<edit> Let’s pretend something together, shall we?? LOL!! Let’s pretend it’s still Wednesday and I posted this on time as planned…instead of losing track of time. And, to be honest, not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving either at all or ON Thursday…so this is totally still applicable! ;)
It’s the holiday season, and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. For many people, Thanksgiving means food. Lots of food. Lots of delicious food that maybe is only prepared once a year. There seems to be an automatic tendency toward stuffing ourselves (not just the turkey) and then regretting it later. So instead, how do we approach the holiday meals differently (and not regret them later)?
I posted a few years ago about leftovers being good for your mental, physical, and fiscal health.
This time, as we move into the holiday season, I want to talk about firstovers. (What? I can make up words!)
If you can, before you make your plate for the meal, package up a plate that you can take home or freeze for later. Why? You’ll get to enjoy all of your favorite holiday flavors again later, and since you’ve packaged up some of each thing for later, you can relax and savor what you’re eating without overdoing and regretting it. (The other idea is making smaller meals and somehow, this time of year, an awful lot of people don’t like that plan!)
Another idea is to make things that can be repurposed later for different recipes. (Turkey tetrazzini, anyone? Stuffing-crust turkey & cranberry pie? Great. Now I’m hungry.)
Firstovers, though. I love the idea of putting out containers that can hold a little bit of everything from the big holiday meal, letting folks dish those up for later, and then diving in and savoring the meal and the company.
How about you? How are you going to move mindfully through the holiday eating and enjoy yourself without regrets?
Cheers! Here’s to your health!