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Holiday Greetings Healthy-Foods Readers!

It’s HERE! Well almost, Thanksgiving is less than a week away! I’ve got 5 things you need to get done, NOW so you can enjoy the day! I’ve also included a recipe from our famous Holiday Bundle—a recipe to make, enjoy and give! You’ll love it.

Don’t forget we will not be publishing on Christmas or New Year’s, both land on Fridays.

All of my Saving Dinner books make great gifts, incidentally! http://www.leanneely.com/books

Feel free to forward Healthy-Foods to all your friends and family!

To Your Health–
Leanne

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Five Things
by Leanne Ely, C.N.C.

Here are some critical things to help you sail through Thanksgiving this year. Write them down; don’t keep them in your head–

1) Guest List. Pretty basic, but seriously, make your list; check it twice and start making those all-important phone calls. Knowing how many to plan for is an integral part of successful holiday planning.

2) The Menu. What are you having besides turkey? Make your menu and appropriate grocery list and get everything purchased except the perishables (do that a few days before). If you have stuff that might get mistakenly eaten before the big day, put it in a box and stash it in the linen closet or label it instructing your loved ones to stay far, far away from this Thanksgiving food item.

3) The Turkey. If you’re going to order a fresh one, time’s running out. Make that phone call now. Make sure you get a confirmation number (put the confirmation number on your calendar or checklist). If you’re buying frozen go ahead and purchase it now, double bag it and stick in the fridge to start thawing.

4) Serving Pieces. Do you have everything you need? Platters, serving utensils, extra plates, napkins, etc.? Pull them out and set them aside; that’s one less thing you’ll need to do. If you don’t have what you need, buy them or make phone calls to borrow and pick them up as soon as possible.

5) Linen Check. Pull out your tablecloth and napkins. Are they clean, are they pressed? If not, wash and iron them now then hang them up on hangers and put them in your hall closet (or wherever you can hang them). Doing them the night before or the day of will exhaust you! There’s way too much to do on those two days.

Remember that holidays are for everyone, INCLUDING the cook! Don’t forget to ask for help, allow others to bring some of their favorite dishes and on cooking day, make time to stop, put your feet up and be very thankful for the faces that will be sitting around your Thanksgiving table. Enjoy yourself this year!

We have our Thanksgiving for the Freezer http://bit.ly/ThanksgivingBundle available if you want it really easy!

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This delicious Gingerbread Cake is easy to make, easy to share and makes a beautiful, homemade and inexpensive gift! We have more recipes like this in our fabulous Holiday Bundle! http://bit.ly/EBHolidayBundle

Gingerbread Cake
2 loaves

2 cups flour
1/2 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two small (3 x 6 inch) loaf pans.

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, orange zest, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and salt).

Into a different mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Gradually add eggs and continue to blend until fluffy.

To the wet ingredients, beat in molasses, 1/2 of the flour mixture and the buttermilk until dry ingredients are moistened.

Add remaining flour along with the orange juice and continue to stir until well blended.

Pour batter into loaf pans and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

This recipe is from our wonderful Holiday Bundle! Get yours now, while the discounted price lasts! CLICK HERE http://bit.ly/EBHolidayBundle

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Healthy-Foods Resource

Intrigued by those new dinner-assembly franchises popping up all over the country? Price take your breath away? We have the answer and it’s our version of these places in a do it yourself way—our terrific Five for the Freezer, Ten for the Freezer or Twenty for the Freezer Dinner kits!

Our freezer-friendly Dinner Kits provides instructions, shopping lists, and recipes to make from 5 to 20 freezable entrees for your family. The meals are healthy and not filled with preservatives and additives. The ingredients are fresh (no dried onion flakes or MSG filled ingredients, for example), no icky twice-cooked watery casseroles. And the best part is the cost: just $8.95. With your smart shopping, you can fill your freezer with healthy meals for a fraction of the cost of those franchise places! There are several to choose from, including crock cooker, low carb, vegetarian and more!

Go to www.savingdinner.com and see what everyone’s talking about!

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Hip Tips

Do you have a nifty, healthy foods tip you’d like to share? Maybe a comment you want to share? Send it in with your name and state (or country) and we’ll use it in a future Healthy-Foods issue!

** I love hot oatmeal every day but I don’t always have time to make it, so I make a double batch of Old Fashioned oats according to the directions on the box (with raisins added at the beginning so they plump up and get soft). When the oatmeal is finished cooking, I add chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, and nutmeg and store it in the fridge. Since I can’t eat a whole serving at once, this double batch lasts me 4-5 days. I just scoop out what I can eat each morning, warm it with a little soy milk in the microwave (45 seconds), and it’s ready to eat! ~Anne

*LEANNE’S NOTE: I do the same with steel cut oats. Works great!