Last year, I read the delightful book, The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule.  This is an inspiring, motivating book full of wonderful ideas for developing creativity as a family.  In it, Amanda describes a lovely, meaningful holiday gift called the Joy Jar.

Kids can decorate a ball jar with ribbons, fancy paper, and fabrics for a specific person.  A child or adult writes the name of the person who the gift is for on the jar.  Then the children think of why they love that person, and they either write it themselves on small pieces of paper, or an adult writes it for them. The goal is to fill the jar with reasons the person is loved, and present this as a meaningful gift that can be opened, explored, and read again and again. Talk about from the heart!

The same idea can be extended to Thanksgiving, but with a different twist.  Go outside with your kid sand collect pinecones, special small rocks, and beautiful leaves.  Bring them inside.  Select a beautiful ceramic bowl, and place it in the center of the table. Have the children trace their leaves on colorful paper, and cut them out. Ask them to make several leaves in different shapes and colors.  Then ask them what they are thankful for.  Have every family member fill out leaves with what they are thankful for and place them in the bowl, along with other treasures from nature.

In the end, you will have a lovely centerpiece for your family’s meal.  Before you eat everyone can take turns reading what they are thankful for.  What a delightful way to begin this traditional meal!

Have a safe, healthy, and happy Thanksgiving, Perspectives readers.  I’m happy to have had the opportunity to guest post this week.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving.  You’re tired.  The kids are hungry, and you are uninspired, but your fridge is full of leftovers.  Here are some ideas beyond the obvious take 2 of Thanksgiving dinner.

1. Turkey:  What do you make beyond turkey sandwiches, which everyone gets sick of in a day or two?  You can use slices of turkey in many other dishes, such as enchiladas, tacos, wraps, stews, and even chili. Be creative! Here are more ideas and recipes from Real Simple.
2. Mashed Potatoes: Can you say latkes?  These are super delicious and fun to make with the kids.  In addition, you can sneak all sorts of other vegetables into these and your kids will barely notice.  I usually add some shredded zucchini when I made latkes.  They get to dip them in ketchup, so that usually makes it all good for them.
3. Bread:  Leftover bread can be made into breadcrumbs, croutons, and used in French toast, or my Christmas morning favorite, an egg strata.

Here are more ideas for all of your leftovers from Mother Nature Network. Remember to store your leftovers in glass containers to avoid plastic use and BPA exposure.

Enjoy those leftovers and think about how many days you’ll be able to eat with limited cooking….hoorah!

For me, the best thing about Thanksgiving is usually the side dishes.  Ever since I was a little girl I have loved mashed potatoes—making a mountain of them on my plate and creating a little lake for the butter.  So yummy.

But did you know that potatoes are on the dirty dozen list of produce that is heavily treated with pesticides. Who knew?  It seems that they have such a nice thick skin this wouldn’t be a problem.  According to the Environmental Working Group, the potato is a vegetable most likely to retain its pesticide residue.  So, buy organic potatoes for your Thanksgiving meal, and always, to reduce your family’s pesticide exposure!

Next up, local breads.  Find and test out several local loafs before the big day.  You’ll be supporting local businesses, and lessening your carbon footprint by buying locally made food.  Use Local Harvest to track down your nearest bakery or farm.  My favorite is a seeded baguette from Red Hen Bakery in Middlesex.  You can simply dip this bread into a dip made from high quality olive oil and diced garlic, or local whipped ricotta with a touch of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.

Greens, squash, and beans, oh my!  For your vegetables, think simple, organic, local and fresh.  Everyone loves fresh green beans cooked in a little bit of water and lightly browned, finished with healthy dash of lemon and sea salt. Delicata squash also makes a visually beautiful and healthy addition to a salad, or on its own.  Slice the squash into C shapes, and roast with a little olive oil and salt at 350 until soft and slightly brown.  For a regular salad of greens, use local spinach and add toasted walnuts and a local, specialty cheese to make it unique.

Don’t forget to serve locally made beverages such as cider, wine, or fair trade organic coffees and teas with your meal.

Now you can love those tasty, local, and healthy side dishes, which in my view, are the best part of any Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m thrilled to be guest posting on Dr. Greene’s perspectives blog. The topic this whole week will be Thanksgiving, which remarkably is coming up very shortly! I hope these posts will help you plan a healthy, happy, and eco-friendly Thanksgiving with your family.

One way many families are cutting back their food budgets is by eating less meat. Meat costs a lot, utilizes way more natural resources in its production than alternative protein sources, and can be bad for us. For me, a vegetarian of 18 years (my, that makes me sound OLD), it comes naturally by now. Thank goodness, because I don’t think our budget could handle the expense of meat on a regular basis.

If for some reason you can’t find a locally raised turkey, or are already a vegetarian, I offer some ideas:

1. Here is a tasty and very fancy recipe for Butternut Lasagna that I made for Thanksgiving last year.  It isn’t super easy, but it is Thanksgiving after all, and this is a rich, tasty and fulfilling dish (even my traditional, meat loving father-in-law LOVED it.)
2. Check out this menu from Cooking Light.  I love the idea of a mushroom strudel: crispy, flaky, and flavorful. Wish me luck with that phylo-dough—it can be tricky.
3. Here are some good ideas at the Divine Dinner Party. You’ll see a variety of choices to get your thoughts flowing.  Once you see something you are interested in making you can explore recipes within that theme at other sites on in cookbooks.

I think one important message here is to make this meal different for the vegetarians, too.  We are all tired of regular vegetarian food (pasta, pizza, Mexicana).  Pick something unique and original for the vegetarians at your Thanksgiving dinner.