This week has got me thinking about menu planning for Thanksgiving. I LOVE menu planning in general and making the grocery list for a week or more of healthy plant based meals in our household. I generally enjoy cooking. Simon is my sous chef and we enjoy the whole process of cooking healthy meals together, even big holiday feasts for just the 2 of us.
(Sometimes, like most of us, I am pressed for time or out of ideas. Then I generally throw together pressure cooker pasta 
, my go-to easy, lazy weeknight meal. I made a video with all of the details, written recipe, and tons of options HERE.)
We will be in Michigan with the whole fam-damily for Thanksgiving this year. Next week’s Mindset tips will be all about maintaining sanity at family gatherings . For menu planning, I only need to come up with one or two recipes as everyone brings something in our family so the hosts don’t have to cook everything. We love a good family potluck.
Does your family have certain recipes that appear every year at the holiday table? In our family, we have Aunt Ruth’s Corn Casserole 
making an appearance every Thanksgiving. This was actually her second husband’s family’s recipe and is now brought by Aunt Kathleen as Aunt Ruth is more interested in beautiful, delicious, perfectly presented, new recipes vs the old ex-husband’s corn casserole.
Aunt Ruth knows how to put on a party 
. She at one time had a whole room of her basement full of dinner party supplies. She had Simon & I assigned to the Pear Martini station one Thanksgiving, shaking up signature cocktails for family & friends mingling before the big feast. No messing around with that stodgy old casserole every year for her creative hostess mind.
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Our family LOVES that corn casserole though. (I did until I took a peek behind the curtain at the heart-stopping ingredients 
) It has become a family tradition. Perhaps something about half a dozen eggs and a pound of butter packed in with your corn that delights the palate and lights up the brain.
I pass on that option these days or maybe enjoy just a bite (rememberPROGRESS NOT PERFECTION is my motto with health) and try to add in some healthier recipes. We will fully enjoy a big Thankgiving meal with family and all of our traditions. We skip on the turkey these days as we have been plant based 
for over a decade. In the spirit of progress not perfection, we flex our diet and sometimes eat vegetarian vs. vegan at parties and restaurants as it just makes life easier.
I don’t stress about a big, richer than usual meal. I will get back to my healthy ways, enjoy a walk on my family’s huge wooded rural property, and know that Thanksgiving is one meal, it doesn’t have to derail my healthy habits for months. Balance. Peace. Love. Gratitude. Those are the vibes I choose to live in.
This Week’s Shot of MINDSET
In the PSYCH-K® work I do, we have something called The 7 Categories of Change which are common areas where people want to work on their beliefs or improve their lives. As Thanksgiving and holiday parties are rolling up on us soon, let’s look into the area of HEALTH / BODY BELIEFS.
We often have some negative beliefs about our bodies. I know I have struggled in this area throughout my life. As I move into my 50s, beliefs about health, lifespan, acute or chronic illnesses, and overall energy levels start to come up. I want to live a long, healthy life with full mobility. Life in my years is just as important as years of life.
Here are a few sample statements of positive, supportive beliefs about health that can be worked with at the subconscious level where those negative thoughts loops are often going on without us even noticing it. It’s good to be able to go in and strengthen positive beliefs like:
- I choose to live a vibrant and healthy life.
- My body heals itself, naturally and quickly.
- I nurture my physical body in healthy and loving ways.
- My body is healed, restored, and filled with energy.
- I listen to my body and give it what it needs. (My own supporting belief thrown in. I work with health & body beliefs all the time for myself.)
Hopefully some of these can get your brain shifting to positive thoughts about your body and your health during the holiday season.
We will dive into GRATITUDE next week as that’s what Thanksgiving is all about! It makes me a bit sad that our culture sort of just steamrolls over Thanksgiving these days. As soon as Halloween wraps up and November hits, the Christmas decorations, music, and shopping come fast & furious.
I guess I am old school. I wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving every year to put up outdoor lights, our tree 
, and deck the halls with all of our Christmas decorations. It will be even later for us this year as we don’t get back to Charlotte until early December.
We have a fun tradition for our Christmas decorating that I will share soon… it involves Elvis 
This Week’s Shot of HEALTH
Here are some healthy recipe ideas to consider adding to your family Thanksgiving this year. Or to any holiday party on your calendar. This collection from Forks Over Knives covers all of the bases:
100+ FAMILY-PLEASING THANKSGIVING RECIPES
I love adding a big fresh green salad 
to my Thanksgiving menu to break up the big, rich meal and get some raw veggies in my body. Simon always scoffs at the idea of a salad, says it gets in the way of his roasted potatoes 
, parsnips, mushroom gravy, and starchy favorites. He loves loading up on all of the classic dishes & desserts for holiday meals.
I hope your holiday meal planning is going well and I hope this week’s newsletter sparks a few healthy ideas for your holiday table and for positive thoughts about your body and your health. 
 Enjoy your week!  Jennifer Parsley |
If you are interested in using the power of the mind to uplevel your life, I share mindset expertise every week, along with fun & insightful stories from my own life path from 
80s hair band superfan to chemical engineer to health & mindset coach (what a journey!). 
You will also see plenty of health promoting tips and recipes because I am blown away by the power of intermittent fasting + a healthy diet to prevent & reverse just about any health concern 
Mindset plays a big part in health and healing too, the power of the Mind Body connection is pretty mind blowing.
You can learn more about the Mindset and Health Transformation work I do here:
I love hearing from you, so don’t be shy about commenting once in a while, especially if you have any questions.