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Around the holidays, I like to look to the deeper meaning of the day – it transcends any particular food, and instead springs from the gathering of family and friends around a table set with beautiful, satisfying dishes prepared with love and gratitude. Here are some of my favorites:
Salmon. I’ve found that it’s possible to have a delicious, crowd-pleasing holiday dinner without the standard menu. Instead, I typically serve wild Alaskan salmon, either whole and baked or grilled. I eat salmon often, not only because it contains heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, but because I love it. You can make a very festive presentation of salmon at your holiday dinner, such as Salmon in Parchment, that will make your guests quite happy.
Meat alternative. I may also serve a tofu “turkey” or other vegetarian roast especially for my daughter Diana, who is a lacto-vegetarian (no fish). If you want to try one, you can choose from a number of tofu-based substitutes on the market, or if you prefer to make your own, you can find several recipes online, or try the Tofu Provencal recipe.
Lots of healthy side dishes. My holiday menu typically includes salad, roasted root vegetables, a green vegetable (like broccoli), and braised red cabbage, sometimes with chestnuts. All are easy to make. The latter, in particular, is packed with anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that give red cabbage its vibrant color. Like other cruciferous vegetables, it provides fiber, vitamin C and cancer-fighting compounds called indoles.
Nutritious desserts. For dessert, I like to serve squash pie. This vegan dish is made with winter squash (such as buttercup, kabocha, or banana), cashew milk, and raw sugar. It’s thickened with arrowroot instead of eggs and flavored with brandy, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and topped with chopped walnuts.
The holiday season can be a stressful time. In fact, 41% of U.S. adults report they find themselves with increased anxiety, nervousness, and tension from November to January each year. As the current calendar winds down, many strive to begin the approaching new year with a “clean slate” or a “fresh start,” but with restless nights from the holidays and the pressure to make and keep resolutions fresh in our minds, simply dismissing all that stress on January 1st isn’t as easy as we’d like to think. So how do we address stress, get the sleep we desperately need, and start the new year off right? One of the best ways is through mindful meditation.
How Mindfulness Helps
Mindful meditation provides benefits emotionally, mentally, and physically. By tuning into your mind, body, and breath, practicing mindfulness has been shown to help enhance your overall wellbeing. Two of the main ways it can improve your everyday life are by reducing stress and facilitating better sleep.
Stress & Meditation
By breathing deep and allowing your mind to focus on one thing at a time (the breath, the body, a mantra, etc.), mindful meditation can help calm your nervous system and allow you to take a break from stress and negative thoughts. Practicing mindfulness can influence your body’s responses to stress by slowing your heart rate, relaxing your body, and staying in the present moment. You can learn more about how mindfulness and meditation can help deal with stress and impact the brain in our post, “Can Meditation Change the Brain?”
Sleep & Meditation
Along with reducing stress, mindfulness meditations can also help your body prepare for sleep. Meditating fosters a “relaxation response” which counteracts the body’s response to stress that may be hindering your ability to achieve quality rest. Because many sleep disorders can be linked to stress, it has been shown that mindfulness meditation can help decrease insomnia, fatigue, and depression to aid in improving sleep (Harvard Health Publishing).
Meditation Tips
Meditation is a practice that is accessible to anyone and can be tailored specifically to you. As you begin to implement mindfulness into your daily routine, you may find that certain positions, thoughts, mantras, or settings work best. As long as you are centered and focused, there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to go about meditating.
If you’ve never meditated before and would like some guidance, here are a few helpful tips:
Start out in a quiet setting. As you become more comfortable and familiar with meditation, it will become possible to practice it just about anywhere, but beginners typically find that quiet, distraction-free settings are the most favorable.
Focus on your breath. If you have a “busy” mind, you may notice thoughts arising that distract you—simply let them pass without judgment and focus back on your breathing.
Consider using a meditation cushion. While meditation can be performed in countless settings, utilizing a cushion with purposeful support can help maintain and improve posture while providing added comfort.
Try Breathwalking. If you find it hard to sit still during meditation, you can try “Breathwalking” instead where you take a walk while focusing on your breath.
New Year Meditations
If you’re looking for a fresh start to 2025, your breath is a great place to begin. By practicing meditation regularly, you can start the new year off right with a healthier mindset, reduced stress, and better sleep.
Start your meditation and breathing practices today with these videos:
Sources “Even a Joyous Holiday Season Can Cause Stress for Most Americans.” American Psychological Association. apa/news/press/releases/2023/11/holiday-season-stress
“Meditation: A Simple, Fast Way to Reduce Stress.” Mayo Clinic. mayoclinic/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858
“Meditation and Sleep.” Sleep Foundation. sleepfoundation/meditation-for-sleep
“Mindfulness Meditation: A Research-Proven Way to Reduce Stress.” American Psychological Association. apa/topics/mindfulness/meditation
Does it seem your memory is getting worse with every passing birthday? There is a mild degree of memory loss that happens to some extent to all of us as we age, but a growing body of medical evidence suggests that lifelong stimulation is the key to building and maintaining brain cells, slowing memory loss and possibly lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Research has found that in addition to regular, vigorous exercise, the following may help:
I recommend challenging yourself with music performance (playing or learning an instrument or singing), language lessons, learning a new computer program, or hunkering down with a good crossword puzzle. Be certain to try all of these with a smile – studies show that a positive emotional state is also good for your brain.
Remember that anything that makes you think in different ways is challenging for the brain and likely beneficial for your memory. This is also the perfect way to add passion and vitality to your life, enhancing meaning and promoting a positive outlook. Find some card or board games to play with friends and family, as being a vital part of community is essential as well.
A True Food Kitchen cookbook exclusive! The term antioxidant isn’t common on restaurant menus, but it appears several times on ours, and our guests have responded positively. These muffins, liberally studded with dried berries and light on sugar, are on our weekend brunch menus. Add them to yours as well. They’re made with spelt, an ancient strain of wheat that’s richer in nutrients than flours made from modern wheat. A little sea buckthorn juice gives the icing a distinctive tang.
Magnesium – the fourth most abundant mineral in the body – is in your bones, teeth, and red blood cells. It is essential for proper functioning of the nervous, muscular and cardiovascular systems, helps maintain bones, promotes normal blood pressure and open airways and is involved in energy metabolism. How do you know if you aren’t getting enough? Signs of magnesium deficiency include:
Irritability
Muscle weakness or cramps
Irregular heartbeat or heart palpitations
Constipation or sluggish bowels
When taking magnesium, consider taking half as much as you do calcium, to offset calcium’s constipating effect and to ensure the appropriate balance of these two key minerals in the body. Look for magnesium citrate, chelate, or glycinate, and avoid magnesium oxide, which can often be irritating to the digestive tract. A good starting dosage is 150-200mg twice a day.
Good dietary sources of magnesium include truly whole grains, leafy green vegetables (spinach is a great source), almonds, cashews and other nuts, avocados, beans, soybeans and wild-caught halibut. A diet high in fat may cause less magnesium to be absorbed, and cooking may decrease the magnesium content of food which should lead to considering adding some to your supplement regimen.
Think you’re not a fan of tofu? Boy, have I got just the thing to change your mind… This Easy Oven Baked Tofu is so crazy yummy, tasty and addictive, you’ll soon find yourself popping it like potato chips!
When I first made this Oven Baked Tofu, my son — who was a teenager at the time — was still living at home and, well, just as pretty much any other reluctant growing boy — I guess — he was not exactly what one could call a fan of tofu.
But I remember the day I’d initially posted this recipe, he almost wolfed down the entire batch before I’d even had a chance to take pictures… or even bake it, for that matter!
I was standing in the kitchen, laying the marinated tofu cubes on a baking sheet, getting ready to put them in the oven, when he walked up to me and asked:– “What’s that?”
Before I even had a chance to answer, “THAT is tofu”, in an almost scandalized voice, as if he was going to get poisoned if he dared touch it, he had already wolfed down a piece and was grabbing a second one, followed by a third…
And then he said:– “Wow, it’s really good!” and walked away.
Whoa… wait a minute. Really good? This was TOFU he just ate, raw tofu! And he said, it’s really good? I couldn’t believe my ears!
But wait, there’s more… 40 minutes later, when I finally took the now baked tofu out of the oven, my son SPECIFICALLY returned to the kitchen to grab a couple of pieces and walked away, once again, telling me how really good he thought this baked tofu was.
I was speechless. SHOCKED! I just couldn’t believe it.
So one of two things, people: either there is genuinely something wrong with my son, or this baked tofu is seriously good s… tuff!
I think it’s the latter, honestly!
But really, don’t take my word for it… Try it for yourself!
You can eat it right as it comes out of the oven, or you could choose to have it at room temperature. Heck, you can even eat it cold! And you know what? You don’t even need to cook it, really. It’s super good even before it hits the oven. Hey, even my son said so! 😉
Just one word of advice, though: if you’re going to make this, I think that you should totally double the recipe. Or maybe even triple it…
It just goes down way too fast!
Start by removing the tofu from its packaging, then drain and press it for about 1 hour to release excess liquid, and then pat it dry with a clean towel or paper towel.
Now, if you didn’t happen to own a tofu press, don’t go running to the store just to get one… You can very quickly set up a little rig that’ll work just as good:
Grab a cooling rack and place it over a container of some kind, to collect all the liquids that’ll drip. I chose to use a glass loaf pan, but practically any container will do!
Next, place your block of tofu onto that cooling rack and then placea small plate or other flat object right over that block of tofu…
Finally, place a heavy object,such as a large book or a cast iron skillet, over that plate or flat object. Now simply put that entire rig aside and let your tofu slowly drip away for about an hour.
Once the tofu is good and pressed, preheat your oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Then, cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes and, in a medium sized bowl, combine the tamari, maple syrup, rice vinegar, sesame oil, grated ginger, minced garlic and sriracha; stir to combine.
Add the cubed tofu to the bowl and stir delicately until all the cubes are completely and evenly coated. Set aside to marinate for at least 5 minutes. You could also do this the previous day and let your tofu marinate overnight; just don’t go preheating your oven right now, if you’re gonna do that…
Arrange the cubes of tofu in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, making sure to leave ample room between each cube for air to circulate. Just try not to eat it all now… it’s worth trying it baked too, you know!
Oh, and whatever you do, do not discard that leftover marinade: it makes for an amazing dipping sauce!
Now bake the tofu in your preheated oven for 40 minutes, flipping the cubes once halfway through, until it becomes all nice and beautifully golden brown.
Let the baked tofu cool for about 5 minutes in the pan — try not to eat it all during that time; it might be best to keep the kids out of the kitchen! — then serve it with that leftover marinade as a dipping sauce, garnished with a handful of chopped cilantro and a few sesame seeds, if you so desire.
That’s IF you still have any left to serve by now…
Think you're not a fan of tofu? Boy, have I got just the thing to change your mind… This Easy Oven Baked Tofu is so crazy yummy, tasty and addictive, you'll soon find yourself popping it like potato chips!
Chopped cilantro and sesame seeds to garnish, optional
Instructions
Remove the tofu from its packaging, drain and press it for about 1 hour to release excess liquid, and then pat it dry with a clean towel.
Preheat your oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes and, in a medium sized bowl, combine the tamari, maple syrup, rice vinegar, sesame oil, grated ginger, minced garlic and sriracha; stir to combine.
Add the cubed tofu to the bowl and stir delicately until all the cubes are completely and evenly coated. Set aside to marinate for at least 5 minutes (or up to overnight).
Place the cubes of tofu in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, making sure to leave ample room between each cube for air to circulate. Whatever you do, do not discard that leftover marinade: it makes for an amazing dipping sauce!
Bake the tofu in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, flipping the cubes once halfway through, until it becomes all nice and beautifully golden brown.
Let the baked tofu cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then serve it with that leftover marinade as a dipping sauce, garnished with a handful of chopped cilantro and a few sesame seeds, if you so desire.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
*Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January of 2012 and has since been completely revamped and updated with better pictures. A few minor modifications to the original recipe may also have been made.
