Monday, November 17, 2008

Snow , turkeys and pre thanksgiving thoughts

I woke up this morning to find that the few flakes yesterday had accumulated to a dusting of snow on the rooftops and cars. Just a teaser of the months to come, and a reminder that the holidays are right around the corner.

Normally at this time of year I would start buying turkeys to cook and then eat the leftovers all week It made good economic sense and turkey itself is pretty low in calories and fat. Problem is , having 24 pounds of turkey meat in the fridge would lead to dishes with way too much meat in them , covered with some kind of cream sauce to keep it moist and then ultimately bags of freezer burned turkey that got pulled out in the spring. I almost fell into that old habit, but I rationalized to myself that it would be better to just buy the boneless turkey breasts. You get the turkey, you can measure it easy, and there is no temptation to keep grabbing a handful of turkey throughout the day( One of my worst eating habits).

So yesterday I made a boneless breast in my crock pot, made a wild rice pilaf creation on the side instead of stuffing, made my own cranberry sauce with splenda, spinach as a veggie and a big tossed salad with baby greens.Hubby commented that it looked like a feast- it was not any more food than we normally have at dinner, but I was so much more colorful! It never fails to amaze me at how much more live and vibrant a plate of healthy food looks over not as healthy choices. So many more colors and textures !

We will be gathering with my family for Thanksgiving, and it will be your standard big family meal with way too much food, way too much sugar and fat and a tiny bit of everything will not fit on the plate. I am not going to worry about it. It is one meal in one day on this journey. I will make my best choices and then simply move on. It will be a day to see my family, get goofy with my sisters and catch up with my neices and nephews. The meal is just a small part of the day.

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