Welcome to the season finale of Ask Jack, featuring the prodigious culinary talents of professional plant-based chef and writer Jack McNulty answering food-related questions generated by you, our community. Check out the show notes below that dig deeper into the topics covered on this episode. Ask Jack will return in 2022 for its second season, where we will feast on even more of our community’s questions about all things cooking and eating in an OMS-friendly way. You can submit your questions for Jack anytime by emailing them to podcast@overcomingms.org.   Introduction   In this episode, we have curated a set of commonly asked questions around holiday cooking. With the onslaught of the holidays upon us, people following the OMS program face major challenges in making traditional holiday recipes compliant with their dietary choices under the OMS program. Jack has had ample experience in navigating this narrow channel of healthy eating and holiday food fun, and what he’s learned and hopes to convey to you is that following OMS dietary guidelines doesn’t mean you have to forgo the joy of yummy holiday eating. So, let’s dig in!   Questions   How do I keep from 'cheating' when I'm around family and everyone is eating food I can't eat or enjoy? Do you have any ideas for sweets I could make for the holidays? Sweets I can take to the office party and enjoy at home with my family? Do you have any ideas for an OMS-friendly holiday roast? This is my first year with MS, I'm new to OMS and I am struggling to come up with ideas for food I can enjoy during the holidays? I'm confused about chocolate and what is allowed on the OMS diet. Can you explain what I can and can't use to make my desserts?  I want to make pie this holiday season, but I can't find an OMS-safe recipe without added oils. Even the filo dough at the supermarket has oil. What can I do? What's the difference between Dutch-process Cocoa and Cocoa? Are both OMS-safe? Is raw cocoa better than cocoa? How can you make a traditional holiday cake OMS friendly?   Close   Thanks so much Jack for the inspiration and practical advice you’ve provided on how to make holiday cooking and eating healthy and fun. For those of you listening, you’ve probably built up a festive appetite, but now you can make those delicious recipes a bit healthier, too. This is the final episode of Ask Jack for 2021, but Jack will return to answer more of your food- and cooking-related questions in 2022. So that’s something to build up an appetite for. Remember, you can submit your questions for Jack anytime by emailing podcast@overcomingms.org. Till then, happy OMS-friendly holiday cooking and eating!   Links:   Check out this blog post on 5 tips to avoid binge eating during the holidays. Here’s a link to Jack’s blog post about holiday cooking ideas. Want more cooking ideas? Check out the OMS cookbook! Here’s an in-depth article on the effects of alkalization on cocoa. Learn about the difference between Dutch processed and natural cocoa. Learn about the difference between cocoa and cacao.   Connect with Jack in a number of ways if you’d like to follow his work or gain some more insight into his OMS-friendly vegan culinary world:  Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook   In addition, Jack has started a newsletter publication called VeganWeekly that shares three vegan recipes weekly to try at home. Subscribe to it here.    Coming up on our next episode:   Tune in starting November 17, 2021 for a very special episode with new OMS trustees Prof. Helen Rees Leahy and Alison Marwick for a stimulating roundtable discussion about advocacy and its central place in spreading the message about positive lifestyle change to the entire MS community.   Don’t miss out:   Subscribe to this podcast and never miss an episode. You can catch any episode of Living Well with MS here or on your favorite podcast listening app. Don’t be shy – if you like the program, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you tune into