Holy calendar whiplash.  It’s November!

This time of year is always a mix of good times, good eats, right along with challenges to healthy living, eating, and personal equanimity.

Let me see if I can help a little bit on all fronts.

Below, I’ve linked six holiday S.O.S. articles here on one page – a support system at your fingertips.

My hope is that at least one of these is just the thing you needed today.

1)  Six plant-based pumpkin pie recipes

One of last year’s most popular posts here on the Plant-Based Journey blog,  6 plant-based pumpkin pie recipes has several variations on the pumpkin pie theme.

You’re sure to find at least one pie recipe in the collection that hits the spot.

2)  Sugar-free cranberry sauce with dates and orange juice

I scoop this cranberry sauce onto everything:  mashed potatoes, oatmeal, sandwiches, lentil loaf…and keep frozen bags of cranberries in the freezer so that I can have cranberry sauce year round if the impulse strikes!

Easy to make, this cranberry sauce recipe sweetens the cranberries with some dates and orange juice – no additional sugar needed.

3)  Forks Over Knives Style Mushroom Gravy

Inspired to create a plant-based mushroom gravy that is easy to make, not full of fat, and doesn’t come out of a packet, this simple gem does the trick.

Jill Nussinow asked me earlier this year if she could feature this recipe in her new cookbook Nutrition Champs.  Of course I said yes!  You’ll find it on the Physicians Committee 21-Day Kickstart pages, too

This recipe for mushroom gravy uses one of my all-time favorite ingredients, dried shitake mushrooms.

You can use other varieties in a pinch, but there’s something special about those shitakes.

4)  Six Things To Bring to Thanksgiving Dinner

For those of us who have opted out of animal flesh in favor of nut meats and plant parts for feasts, simply sitting down to the traditional family gathering can present a challenge – and at the least offend the sensibilities.

Whether you’re still in transition to plant-based eating or a longtime veteran, the issues are there, right along with the need for strategies to navigate a social situation that may – especially for the plant-based virgin – feel awkward.

Here are six things to bring to Thanksgiving Dinner (or Hannukah, Christmas, or….) – aside from the food.

At a plant exclusive Thankgiving Feast with the amazing Gene Baur, Farm Sanctuary, Orland, California – butternut squash roasting on an open fire

5)  Four Bonus Tips for a Healthy, Happy, In Harmony Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving –  a big food holiday that precipitates a whole bunch of other ‘eating’ occasions.

This year, don’t leave your health, happiness and self- harmony to chance.  Here are four bonus Thanksgiving tips for you

6)  Ten Part Holiday Food and Fitness Survival Guide

This series  I made for you presents solid, simple tactics using real food and movement of your body – and your mind – to put you in the health and  weight winner’s circle come January.

• Part 1:  “Be choosy”
• Part 2:  “How eating keeps you thin, aka stay well fed
• Part 3:  “Eat BEFORE you arrive“
• Part 4:  ‘What you have is what you’ll eat”
• Part 5:  “How to handle food pushers: Holiday food & fitness survival guide”
• Part 6: Eat a high fiber, slow-burn breakfast: Holiday food & fitness survival tip # 6/10
• Part 7:  Follow the 50/50 rule for vegetables and fruits: Holiday food & fitness survival tip # 7/10
• Part 8:  4 reasons to exercise with vigor every day: Holiday food & survival tip # 8/10
• Part 9:  Reach beyond the cookie tray: Holiday Food & Fitness Survival Guide #9/10
• Part 10:  Don’t throw in the towel

Your Turn

I’d love to know which of all of these tips, including the  recipes,  is timely or right on the money for you. Please tell me about it in the comments section on this page.

Better yet, is there a tip you’d like to pass on to add to the liste?

No matter how big or how small, please share in replies below.

P.S. More help is on the way!

Watch for three more holiday inspired giveaways(that’s right THREE, in addition to the three we’ve already enjoyed right here this Fall) in the days ahead.