For the last 30 years, our Thanksgivings have been as natural (chemical free) as possible. Most Thanksgiving dinners are loaded with ingredients the Pilgrims never heard of: High Fructose Corn Syrup, MSG, artificial colors and flavors, polysorbate 60, sodium caseinate, and transfat. These ingredients are so commonplace today, that for many Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving with them.

I was motivated all those years ago to eliminate chemicals from our Thanksgiving feast, because our four-year-old daughter, Jenny, reacted to the additives and sugars in processed foods. Today, there are over 3,000 additives in our food supply, we have Genetically Modified Foods (GMO), and sugar is paramount. In fact, we now have a new sugar: High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).

Savannah and Ashlyn are determined to help their mom make their Thanksgiving healthy and yummy.

According to a USDA’ report, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average American is in the form of added sugars; the majority comes from high fructose corn syrup. Part of what makes HFCS such an unhealthy product is that it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar.

Making your Thanksgiving healthier really isn’t as difficult as you might first think. Purchase a turkey with the nutrition label listing only one ingredient: turkey. Save money and make your own stuffing with leftover whole wheat bread. Instead of soda pop, containing HFCS, for the kids, offer sparkling apple juice. Don’t use box mixes or canned vegetables, like sweet potatoes.

I’d like to know who came up with “candied sweet potatoes.” Aren’t sweet potatoes, well, sweet, without marshmallows? Did you know that marshmallows are really sugar-mallows, because they no longer contain any marshmallow root. Marshmallows are made from sugar, primarily corn syrup, water and gelatin.

I suggest regulating sugar in all its forms to dessert. Delete it from the main course. And, totally eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup from your Thanksgiving meal altogether.

Many of the dishes we serve during the Thanksgiving meal are loaded with sugar. Why aren’t they considered dessert? This is beyond me! Jello “salad” is one that stands out. Jello is made with only five ingredients: water, gelatin, sugar, and artificial colors and flavors. This doesn’t sound much like a “salad” to me.

Cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving perennial. They say there is always an exception to the rule. This is my exception for sugar during Thanksgiving dinner. Cranberries by their very nature are tart. I always purchase cranberries in the produce department and cook them with less sugar than is suggested in the directions. Some make their cranberry sauce with apple juice instead of sugar, but I haven’t been able to find the right combination that suits our family.

Pre-made, whipped toppings, like Cool Whip, are primarily air, sugar and transfat. Make your own whipped topping with real whipping cream. Not only will it taste better, it’s better for you. Cool Whip is made of water, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated coconut (this is the transfat) and palm kernel oil (CPKO), sodium caseinate, vanilla extract, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 60 (glycosperse), and beta carotene.

A natural Thanksgiving begins with having yummy, healthy recipes and then purchasing whole foods. Now’s the time to do a little planning. Read labels and find products free from sugar and artificial ingredients. Take a close look at the ingredients in your favorite recipes and make healthy substitutions. Finally, keep sugar regulated to dessert.

For my alternative to the jello fruit mold, CLICK HERE.

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The Thanksgiving table is not only loaded with wonderful foods, but it’s usually a landmine of simple carbohydrates, especially sugar. You know what I say, “eat sugar seldom and on purpose.” The problem is that sugar is added to just about everything. It’s in most processed foods, foods we purchase out, and we add it ourselves to many foods.

Think for a moment about homemade recipes. But, don’t count desserts, where you’d expect to find sugar. What traditional dishes are found on your Thanksgiving table? In most homes cranberries, Jello, and candied yams are a regular part of the Thanksgiving feast. In each of these time-honored side dishes sugar is the main ingredient.

So what’s the harm? Not much, really, if you ate like this only once a year. But sugar finds its way into our food on a regular basis.

There’s more concern if you have someone with an illness in your family, as sugar further compromises the immune system. Is there someone at your table with cancer (sugar is cancer food), diabetes (sugar raises blood sugar levels), a child who is hyperactive, allergies, etc.?

Fun for me is finding healthy recipes which taste as good or even better than the sugar-laden ones. Over the years I’ve discovered quite a few. Here are some tasty healthy alternatives for Thanksgiving side dishes.

Sweet Potatoes/Yams
I’ve always wondered why people add sugar to “sweet” potatoes. After all they’re sweet. This healthful food is really made into a dessert, not only with added brown sugar, but it’s usually topped with marshmallows. Then, it’s served as a side dish!A few years ago, my husband and I were out to dinner. The restaurant’s signature dish was chilpotle sweet potatoes. Since then, we serve these delicious yams instead of the candied variety. Click Here for the recipe.

Jello Salad
How you can call anything made with Jello a “salad” is beyond me. Not only is sugar the main ingredient, but it’s loaded with artificial colors and flavors. Making your own gelatin salad is easy and healthy, too. Click Here for the recipe.

Cranberry Sauce
Now this has been more of a challenge for me. I’ve tried a few different recipes and have not been pleased. Cranberries, by nature, are very tart. If you make them with sugar, keep the sugar to a minimum. The bag usually suggests one to two cups of sugar. Only add one cup of sugar. I found this recipe in a magazine and it looks promising. Click Here.

Dessert
We can make exceptions in the dessert department. This is where you eat sugar on purpose and hopefully seldom. Click Here for the best fudge you’ll ever taste.

Although, there’s no law that says dessert has to be full of white processed sugars. Click Here for a pumpkin pudding recipe with no sugar (make the recipe as pudding, but bake in a pie shell). It’s made with maple syrup and stevia. Top with REAL whipped cream. Also, Fabulous Frozen Fluff is made with stevia, Click Here. Both these recipes are so good, you’re family (even picky eaters) will never know that sugar is missing.

My new storybook, The Forest Feast is here! I’m extending the FREE shipping and handling. When the parenting book, Baby Bites: Transforming a Picky Eater into a Healthy Eater, is purchased with The Forest Feast, you’ll save even more! Click Here for ordering information.

For info about the free Baby Bites Ezine, CLICK HERE.
 

There are no gifts, baskets of colored eggs, carved pumpkins or elves in green suits to distract from the meaning. Granted, football, parades, and even the turkey dinner get in the way of why we celebrate. (It’s NOT Turkey Day.) Of course, food has always been a feature of Thanksgiving. Although the food was not the primary focus of the celebration. Sharing the Thanksgiving meal is another wonderful Thanksgiving tradition. The Pilgrims invited the Indians to share in their feasting. It’s still not the reason for the day.

Ben is thankful for his many blessings!

Political correctness has blurred the history of Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims did NOT throw a lavish feast to thank the Indians. The Indians, who helped them survive their first year in the hostile new land, were invited to the Pilgrim’s feast of thanksgiving to their God.

It was the Pilgrim’s Christian faith which brought them to America. It was the reason they endured many hardships, and for some death. Today America is pluralistic, but it was not an Indian god or a new age god or an eastern god they thanked. The Pilgrims thanked the God of the scriptures. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who sent His Son, Jesus, as a substitution for mankind’s sin. It’s hard to believe the very reason for establishing a new colony in American has been overlooked in an attempt to be politically correct.

There are two primary original sources of information concerning the first Thanksgiving. Edward Winslow and William Bradford each left us a written record. Their words describe the intent and meaning of the first Thanksgiving celebration. Notice that the feast was instigated by the Pilgrims, not the Indians, as some believe.

William Bradford wrote of their arrival to America:
“Being thus arrived in good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean.”

Edward Winslow writes of the intent of the first Thanksgiving:
“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our Governor, and upon the Captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the GOODNESS OF GOD, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”

Your family can give thanks this year for God’s blessings. If it has not been your custom to thank God for His blessings, you might want to use Psalm 100 as a template:

Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into God’s presence with singing!
Know that the Lord is God! It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

My new storybook, The Forest Feast is here! I’m extending the FREE shipping and handling. When the parenting book, Baby Bites: Transforming a Picky Eater into a Healthy Eater, is purchased with The Forest Feast, you’ll save even more! Click Here for ordering information.

For info about the free Baby Bites Ezine, CLICK HERE.
 

Yes, the day is a reminder of the cooperation and friendship between the Indians and Pilgrims, but it’s not about that either. It began with the Pilgrims inviting the Indians to their celebration of thanks to God for His provisions. They had plenty of trials, but they were still grateful.

We spend a lot of time preparing the food. So much so, we are overwhelmed with the bounty on our tables. There is excitement over family and friends coming together. And, advertisers tell us it’s all about the turkey. If we forget to be thankful, then the focus is on the food.

At our home, we begin our annual feast with my husband, Dick, giving a corporate prayer of gratitude, thanking God for His many blessings. We always end the meal with a family tradition where each person gives a personal story of why they are blessed and thankful. We used to do this before the meal, but our food would get cold, so we moved it to the end of the meal.

Sometimes there is laughter. Kids are always sure to surprise you when they share why they’re grateful. Teens can be another matter altogether. One year, a cranky teen, sitting at our table laden with scrumptious food and surrounded by people who love her (I’ll not say who it was, but I’m sure my daughter Joy remembers this), said she didn’t have one thing to be thankful for! So much for the teen years. If you have a cranky teen at your Thanksgiving table, you can be thankful that cranky teens grow up and become loving, grateful adults.

Sometimes, our thankfulness brings tears. Last Thanksgiving was difficult for our family, because my mother passed away three weeks earlier. We were sad and thankful at the same time. I remember another Thanksgiving where we gathered at Jackie’s (another daughter’s) home. She asked that we all say why we were thankful for someone at the table. We pretty much bawled through the entire thing.

Most Thanksgivings, we have guests other than our immediate family. A few years ago, Karen, a business acquaintance of ours, had just moved to Colorado and shared the festive meal with us. My granddaughter Ally, who was seven at the time, sat next to Karen at the table, and when it came time for Ally, to say what she was thankful for, she said she was thankful for her new friend, Karen. We bawled again. Okay, we’re a bunch of crybabies.

Another Thanksgiving, our dear friend, Guy, survived a year-long battle with cancer. He has spent many Thanksgivings with us and was very familiar with our tradition. When it came time for him to say why he was thankful, he whipped out a pre-written note and read us a beautiful, thankful, message of God’s blessings. Yes, there wasn’t a dry eye at the table.

This Thanksgiving, make it a thankful day, not Turkey Day. Thank God, especially in your most difficult times… God is providing.

CLICK HERE for “Have a Natural Thanksgiving.”

CLICK HERE for “What Ya Gonna Do With Those Leftovers?”

What to do with leftover turkey?

What to do with the leftovers? A little creativity goes a long way. You’d be surprised at the number of ways you can make Thanksgiving leftovers into tasty meals. First, I always use the turkey carcass and leftover gravy and stuffing, for turkey soup. I make a large pot of soup the day after Thanksgiving, because the carcass takes up so much room in the refrigerator.

Do you have leftover mashed potatoes? Refrigerate and then make potato patties later in the week. Leftover sweet potatoes? Make sweet potato soup. Mash, then add a dash of ginger, nutmeg, chicken broth and heat. Just before serving, mix in a little cream.

Sometimes, I use what’s been accumulating in the refrigerator for a “Leftover Casserole.” Leftover Casserole works great with leftover turkey.  CLICK HERE for the recipe. Make scrambled eggs for breakfast Friday morning with sauteed onions, green peppers, and leftover chopped turkey. Or if you have more time, make Sunday Quiche and substitute, chopped turkey for the chicken in the recipe.

Then I—FREEZE, FREEZE, FREEZE.

If you have more turkey than you can consume in a day or two, portion it in one or two pound packages and freeze. You can pull it out of the freezer in a week or two and make a turkey casserole or creamed turkey sandwiches or heat up and serve with a veggie for dinner.

I’ve found that I waste less if I do a couple of things on a regular basis. First, good intentions often end up in the waste can. Uneaten portions of meals make great leftovers. That is unless you forget about them and they turn moldy in the back of your refrigerator.

I bypass the refrigerator and leftovers go right into my freezer from the table. Then instead of throwing it out a week later, when I need a quick meal, one is waiting to be defrosted. I’ve even frozen milk! If you find that you have too much milk, don’t let it spoil use it in a pudding or, yes, freeze it. Isn’t ice cream milk? Milk defrosts just fine, even just for drinking.

If you shop at a warehouse grocers, produce can be a bargain, but you’ll purchase large amounts. Produce is best when it’s eaten in the first three days after you’ve brought it home from the store. Although some fruit, like oranges and apples, will last much longer. Soft fruit can be held in the refrigerator until a day or two before you plan to eat it. Then place it out on the counter to ripen. This is especially practical when you purchase a bag of 5 or 6 avocados. Set one or two on the counter to ripen and keep the rest in the fruit bin of your refrigerator until a day or two before you want to eat them.

Have your bananas turned brown? Don’t have time to make banana bread? Peal the bananas and place individually in sandwich baggies and freeze. Remove from the freezer and use frozen in a fruit smoothie or defrost and make banana bread at a later time.

Keep onions, those large bags of garlic, and potatoes in a cool, dark place, like your basement. Never place onions next to apples, as your apples will spoil faster. If your veggies and fruit fight, Click Here for the remedy.

Lastly, don’t throw away old bread. You guessed it. Freeze it before it gets crusty. Bread defrosts beautifully from the freezer. Save the heals, if you don’t regularly eat them and stale pieces for bread crumbs and bread pudding.

CLICK HERE for “Have a Natural Thanksgiving.”

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