Offer historically accurate alternatives alongside your Thanksgiving staples or trade out some of today's sides for ones more like those the pilgrims ate. This is a great way to ward off that dreaded holiday weight gain and stick to your healthy eating habits.
What Meats Did Pilgrims Eat?
Turkey and ham are often thought of as the big, important meats for Thanksgiving dinner. A mind-blowing 91% of all Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving and we ultimately consume around 550 million pounds of it on that one day each year. There is documentation that the pilgrims ate fowl on the first Thanksgiving, but it is unknown what specific fowl were on the table. Wild turkeys, ducks and geese were all native to the area.
If turkey was eaten, it wasn't like today's turkey. Our turkey is domesticated and raised specifically for eating. Turkeys are bred to be very meaty and they weigh twice as much as wild turkeys. Turkey breast meat is quite lean, but our turkey also has very fatty skin and the sought-after drumsticks are loaded with cholesterol.
Ham wasn't on the menu at all, but venison definitely was. The Native Americans brought five deer to the feast and cooked them over spits. Deer is a versatile meat and it's the leanest of the dark meats. It's low in both calories and fat, while being high in protein and iron. This makes it an ideal meat option for a healthy as well as authentic Thanksgiving.
Shellfish and Fish
Seafood doesn't often appear on our Thanksgiving menus today, but it's worth considering. Shellfish like mussels, clams and oysters were plentiful in the New England area and easy to harvest as well. The first Thanksgiving may also have included lobster. All offer high amounts of omega-3s and iron. Bass was often caught and eaten, so it was likely a part of the banquet. Like other fish, bass also has lots of omega-3 and is a great source of protein. Bass does have higher mercury levels though, so you may want to consider other fish like trout or salmon.
Vegetables
Because the first Thanksgiving celebrated the fall harvest, there were vegetables aplenty. Beans, carrots, onions, cool-weather squash, spinach and cabbage were common crops that were likely cooked and eaten. Meats were probably rubbed in herbs and spices and could also be boiled with onions and other vegetables for flavor. Beans are an excellent source of protein and squash are a great source of fiber. Leafy greens and other vegetables are packed with vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants as well as delicious flavor. Having a variety of vegetables adds color and nutritional value to any modern Thanksgiving dinner.
Yellow corn is considered by many to be a Thanksgiving staple. Maize (which is also known as Indian corn) was grown and harvested by the colony and likely appeared at the first Thanksgiving. The pilgrims didn't eat their corn like we do though. It was removed from the cob and made into cornmeal then that was made into a type of corn mash or porridge.
What about Potatoes and Pumpkin Pie?
Mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, like corn, are two Thanksgiving staples. Potatoes were not yet being cultivated in North America at the time of the first Thanksgiving, so they obviously weren't eaten. Potatoes though are one of our modern additions that is actually very nutritious as long as you don't smother them in gravy or butter. Baked potatoes or roasted redskin potatoes make great side dishes.
Pumpkin was probably eaten at the first Thanksgiving, but not as a pie. It was more likely just cooked right alongside butternut and similar squash. The pilgrims had no access to wheat flour to make a pie crust and they also didn't have ovens for baking. In fact, there wasn't any bread at all. This means there was also no bread-based stuffing or rolls. Cutting back on bread is a great way to cut back on carbs. As far as desserts went, there were plenty of fruits and berries from blueberries to raspberries and grapes. Cranberries were grown, but too tart to be eaten and without sugar, so instead they were used only for dyes.
Recreating The First Thanksgiving
The first Thanksgiving didn't include a great deal of bread or dairy. It was very heavy on fresh vegetables and meats. The two were also likely combined to make very savory stews. For a historically-inspired Thanksgiving you should definitely spend time in your produce section. Possibilities are endless with vegetables and you can even use them in place of bread-based stuffing.
About Linda V.
Linda Vojtova is a Czech-born International Model, who has been on many of the world's most popular advertisements and fashion magazine covers. Linda V. has a passion for sharing her interest in fitness, diet, and overall health and well-being with her followers.
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