Thanksgiving for Two

Thanksgiving is the traditional time when families gather, but what if you are cooking for a couple instead of a crowd? Even with just a few at the table, the warmth and comfort of the holiday can be captured.  With a little planning, you can save time and calories, too.

Cutting calories

The average American eats 2,000 to 3,000 calories at the typical Thanksgiving dinner. That’s more calories than many people need for an entire day.  Make your Thanksgiving meal nutritious by including foods from each food group. Include plenty of fresh vegetables like sweet potatoes, winter squash, broccoli, carrots and green beans.

Apples, cranberries and pears combine easily for salads, fruit crisps or toppings for the turkey.  Try using whole-grain bread and wild or brown rice for the stuffing or as a side dish. Choose reduced-fat cheeses for salads and casseroles, and use low-fat or fat-free milk instead of whole milk in recipes.

Here are a few tactics for tackling Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings.

The turkey

A whole bird is traditional, but refrigerator space may be unavailable for storing an uncooked bird.  Opt for a frozen turkey breast instead of a whole turkey.  Whole frozen breasts usually run about three pounds and can be found in the frozen food section at the grocery store. A three-pound turkey breast will be more expensive per pound than a whole turkey but will have less waste because there are fewer bones. Be sure to cook the turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Side dishes

Thanksgiving side dishes can be healthy, but creamy casseroles are often loaded with fat and calories and difficult to make in small portions. Opt for frozen or fresh vegetables instead. Many frozen veggie varieties steam quickly in the microwave. Save money by buying fresh vegetables in season and frozen vegetables when on sale.

Substitute frozen whole wheat dinner rolls for home-baked breads.  Buy a  bag of frozen rolls. Use as many as needed and save the rest.

Mashed potatoes, sweet potato casseroles, stuffing and creamy rice dishes are all traditional Thanksgiving favorites. If you’re watching your waistline and budget, consider preparing one or two side dishes instead of several. Modify ingredients in traditional recipes to reduce saturated fat and calories and increase whole grains and fiber. Substitute low-fat or fat-free dairy products for the full-fat versions, and use “light” margarine instead of butter.  Instead of white bread, try whole-wheat bread in stuffing and substitute brown or wild rice for white rice.

Desserts

Avoid going overboard on the number of desserts. Sautéed apples with cinnamon and a little sugar, baked pears with honey, or fresh fruit with a low-fat whipped cream topping are all healthy choices. A sweet potato baked and topped with a small pat of butter and brown sugar can substitute for traditional sweet potato pie.

If the idea of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for two at home is daunting and cost is not an issue, consider ordering a smoked turkey breast or ham from a retailer or smokehouse.  The meat will already be fully cooked and ready for you to add the trimmings.

Dye Easter Eggs with Natural Ingredients

If you need a kitchen experiment that the whole family can enjoy, dyeing Easter eggs for the upcoming holiday is a great choice.  But before you gear up for a trip to the store for an egg dyeing kit, save your dollars and cents by using things that you likely already have in your kitchen. dyeing

Ingredients for Egg Dyeing

Fruits, vegetables, and spices can all be used to color Easter eggs, whether you plan to dye and hide them, or save them to eat later. Here are a few things you can use to color eggs naturally:

1. Fresh beets or cranberries, frozen raspberries, and pomegranate juice will give eggs a pinkish red color.
2. Yellow onion skins will turn egg shells orange.
3. For a light yellow egg, use orange or lemon peels, carrot tops, celery seed or ground cumin.  Ground turmeric will produce a darker yellow.
4. Use spinach leaves for a pale green hue.
5. Canned blueberries or red cabbage leaves will dye eggs blue.
6. Strong brewed coffee, chili powder, and dill seeds will color eggs beige or brown.
7.  Yellow Delicious apple peels make a green-gold dyed egg.

To prepare eggs for dyeing, boil white eggs and let them cool. If you plan to eat the eggs, remember that the fresher the egg, the harder it will be to peel later. If you have eggs on hand that are close to their “use-by” date, you are all set for an easier egg peeling experience.

Recipe for Dying Eggs

The American Egg Board recommends the following recipe to make naturally dyed eggs: Toss your choice of a handful – or two or three – of one of the foods listed above into a saucepan.  Use your own judgment about quantity. This is not an exact science.  Be aware that the beautiful strong colors of purple or red grape juice and beet juice will produce a gray, not very Easter-y colored egg.

Add about a cup of water for each handful of food, so the water comes at least an inch above the dyestuff.  Bring to boiling, reduce the heat and simmer from 15 minutes up to an hour, until the color is the shade you want. Keep in mind that the eggs will dye a lighter shade. Remove the pan from the heat.

Through cheesecloth or a fine sieve, strain the dye mixture into a small bowl that’s deep enough to completely cover the eggs you want to dye.  Add 2 to 3 teaspoons of white vinegar for each cup of dye liquid. With a spoon or wire egg holder from a dyeing kit, lower the eggs into the hot liquid. Let the eggs stand until they reach the desired color.  With a slotted spoon or wire egg holder, remove the eggs to a rack or drainer. Allow the eggs to dry thoroughly.

Food Safety and Easter Eggs

If you plan to eat the eggs later, take special care to keep them refrigerated as much as possible.  The eggs should not be out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours, and should be eaten within a week. Throw out an egg that has been used as a decoration or left out for an egg hunt for more than 2 hours.

Relieve pressure to make holidays perfect

While the holidays are generally happy times, many feel pressure to make the holidays “perfect.” The emphasis on fashioning a flawless holiday causes these usually happy times to be laced with stress and anxiety. 

Much of our pressure is self-imposed.  We stress over buying the perfect gift, ensuring that everyone gets exactly what they want (and that they are surprised), preparing the perfect dinner, and decorating our homes inside and out. Often the busyness of the season leaves little time to reflect on its meaning. 

The commercialization of the holidays can be a source of frustration for families and individuals alike. So what’s the answer?  You can enjoy the holiday season with your checkbook and sanity intact by keeping in mind a few guidelines.

• Set your own standards.  You can take control of the holidays by deciding what does and does not fit your lifestyle. The holidays portrayed in the media most often do not reflect the reality of holiday celebration in most American homes. Seek to make the holidays real for your family and yourself.
• Make a plan. Sit your family down and ask what they think the holidays should be like.  You may find out that the outdoor light display is more trouble than its worth, and your husband and kids would rather help bake cookies than untangle strings of lights. This way the entire family has buy-in, and you don’t bear the burden of making decisions for everyone.
• Set a budget and stick to it.  It’s great to want to buy the perfect gift for your kids, spouse, in-laws and friends, but it can be too much to take on and too much to spend. The value of a gift can’t be judged by its price tag. The best gifts come from a sincere desire to make a person happy. If you give from the heart, your gift will never be too small.
• Talk to your extended family and determine a small amount to spend on each niece, nephew or cousin.  Or, you can draw names and purchase only one gift for that child. Odds are if you can’t afford either the time or money, neither can your relatives.  By making the suggestion, you take the pressure off everyone.
• If you can’t be with the one you love because of divorce, military commitments, or finances find creative ways to make the holiday special. For example, send a special videotaped greeting to a far away relative, or arrange to spend another day together as “Christmas.”

Enjoy the holidays for what they are, not what they should be.  Remember that you have a real family, not a TV family. There may still be arguments and rivalries among siblings – even grown ones. You may not be in control of other people’s actions, but you can control your reaction to them.

The fun of traditions is creating them for you and your family, not taking on someone else’s ideal and working to make it fit.  There’s no rule that says you must spend the holidays by the fireplace roasting chestnuts, drinking eggnog and singing carols. Paint your own picture of the ideal holiday, imperfections and all.

Related Articles

• Kari Henley: The Splendor And The Struggle Of Holiday Gatherings (huffingtonpost.com)

Holiday weight gain predictions bloated

Tis the season for weight gain. We are in that wonderful season where we hear, and usually ignore, those awful predictions that we’ll gain between five and ten pounds before New Year’s Day.  In hopes of making your holidays a bit happier, you should know that the numbers are untrue.

The annual estimate of just how many pounds Americans will pack on between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day has been revised.  More recent research suggests that we tend to gain about one pound during the holidays, as opposed to the five to ten pounds previously reported.

But before you pour yourself some eggnog in celebration, realize that most people don’t lose that one pound gain.  Over several years, this slight weight gain can become problematic.

Volunteers in a study of holiday weight gain conducted by the National Institutes of Health found that on average, participants weighed a pound and a half heavier one year after the holiday season.  Fewer than 10% of study volunteers gained 5 pounds or more, and those who were already overweight were more likely to have larger increases in weight.

The key factors related to holiday weight gain in this study were not the number of parties attended or increased stress, but the activity and hunger levels of participants. It’s no surprise that those who reported less hunger and increased activity were less likely to gain weight—eating too much and exercising too little are the primary reasons why two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese.

With all the goodies around, hunger can seem to increase for psychological reasons. Who can pass up the temptation of Mom’s coconut pie or the plate full of peppermint fudge? Most likely though, the behavior that leads to weight gain is grazing—eating just a few bites here and there.

That broken cookie or the last few bites of potatoes can add up to significant calories over the course of a day. For example:

• Half of a cookie-baking casualty: 30 calories
• One piece of peanut brittle a coworker brought to work: 80 calories
• Cracker and spread sample at the grocery store: 40 calories
• Small samples of flavored holiday coffee: 20 calories
• One chocolate covered cherry from the box that “appeared” in the break room: 60 calories
• 3 chips and dip: 75 calories
• ½ cup of eggnog: 200 calories!
• 2 big spoonfuls of sweet potatoes to clean out the bowl: 60 calories
• Heaping tablespoon full of peppermint ice cream (just to sample): 100 calories

All of these “small bites” add up to 665 calories. Do this everyday and you’ll gain one pound a week.  There’s nothing merry about that!

If you want to avoid gaining weight over the holidays, be mindful of what you’re eating and be more active. If you’re waiting for January 1^st to start that exercise program, get a head start on it and increase your activity now. In reality, there’s nothing magical about that January 1^st date, and there’s no reason to wait.

Good health is the best gift you can give yourself and your family.  It truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

Related Articles

• The “Holiday Creep:” Seasonal Weight Gain (psychologytoday.com)

Holiday ornaments hold special memories

There are few yearly rituals more enjoyable to me than putting up my Christmas tree. Untangling strands of lights and unwrapping ornaments of years past is great fun and brings back wonderful memories of people, places, and special times.

Positioning packed-away ornaments on your tree can be a great family ritual, especially if some of those ornaments were fashioned by family members when they were children. Often holiday decorations contain valuable family history. The sight of them can bring nostalgia, wonderful memories, and welcome opportunities to recount those memories with younger generations.

Sometimes handmade tree trimmings are those we value most. For many of these ornaments, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. As a teenager decorating my family’s tree, I considered my childhood handmade ornaments tremendously unattractive. Horrid, actually. The painted Popsicle stick sleds and felt Santa faces were not my favorites to trim the Christmas tree. Oh, how I longed for something more sophisticated than yarn, paper, and glued-on glitter.

As an adult I feel differently. I remember making those ornaments in elementary school and at Girl Scout meetings. My favorites are the simplest—construction paper ornaments adorned with glued-on glitter, an opening in the middle for a picture from that school year. There’s no denying that these ornaments would look a bit out-of-place on the designer-dressed trees we see in department stores. However, if you’re building a Christmas tree from your memories, one ornament at a time, nothing is more beautiful.

The real value in our Christmas decorations and tree ornaments lies not in their external beauty but in the memories and meaning behind them, whether handmade or not. You may have ornaments that honor a child’s birth, an anniversary, or a special trip. Teachers have ornaments given by special students, and others by a special friend or to commemorate a milestone. For some, the most meaningful ornaments may be the precious few scraped up to dress their first grown-up Christmas tree.

Instead of searching out gifts that may be forgotten by next year, consider crafting handmade ornaments for some on your gift list. It’s sure to save money, and is likely more meaningful to the receiver than any gift you could buy. If you’re making ornaments with children, your time spent is an extra gift to them. For gift-giving, place several ornaments in a small, decorative holiday tin, and be sure to label each with the year.

Christmas ornaments can remind us of where we have been, but also of how far we have come. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make great holiday memories. Sometimes, the best memories are homemade.