Thanksgiving Special: Bring ‘A Healthy Meal’ to your table

It’s Thanksgiving and you want your dinner table to look perfect and appealing. Understood! While you can re-work on your checklist, choosing what to include in the meal can leave you puzzled, especially if there is a stroke survivor in your family. This could arouse curiosity – “How to prevent the signs of another stroke during Thanksgiving?”. Well, it must be noted beforehand that the average Thanksgiving meal results in total 3,000 calories and 229 fat grams, according to the American Council of Exercise. Besides, excessive alcohol consumption can trigger stroke, also known as Holiday Heart Syndrome. Giving it a thought, wouldn’t you want your Thanksgiving meal to be healthy?

Here’re some exquisite recipes to add a variety to your dinner table this Thanksgiving.

Bloomin’ Apples

A snack before a meal is always enticing. What could be better than the bloomin’ apples – your first choice for the special day?

Ingredients:

•  1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 4tbsp. melted butter
• tbsp. sugar
• 4 green apples
• ½ tsp. cinnamon (ground)
• Lemon wedge
• 4 chewy caramel squares
• Ice cream (serving purpose)
• Caramel (drizzling purpose)

Recipe:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degree and wash a medium baking dish with cooking spray (non-stick).
2.  Take a small bowl and mix together brown sugar, butter, sugar, and cinnamon.
3. Cut apple to slices (top of apple) then use a teaspoon to scoop out the core. Now, use a knife and make 3 circular cuts in the apple. Slice the apple crosswise by putting the apple cut-side down on a cutting board.
4. Take that small baking dish and put cut apples. Now fill each apple with 2 caramel squares. Brush melted butter on top.
5.  Bake it until the apples become tender. It is advised to let it bake for about 30 minutes.
6. Serve bloomin’ apples with ice cream and caramel.
7. This could be a good start to a Thanksgiving dinner. Make sure to serve it warm to keep its freshness intact.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

How about giving some taste to your meal? Pumpkin Pie Dip is just perfect to relish your favorite dishes.

Ingredients:

• ½ c. pumpkin (canned)
• 2 c. heavy cream
• 1/3.4-oz. vanilla pudding mix (instant)
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• Ginger cookies (snapped) – for serving purpose

Recipe:

1. For 1-2 minutes, beat heavy cream and vanilla pudding mix in a stand mixer.
2. When it becomes stiff, add pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.
3. Chill it as per your taste.
4. Serve fresh with ginger snaps.

Roasted Vegetables (Holiday Special)

Curries and green salad can stay behind this Thanksgiving. Try this out, instead.

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots (large)
• 3/4lb. Brussels sprouts
• Extra virgin Olive Oil
• 1tsp. chopped rosemary leaves
• 1 tsp. chopped thyme leaves
• ½ c. cranberries (dried)
• 1tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• ½ c. pecans (toasted)

Recipe:

1. Heat the oven to 400 degree F.
2. Trim and halve the Brussels sprouts.
3. Peel the carrots and slice them into ½ pieces.
4. Take a sheet pan and scatter vegetables.
5. Coat each piece with olive oil.
6. Toss with balsamic vinegar.
7. Put some salt and pepper and scatter herbs around.
8. Let it bake for 20-25 minutes.
9. When vegetables are tender, shake the pan.
10. Now toss the roasted vegetables with cranberries and pecan.
11. Serve hot.

Does it look easy indeed? Give it a thought as it consumes less time and the taste may double-up the excitement.

These dishes could light up your dining experience and you can relish them while striking a heart-warming conversation with your loved ones. While the space for Turkey is always the first call, having a small portion of it can let the stroke survivor savor these delicious recipes in great taste. Besides, you will have a rain check on his blood pressure and blood circulation problems as he takes an after-dinner walk, a new Thanksgiving tradition. This way, stroke worries would seem to seize for the time being and you will eat, dance and enjoy this day as we call it – ‘Happy Thanksgiving’.

This Blog is contributed by Dr. Deepak Kr. Nain. He is a certified therapist who specializes in the field of rehabilitation. Deepak possesses a clinical expertise in prescribing the best solutions to help people with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).