A vegetarian Thanksgiving (anytime recipes)

 

We started off the day with a ~3 hour bike ride on our road bikes. We left around 10am and the weather was weird - misty, grey, not too warm, not too cold. We welcomed the fresh crisp air and took in the beautiful sights of nature, farm animals and fall colors. It's incredible that after six years of living in Greenville, SC we are still discovering new routes. Although our country roads are typically pretty quiet from cars, this recent ride treated us with no more than ten cars passing us over just over 50 miles. 

After we returned home around 1:30pm, I cleaned up, had a meal and then got to work in the kitchen. While Thanksgiving food centers around traditions, I see this holiday as a way to create memories over food. And there's no better way to create positive memories than around delish food that feels just as good on the taste buds as it does in the belly. 

I wanted to share the recipes that I used to create the dishes that I prepared for Thanksgiving. These recipes are not exclusive to Thanksgiving - I encourage you to try them out and add them to your weekly menu. If you are like me and feel a bit overwhelmed and anxious with detailed recipes, I will list the ingredients below and then you can click on the recipe link when you are ready to follow the actual recipe. I find it much less cumbersome to purchase ingredients in advance and then prep those ingredients in advance, versus trying to do everything at once (shop, prep, cook all on the same day). 

Sesame Ginger Tempeh Stir Fry

RECIPE LINK

Ingredients: 

• 8oz block tempeh (I used two x 8 ounce blocks of tempeh to have leftovers.)
• 1 cup each carrot sticks and green beans
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 tbsp fresh garlic
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce/coconut aminos for lower sodium+paleo (I used Tamari sauce)
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• Sesame seeds, green onion, white rice for serving (optional) (I used sesame seeds)

Broccoli and Quinoa Casserole

RECIPE LINK

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups vegetable broth or water (I used vegetable broth)
• 1 cup quinoa (any color), rinsed under running water in a mesh sieve for a minute and drained
• 16 ounces broccoli florets, either pre-packaged or sliced from 2 large bunches of broccoli
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, omit if sensitive to spice
• 8 ounces (about 2 ½ cups) freshly grated cheddar cheese, divided (I used brick provolone and just under 1 cup)
• 1 cup low-fat milk (cow’s milk tastes best but unsweetened plain almond milk works, too) (I used cow's milk)
• ½ tablespoon butter or 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 slice whole wheat bread (substitute gluten-free bread for a gluten-free casserole)

Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup

RECIPE LINK

Ingredients:

• 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into bite-size florets
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Fine sea salt
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or more if needed
• Scant ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• For garnish: 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, chives and/or green onions (I used dried parsley) 

Vegan Apple and Pear Crumble 

RECIPE LINK

Ingredients: 

• 2 1/2 cups pears, chopped (after peeling)  (I used 3 small Bartlett pears)
• 1 1/2 cups apples, chopped (after peeling) (I used 3 small honey crisp apples)
• 1/8 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1/8 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (I used ~2 tbsp vegan butter)
• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped optional (I used a handful each of chopped walnuts and pecans)

My best friend. 

Campy's plate.

He's always so surprised and patient when he receives his own Thanksgiving plate. 

Happy Tummy. 

Brussels sprouts, apple and pomegranate salad

Picture from Smitten Kitchen

I was in charge of providing the "vegetable" dish at our Thanksgiving day meal. I recently came across a beautiful picture on a friend's social media page with the recipe titled "Brussels sprouts, apple and pomegranate salad." I quickly bookmarked the recipe as I knew it would be a nutritious and flavorful dish, providing a pop of color to the Thanksgiving day table.

While the dish was well-received, I failed in snapping a picture of my final dish. So that is why I have the picture from the actual recipe featured above. Well, I did capture this picture of Campy at the head of the table where you can also see my dish.

I hope you enjoy my modification to the dish (for the actual recipe, click on this Smitten Kitchen link.). To help save time, I recommend to purchase your Brussels Sprouts already chopped and to buy a container of pomegrante seeds. This dish took me a while to make but it was worth it. But next time around, I'd consider going with a few short-cuts. :-)

Ingredients

• 1/2 large red onion, diced small
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups brussels sprouts (shredded)
• 1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (a large one)
• 1 large Honeycrisp apple (chopped)
• Juice of a lemon
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

1. Make the pickled onions: Combine red onion, wine vinegar, lemon zest and salt in a small bowl and set aside for 15 minutes. 
2. Combine brussels sprouts, pomegranta seeds and apple together in a large bowl. Toss with the pickling liquid. 
3. Combin lemon, honey and olive oil in a small bowl (or mason jar), give a shake and pour on salad (to your liking) when ready to eat/serve. 
4. Enjoy!

2016 Thanksgiving recap

With family, friends and food, I can't complain.

Our 2016 Thanksgiving was a great success and we hope you had a lovely holiday.

It's hard to believe that we are just days away from December which means that time is flying.
It's very common to count down days and rush the week but let's remember to always make the most out of every day. Life moves quickly!
Can you believe it's almost 2017????



We started off our Thanksgiving morning in downtown Greenville. We had a few Trimarnis racing the Trees Greenville 8K, including Karel and thousands of other runners. I just love seeing our Main street packed with active minded individuals and I just love how our community supports physical activity.
I passed on the race for no reason other than I didn't want to trash my legs with a hard, short effort as I am trying to be as consistent as possible with my running in this foundation phase. There will be plenty of hard efforts to come in the next few months.

So, I let speedy legs Karel battle it out with the young runners for 8 kilometers on a rolling hill course. 

Clearly, Karel is not slowing down with age but instead, he's getting faster! 

Great work Lukas an Thomas!



Any my hard working training partner Meredith. 

It wouldn't be like me to just sit on the sidelines and watch so I ran a few miles with Meredith and then waited for Karel to finish. With our warm-up and cool down, we ended up with around 9 miles, which was a great start to the day.

We returned home around 11am and enjoyed a late breakfast (eggs with leafy greens, cheese and tomatoes and 2 slices of fresh bread topped with butter and jam) and then got to cooking.

Karel made his Czech inspired purple cabbage dish  and I prepared a new recipe (which is very unlike me to actually follow a recipe!) which was actually very delish.

For anyone who has yet to appreciate the taste of raw Brussels Sprouts, I think you will enjoy this recipe.

Lemonly Brussels Sprouts Recipe HERE

After we prepared our dishes, my cousin Orin and I (and Campy) walked over to my mom's house (1 mile away) to hang out for a bit before our Thanksgiving feast was served around 4:30pm. Karel was so exhausted from his 29 minute effort that he had to rest for a little bit before joining the fam (apparently he was not feeling 20-ish years old like his competition after the race)

Our good friends/neighbors Joey and Tim joined us for dinner and it was a fantastic feast, filled with so much yummy food.
Yay for carbs (Karel and I are big fans!)

Campy was a great help in the kitchen as he kept the floor extra clean whenever anyone "accidentally" dropped something  on the floor.

Karel's plate included a little of everything (even sweet potatoes, which he usually doesn't like but Joey made an extra sweet dish with brown sugar pecan crumbles on top - what's not to love about that???).

With this being my 23rd Thanksgiving as a Vegetarian, I change up my Thanksgiving protein every now and then. I avoid the Tofurky and any factory made proteins and instead, just stick to real food options. This year, I did cottage cheese topped with cranberries - pretty good!

(I'm grateful to my family for always making stuffing out of the bird for me to enjoy, in addition to stuffing for the meat eaters).

We continued the tradition of Campy having his own Tday plate, filled with Turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and a few pieces of bread from the stuffing.

This is a lot of food for my 12-lb furry child!

So good that Campy napped with a happy tummy all evening.

And for dessert, Pumpkin and Rhubarb pie from a local bakery in Ft. Wayne, Indiana (my aunt brought them for us to yum over).

-----------------------

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is behind you, you still have the rest of the holiday season to tempt you with delicious and yummy food that is hard to resist.

A quick fix of skipping meals, avoiding carbohydrates, extreme exercise to burn calories, not eating fat, replacing meals with caffeinated energy drinks, taking weight loss pills/supplements or any other method to quickly regain control over your diet to offset overeating WILL NOT WORK!

Remember, results take time. Much more time than a few days of extreme changes.

But guess what?
You can still reach your body composition/weight goals and enjoy the holiday eats and treats! 

When your eating strategies are extreme, it will affect your overall quality of life, relationships with others, your energy/performance and/or your health. 

Stop the cycle of restricting and dieting after overeating.
Be ok with the occasional indulgences and oversized portions.

If you want to lose weight or change your body composition, you need to allow for weeks, if not months, to allow for slow, steady and sustainable change so that health is not compromised and so that you can be consistent with your training.
A few days of "off" eating won't affect your long term goals.
Consider what you do between those occasional days, as that is what helps you move closer to your health and performance goals. 

Need help to keep a healthy relationship with food and the body over the holiday season?
Let's work together.
Trimarni nutrition services

Trimarni Thanksgiving eats - YUM!

We hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving and filled your body with love, laughs and lots of yummy food. 

Karel, Campy and I celebrated Thnksgiving with my mom (in her new home just 10 minutes away from me - yay!) and my aunt, uncle and cousin. The Thanksgiving day was not the same without my dad but we made sure to share to not forget the impact he had made on all of our lives. 

For Karel and me, our Thanksgiving started with the TreesGreenville Turkey Day 8K which happened to be our very first event to participate in since moving to Greenville in May.
The event was in downtown Greenville so we woke up at 6am and after our pre-race snack we did a little foam rolling and dynamic warming up and then around 7:20am we ran to the start/finish which was around 1.3 miles away. My morning pre race snack was nothing out of the ordinary as I consume the same ingredients before training. A rice cake, smear of PB, cinnamon, raisins and banana slices. I didn't add any honey this morning. I sipped on a cup of coffee and glass of water and brought a flask of water (5 ounces) with me to carry for the race.
I will be sharing our race recap in another blog but it was a lot of fun to start our morning with other Greenvillians!

The morning started off chilly but then we got warm during the race and then we got cold again. We ran a total of around 7.5 miles or so and when we got home we were both ready for a recovery drink and Epson Salt bath.
My smoothie consisted of:
1 cup milk  + a little water to help mixing
1 chopped celery stick
A few pineapple chunks

1/2 cup frozen berries
Handful kale

Cinnamon/Ginger
1 heaping scoop Whey to Go protein powder (I add my powder last so it mixes smoothly)
Ice

After warming up, I started my cooking/baking for our late afternoon meal. For lunch I had leftover egg salad.

Egg chickpea salad
6 eggs (4 whole, 2 just whites)
Dallop or two greek yogurt
A little horseradish
A spoonful spicy mustard and spoonful olive oil Mayo
3 stalks chopped celery
1 carrot chopped (large)
1/2 can chickpeas
Pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate.

Now on to the baking!

My contribution to the Thanksgiving meal was a dessert and veggie dish.
I couldn't help myself as I was feeling extra happy in the kitchen so I made two desserts. I'm not as passionate about baking as I am cooking (although I AM passionate about eating desserts!) since I love to be creative in the kitchen and not be tied to following recipes. But this was a special day and I made full use of my time in the Trimaarni kitchen. 

Oatmeal apple and walnut crisp
2 cups old-fashioned oats (not instant)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts (chopped)
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
2 sweet baking apples (ex. honey crisp) chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-inch baking dish with non stick spray (or use butter).
2. In medium bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, 1/2 of the nuts, raisins, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix well. 

3. In another bowl, whisk eggs and then add the milk and vanilla. Whisk until well combined. 

4. Add milk mixture to oat mixture along with melted butter. 

5. Place apples on bottom of the baking dish. Pour oatmeal/milk mixture over the apples and spread evenly. 

6. Sprinkle remaining nuts on top.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the oats are set and top is golden. 

Kale, onion and corn salad
Kale
Frozen corn
Onions
Garlic
Olive oil
Garlic balsamic

1. In medium skillet, on medium heat, cover bottom with corn (defrosted and soft) and 1 tbsp or so of olive oil. 

2. Add 1/2 onion (chopped or sliced). 

3. Add fresh or jarred garlic to your liking. 

4. Cook corn and onion mixture until onions begin to turn a little brown. 

5. While corn is cooking, use a wok for Kale (or large skillet). Cook kale on low-medium heat in a little olive (I recommend to toss in bowl ahead of time for even coating) and cook until soft. 

6. When kale is soft, add corn mixture in wok and toss with a little balsamic and let cook for a few more minutes. Kale should remain soft, it should not brown. 

Garlic balsamic tempeh
Tempeh

Garlic balsamic

Olive oil
Salt

1. In skillet on medium heat, chopped tempeh.
2. Cook in a little olive oil until slightly brown. 

3. Add balsamic and toss. Tempeh should get a little soft. 

4. Add a pinch of salt. 

Yummm...pomegranate seeds and chocolate. 

Pomegranate Brownie bites
(Without compromising taste or texture, I tried to make these as "healthy" as possible but still be real brownies)

1 4 ounce package baking chocolate
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 pomegranate, seeded (my trick for seeding the pomegranate is to cut it in half and then place each half, seed side down, in a bowl of water. This will help the seeds come out a little easier. Then quarter each half and break with hands. Be careful to not stain your clothes)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a non stick baking pan (8 or 9 inch) with cooking spray. 

2. Melt together butter an chocolate in microwave (or double boiler) for 2 minutes (butter will melt first and may start to crackle after 1 minute but chocolate needs longer). Set aside and let cool. 

3. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. 

4. Add cooled melted chocolate/butter mixture to egg mixture, whisk together. 

5. Stir in flour, mix until combined. Then stir in most of the seeds (save about 1/4 of the seeds for the top). 

6. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle rest of the seeds on top and lightly press into batter but not too much that you can't see them. 

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Top of brownies should be firm but middle should be very moist. 

8. Cut into small chunks for brownie bites. 

Trimarni tip:
Always drink water with meals. If you like sparkling water, you can sip on sparkling water during your meal to help with digestion and indigestion. A calorie-free, carbonated beverage with no sugar sweeteners or alcohols is also a safe and healthy way to promote fullness while eating.

Make sure your fresh snacks are always handy. If healthy snacks aren't available then you can't eat them. 

This is Karel's cabbage recipe, inspired by his mom. Karel doesn't follow a recipe so he says it turns out a little differently every time. 

Here's a recipe I found that uses the same ingredients (minus the stock, Karel uses water and adds a few pinches of seasoning) as Karel's Czech-inspired recipe. 
Braised cabbage with apple and caraway seeds

We also had stuffing outside the bird. But my mom accidentally added a little seasoning that wasn't vegetarian and she didn't realize it until she checked the package. Oh well, bummer for the vegetarian at the dinner but more for everyone else to enjoy! 

I love my mom's sweet potato dish! This is the only time of the year I will yum over Marshmallows. Did you know there are vegan marshmallows that don't use gelatin?
My mom just cooks the sweet potatoes in a pot of boiling water until soft and the removes the skin. She mashes and then adds a little butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Then she puts it in the oven for 20 minutes (220 degrees) and then boils the marshmallows for a few minutes (you must watch the marshmallows and keep the oven door cracked open so you can see them. If you leave it in 10 sec too long you will burn them).

And guess who else got a delicious plate for Thanksgiving? 

Yep, Mr. Campy got his own plate of real food. Lucky doggy!! This is a tradition since we got Campy and this year I captured it all on video. You can check it out on my Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition Facebook page. 

Poor Campy, he didn't even make it up passed 8pm. 

22 years as a lacto-ovo vegetarian and I still love this holiday. I just love creating a meal that taste great when I eat it and makes me feel even better after it is is consumed. 

Karel's plate with turkey, potatoes and roast.

Hopefully you have lots to be thankful for this year and you didn't forget to thank your awesome body on Thanksgiving!