However you CAN keep some traditions, including food. You may just have to change the way you prepare them.

Things have certainly changed since that first Thanksgiving after the diagnosis. I wrote a Liver Loving Diet book, and enjoy many of the same traditions. How do I do it? Here’s an insider’s look at Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes that will fill your heart with gratitude and your tummy with mouthwatering food!

Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes –

Roasted Turkey and cornbread dressing are served with mashed potatoes and gravy. Sweet potatoes and green beans are on the side. Waldorf salad is a crunchy, cool addition, and the cranberry relish has a sweet and tangy zest. Add a hot roll and iced green tea to celebrate a traditional holiday meal with gratitude for just being alive.

All of the recipes are posted on the liver loving drop down menu. But here’s a quick look at just how nutritious this meal is.

Roasted Turkey is the centerpiece for most Thanksgiving meals. It is naturally low in fat which is good for your heart and your liver. This delicious meat is full of trace minerals and selenium also. Many brands inject sodium, so you should check the label and choose a turkey that has the least amount. You can simply avoid adding extra salt. Instead rub it down good with avocado or olive oil and cook as you normally would.

Mom always put hers in breast side down, and so do I. If it is a huge turkey and the lid won’t fit, I make a little tent out of aluminum foil. It turns out juicy and tender – the butter and salt are not even missed!

Turkey is low in fat and considered to be a great option for the liver to easily metabolize. Not only that, it helps to protect you from fat overload. Your heart and your liver will thank you.

Dressing-  This super easy Thanksgiving recipe can be started the night before. The cornbread itself is made with baking powder, so it’s low in sodium. The whole grain goodness of coarse corn meal and eggs provide healthy carbs, fiber, and protein. When you add in the celery and onion, this is a hearty healthy dish! Click here for recipe

 Mashed potatoes are always great prepared with almond or rice milk and a little low sodium butter or margarine. Take your portion out and then season it up for your family if you want to. My bunch has learned to eat it my way, but you may want to make creamy buttery potatoes for the holiday. I make them healthy and that means a second helping is guilt free.

I hook my gravy up to an IV bag. Not really, but I love the stuff! It is not too difficult to make some low fat gravy. When I was a kid, mom always took a spoon and made a little pond in our potatoes. Then she ladled it full of turkey gravy. I still like to do that for my grandkids. My mouth is watering right now just thinking of it!

Sweet Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes

Eating sweet potatoes is a year round thing at our place. But on Thanksgiving it becomes a much bigger deal. They contain nearly triple the amount of Vitamin A than other vegetables. They’re full of fiber and naturally sweet. 

 It’s a family affair to put the marshmallows on top. The kids always stuff their mouths full playing Chubby Bunny. This nana buys 2 bags to make sure there is enough for the baked sweet potatoes. Follow my recipe in the book, and add nuts or orange juice to add protein and vitamin C as well. We always slide them in the oven until the marshmallows are melty and golden. Except last year when my sis turned the broiler on and caught the whole thing on fire. When it is done right, it is like desert for me! Sweet potato pie can actually be made with low sugar!

Waldorf Salad is like a desert and a salad in one. Apples are full of vitamins and antioxidants as well as fiber.  With the iron in raisins, and protein from pecans, this is uber healthy. Good news: If you are borderline diabetic or have sugar metabolism problems, this is a great dish for you. The dressing has to be modified to reduce fat and sugar for me. You may be able to indulge for the holiday.

Grandmother’s beautiful salad was made fresh that morning. Uncle Homer peeled the apples using his pocket knife, without breaking the peel. Us kids loved watching the curling red slice spiraling down. I can see grandma and Uncle Homer watching from heaven every time I make it. Last year I used pecans, which was a no no. She insisted on walnuts. Mine was just as good if I do say so!      

 Cranberry Salad is one of my favorites all year! I like the mix of tangy oranges and sweet apples with tart cranberries. These little berries are popular for those who are battling urinary tract infections. They are also anti-aging, antioxidant, High in vitamins and minerals as well as omega 3 fatty acid. Click here for recipe!

Holiday Traditions Changes and Holiday Food Guilt

Families are funny. Uncle Homer could spit his chewing tobacco in a can while peeling apples. There’s a lovely image to hold in your mind. He was from daddy’s side. Grandmother washed the apples several times before mixing for the Waldorf Salad. She was from mama’s side. Families are not perfect, but we still create great memories.

 Perhaps your famiy has changed through the years. Mine has. There are still good memories of Thanksgivings involving the dinner and those who prepared it. Many of those people have passed on from this life, but their memories and their recipes are treasured during this holiday. It is good to remember those who loved us, and to recall the days shared cooking and eating together.

I hope you enjoy a healthy Thanksgiving meal with someone who loves you. You know that I do. I’ll be logging on. We can share the holiday through cyber space. I am so very thankful for my Best Friends every day, but especially while eating Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes. Xoxoxo Karen:)

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