Thankful

Welcome to “Finally Fall” here in my world!  It’s almost November after all.

I’m officially feeling it in the air today with 40 mile an hour winds whipping crunchy, greenish-brown leaves off my neighborhood trees and driving our windchill into the low 30’s!  The leaf colors here don’t quite rival other parts of the country yet, but I’m still loving the autumn vibes and cooler temps!

Naturally my mind went straight to comfort foods and thankfulness. Feeling blessed and grateful beyond belief while walking my boys in the early morning blustery weather, one of my favorite quotes popped into my head:

"A healthy person has a thousand dreams, but a sick person has only one”.

My dream is that everyone will have vibrant, abundant health and spunky autumn walks, but I remember a time when I was not feeling very spunky or vibrant. I was obese, lethargic and suffering from the ill effects of over a half-century of indulging in traditional and mainstream foods that clearly didn’t love me back.

Putting more plants on my plate by making simple swaps for foods high in saturated fat helped me to regain my spunk and turn back from the brink of many food-related chronic lifestyle diseases.

Our families pass down love, genes and recipes.

-Love is eternal.

-Gene expression can be adaptable.

-Family recipes are tweakable.

For this Meatless Monday Adventure, think about how you could reimagine your favorite traditional dish using plant-based swaps. I’d love to hear!

For inspiration, here’s my meatless Mushroom & Carrot “Osso Buco”,  one of my most favorite cozy and inexpensive fall dishes.  Cremini mushrooms are hearty, braised umami-bombs, bathed in luscious herby red wine and tomato sauce with big chunks of savory carrots and onions. 

Enjoy this dish by candle or firelight!  It’s amazing, and so are YOU!