Happy Thanksgiving! This is the time to focus on those things for which we are thankful. One of the things we are thankful for is the interest people have shown in these blog posts and the nice comments we have received about the craft projects we have presented in the blog entries we have posted here.

We were trying to come up with a craft for this week but we came to the conclusion that it’s a little late to make Thanksgiving crafts. People are busy cooking and they have their decorations up already. We decided to post pictures (above and below) of the three Thanksgiving crafts we shared in previous weeks. If anyone gets some last minute inspiration to create, you can find the Thanksgiving Banner in “Thanksgiving Post Number One” and the Centerpiece in                 “Thanksgiving – The Third Blog Post”.

Also check out the previous posts for recipes for cranberry sauce variations and sweet potatoes with bananas.

Our favorite craft project for this holiday is the Thanksgiving Tree. The directions are in the blog: “Thanksgiving Continued”. (Past posts are listed in the right hand column of this page – check them out!)

Here is our Thanksgiving Tree.

Some of the things we put on our Thanksgiving Tree are listed below. We’ve added quite a few since the picture was taken.

• Wonderful memories
• Family
• Friends
• Good Food
• Roof over our heads
• Employment
• The Arts
• Creativity
• New Car
• New England Patriots
• Boston Red Sox
• UConn
• Health
• Healthcare
• Gay Marriage
• Our Summer Garden
• Desserts
• Reading mysteries
• Vacation
• Kevin
• Roy
• Our readers and followers

As we mentioned above, we are grateful for good food and for our health. We’ve improved our eating habits a lot in recent years. We’ve both lost a few pounds since the Turkey heads picture at the top of the page was taken of us in 2007. Here are a few healthy ideas for Thanksgiving and everyday.

A FEW HEALTHY TIPS:

• In our stuffing we use a combo of half white bread and half whole wheat bread.
• For mashed potatoes sometimes we use half potatoes and 1/2 cauliflower to lower the carb amounts and raise the fiber and nutrition factor.
• Nonfat sour cream adds creaminess and no fat to mashed potatoes.
• Buttermilk is low in fat and delicious in mashed potatoes. (Can you tell we love mashed potatoes?) Buttermilk is also great as a base for salad dressings.
• We substitute low fat versions of mayo, margarine, cream cheese and sour cream in all of our recipes. We save lots of calories and have lost weight by doing so. Non-fat sour cream is pretty good, but otherwise we go low fat.
• In recipes where teaspoons or tablespoons of salt are called for, we only use a pinch if any at all.

JOKE OF THE WEEK:                                                                                                                                         “Knock Knock”   “Who’s there?”   “Phillip”   ” Phillip Who?”                                                               “Phillip a plate and dig in!”  (Source: hubpages)

(Hmmm, maybe they should read the healthy tips first!) 

THANKSGIVING FACT: In 1941, Congress passed an official proclamation and made Thanksgiving a national holiday which would be observed on the fourth Thursday of November every year. (Source: Buzzle)

We wish you, your families and friends a happy, healthy and safe Thankgiving and a wonderful holiday season to come.

Next week – Christmas is coming!

Roy and Kevin