Since my siblings and I will all be enjoying Thanksgiving at our parents' house, where Mom has always been our foremost example of healthful eating and positive changes, our delicious desserts will be all (or almost all) refined-sugar-free. (I don't know if everyone will appreciate that as much as my mom and I will, but hopefully someday they will.) That means less worry for the mothers about how much our children are eating, and less guilt for everyone about over-indulging ourselves on that day.
Other than that positive change in my extended family, I think our traditional food will remain pretty much the same. And since we make nearly everything from scratch anyway--including real mashed potatoes and real stuffing--what's to change? Once, a family member tried to make the stuffing "healthier" by cutting the butter down by half and it tasted like breadcrumbs--it just wasn't stuffing! What a disappointment. I decided then that there are times when it may be more important to stick with a good, wholesome tradition than try to fool with the recipe! I figured we only have stuffing once a year and one bite is packed with so many memories of family in years past that it simply isn't Thanksgiving without it.
I'm sure the same could be said for many of those sugary foods most people eat after Thanksgiving dinner. And it could be justified that it's only once a year, so no big deal (though for many people it's only the beginning of a sugar overload throughout the end of the year). But if you can make a positive change without sacrificing taste or enjoyment, why not do it? That's what I tried last year when I brought the yam dish (which people typically fill with marshmallows and/or other forms of sugar)--and was happily successful.
So who of you are making changes? I would love to hear your ideas!
2 comments:
So... I wondered about trying to make an apple or pumpkin pie with stevia or evaporated cane juice or something. I think I am going to try that this year. I have been assigned the yams at Reeve's family Thanksgiving dinner this year. I wonder how your aunts recipe would go over. I think it looks delicious. I also wanted to try making the stuffing with homemade whole wheat bread. Usually we make our own white bread and make stuffing from scratch. I don't know how it will change the recipe though so I am a little hesitant to try it. I guess we will see. Does your family use wheat bread for the thankgiving stuffing?
We would love to see you when you come down for Thanksgiving. Give us a call if you get a few minutes.
Love ya,
LeAnn
Hey, great to hear from you, LeAnn! We would love to visit with you when we're down there, but we'll have to see what we end up needing to do. We'll only have 2 full days there, unfortunately. I will be seeing your mom, though, and am looking forward to that.
The last time I saw my mom make stuffing, she used half store-bought white bread and half wheat. I'll have to ask her what she's going to do this year--that's a very good question.
I think you'd really like the yams and that most everyone else would too! You'll have to let me know if you try it and how it goes over...
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