The Kitchen’s Thanksgiving Guide: Expressing Gratitude and Delicious Recipes
While practicing gratitude is always an important part of life, there’s no better time to express it than Thanksgiving! Practicing gratitude is not only a great way to show loved ones how appreciated they are, but it can also have a positive impact on your mental and physical health. Gratitude helps us stay more positive, increases our resilience to negative emotions, calms our nervous systems, and increases our likelihood of making healthy choices. One helpful practice is keeping a gratitude journal. In this space, you can not only make notes of kind things others do for you, but also things that make you grateful for yourself. Expressing gratitude is a sure way to strengthen relationships, so consider making a habit of texting a friend, leaving a note for a significant other, or sending a letter to a family member to let them know you appreciate them.
Many people express gratitude and love for friends and family through cooking. If you need some inspiration for what to make your loved ones this week, look no further! Below is The Kitchen’s recipe guide to all things Thanksgiving: sides, main dishes, and desserts. Thanksgiving can often be a meat-heavy affair, which can be difficult to navigate if you follow a plant-based diet, or are just trying to scale back on your meat consumption. To help give you some plant-based inspiration, the recipes below are marked as vegetarian (veg) or vegan (v).
The Kitchen’s Thanksgiving Recipe Guide:
Sides
- Cranberry Relish (v) and Cranberry Sauce (v) – serve with stuffing!
- Pumpkin Dip (veg) – delicious with fruits, vegetables, graham crackers, or toast.
- Savory Sweet Potatoes (v) – a delicious recipe made in our most recent Community Cooking Class. Make your own Italian Seasoning with basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram.
- Macaroni Salad with Green Peas (veg) – use canned or frozen peas, and add any other veggies you like!
- Whole Wheat Dinner Roll (v) – serve warm with butter, honey, or cranberry sauce.
- Stove Top Stuffing (veg) – use up the ends of your bread loaf with this recipe.
Main Dishes
- Roasted Turkey with Rosemary and Sage – consider substituting for different spices, and top with gravy.
- Turkey Cranberry Quesadilla – easily substitute beans or tofu for the turkey to make this meal plant-based!
- Pumpkin Apple Soup with Sage (veg) – add additional spices such as thyme, nutmeg, coriander, or for a little spice, cayenne!
- Healthy Sweet Potato Boats (v) – garnish with walnuts or other nuts.
- Cranberry-Stuffed Pork Chops – serve with roasted vegetables.
Desserts
- Cranberry Brie Tarts (veg) – substitute goat cheese for brie and huckleberries for cranberries.
- Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies (v) – these cookies are gluten free, and you can make your own pumpkin pie spice using cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg!
- Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel (veg) – add shredded zucchini or carrots.
- Tom’s Turkey Drive Apple Crisp (veg) – can also be made in muffin tins for individual portions, and to take on the go!
Here at The Kitchen, we are grateful for each and every one of you. We hope you find ways to practice daily gratitude, and have a very happy Thanksgiving.
By Sophia Orsinelli
JVC Northwest Americorps Nutrition Educator