Leftover Guilt? by Jill Cooper

Don’t you just love Thanksgiving?  It’s the most guilt free holiday of the year.  You don’t have to worry about getting the right gifts or whether everything is decorated perfectly. You don’t have to wonder whether you made enough cookies or whether the food is on your diet. You have permission and can eat to your heart’s content! At times like this, I have to wonder: Have I died and gone to Heaven?!

There is one problem — What happens when everyone rolls away from the table? You stand there in the shadows of mounds of leftovers and the guilt sets in. You really can’t wedge in another bite, but you can’t bring yourself to throw away all that good food. You know that there are people starving in Bangladesh, but you can’t afford the shipping cost to send it to them… What do you do with it?

Here are some ideas from Living-on-a-Dime.com to help you put those leftovers to good use and keep your clean conscience! Read more

What to Do with your Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey

After a big Thanksgiving meal, many people end up with quite a bit of extra turkey. Nibbling on leftovers is fine, but here are some additional healthy ways to use that leftover turkey.

Sandwiches
This is our family favorite. Simply slather mayonnaise on your favorite bread and add turkey. Enjoy! Of course, you can make this sandwich fancier by using toasted garlic bread, or adding some seasonings to the mayonnaise. You can quickly whip up some gourmet style mayo by adding some of the packet ranch dressing mix to it.

Instead of regular old sliced bread, make turkey sandwiches with fresh or chiabata bread for a different taste. Read more

Teaching Your Kids to be Thankful

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to teach your kids about being thankful. Here are some ideas to teach your children how to appreciate the blessings in their lives.

Giving Thanks Placemats
The goal of this craft is to create a collage filled with drawings and pictures of all the things your children are thankful for. Cut photos from magazines, or print some photos from your computer. Older children can write captions under the photos or draw their own. Be sure to put the child’s name and the year on it.

If you make this collage from two standard letter size pieces of construction paper taped side-by-side, you can take the completed collage to a copy shop when you’re done and have it laminated. It then becomes a placemat that you can use every Thanksgiving for years to come.
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Setting the Table for Thanksgiving

When hosting Thanksgiving dinner for friends and family, the food is of utmost importance. However, if you serve the most decadent meal on paper plates –your delicious meal will taste less than spectacular.

It works both ways. If you invest some time and effort into decorating your Thanksgiving table –your overcooked turkey and undercooked beans will be less noticeable as well.

Tablecloth
Bring out the good linens for your guests. If you don’t have a Thanksgiving tablecloth, you can use some Thanksgiving or fall themed fabric. There are even some very nice looking fall and Thanksgiving themed disposable table cloths available.
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Planning the Perfect Thanksgiving Party

Ready for Thanksgiving? Got a big week ahead? Wondering what to do TODAY to get ready and make things as easy as possible? Well, let me help. Let’s plan the perfect Thanksgiving fellowship. Ready? Let’s dig in…

Start Planning Early
Nothing can spoil a Thanksgiving party more than a burned-out hostess. So, be sure to start planning your party well in advance, make a master list of what needs to be done and when, and start cleaning and preparing ahead of time. Purchase non-perishable items the week before your event. Don’t forget to buy the turkey early as well. It will take several days to thaw in the fridge. If you have room in your freezer, you can purchase the turkey and other frozen items weeks ahead of time.
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Thanksgiving Centerpiece – Create Something Unique

Your centerpiece is the main decoration on your Thanksgiving table. Make it special with these ideas. Of course these decorations will also look stunning if you set them on a counter or the mantle over the fire place.

Fall Vegetables
Begin with a pumpkin and gourds. Loosely arrange them on the table or mantle.  Set a natural-color candle on each side of your display. Finish your free form art center piece by sprinkling colorful fall leaves all over and around your center pieces. Make sure they are not too close to the candles, of course.

Fall Leaves
Simply find a large glass bowl and fill it with beautiful fall leaves. Set a candle on each side of the bowl to showcase the leaves. Then, cut leaf shapes out of construction paper and use them as place cards. Of course you could also press small leaves, and glue them to a plain white place card.
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Thanksgiving Crafts to Do With Kids

Spending time creating Thanksgiving crafts with your kids can turn a holiday that isn’t quite as exciting as getting Halloween candy or Christmas gifts into a fun kid’s day!

Turkey Apple
Turkey apples are a fun craft to make with the kids as well as a healthy snack. You will need an apple, 6 toothpicks, 1 large and 5 miniature marshmallows as well as some raisins and one piece of candy corn for each turkey.
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Building a Forever Marriage with Cindy Rushton

“Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.” Proverbs 14:1

Building your marriage? Is it on the back-burner? Busy with the children and the house and homeschooling and working in your business? Just dropping at the end of the day with nothing left over?

Sweet friends, the greatest work you will ever do is within your home. And, the most powerful position you have within your home is that of a “help meet.”

We are called to build our homes. The foundation of a godly home is built upon two primary relationships–our relationship with God and our relationship with our husbands. All else stems from those two relationships. All else is affected. Read more

A Peek into This Week…

This Week…

–>  Working on editing, uploading, and posting audios (for seminars and our shows! Stay tuned!)

–>  Finishing up a sweet surprise for all of our ezine friends!

–>  Thanksgiving!

Decorating For Thanksgiving Last Minute?

Ready for this week? Are you like so many of us and you have been busy today cleaning up and getting ready for the big week? Need some fun and inexpensive ideas for those last touches? Let us help!

Decorating for Thanksgiving adds an element of warmth and fun to your home. The best thing is you don’t have to go overboard or put a lot of time or effort into this. Use a few of the suggestions below, add some fall colored throw pillows or blankets to your couch, light a pumpkin scented candle and your whole house will have that special Thanksgiving feel to it.
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