Calling all Mommies and home cooks.. don't stress this year over your Thanksgiving meal

Thanksgiving is one of my 2 favorite holidays, obviously Christmas being the other. As much as I enjoy the holiday itself, I do not enjoy the stress and mess of the preparations and food making. We are still trying to figure out what we would like to do for our family tradition. My husband would like to deep fry it and I like the tradition baked. I have never been one to love fried food, especially the deep fried turkey. He says it is yummy but his early attempts have not convinced me.

While we are discovering the things we like and how we like to do them, it's even more stressful when you get the treat of hosting the extended family gathering! Well, this year I am more prepared then usual with Easy Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas by Crystal Maleski. I trust her, she has a great name! *winks*

Anyways, Crystal has pulled out all the stops between her ebook and website to really get rid of stress for us. If the idea of cooking Thanksgiving dinner puts you into a panic, this Easy Thanksgiving Ideas Guide  will give you all the information you need to make a delicious and easy Thanksgiving Dinner including holiday traditions you may want to start, a detailed planning guide, a sample Thanksgiving dinner menu, recipes with photos, and even activities to keep the kids busy.

Let me just tell you a little bit of the specifics you will find in Crystal's book.

Chapter 1 goes over tradition ideas that you can start with your family such as games and activities that get the fun going. Something everyone can look forward to each year.

In the next chapter you can get great preparation ideas in motion. You can never be too prepared for big events such as Thanksgiving and having an easy to chop off list makes a huge difference. Crystal has gotten this all done for you.

Chapter 3, 4 and 5 goes over defrosting tips, brining recipes, a full traditional menu and dinner recipes with pictures. Following this, is the full grocery list covering everything you need to get at the store and how much.
Chapter 8 is loaded with fun activities that the kids can do to stay busy but help out at the same time. One of them she mentions is an incredible idea and I will start implementing it this year.
Chapter 9 reminds us to be thankful and helps us think of ways to show our gratitude towards our blessings and closing out the book is a chapter of other reminders and tips.

This 31 page e-book can be purchased for just $3.99 here. Also if you would like help with dinner ideas, Crystal offers free weekly dinner menus, easy dinner recipes and printable grocery lists.

Connect for great ideas and recipes with Facebook and Twitter!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Thanksgiving with a miracle!

   Tis the season to be thankful, and I am in every sense of the word. It's hard to understand sometimes how things turn out. How tragedies or near devastation can renew hope and bring back truth or how in just a moment your world can flip upside down and over again. The last month and a half has been such a stressful roller-coaster ride where we couldn't see if it was going down or taking a turn. My father-in-law, a very special guy, became ill with infection and went into cardiac arrest, just to end up on life support. Any other time, this would have us a little worried (before you jump out of your seats, let me explain). This man has gone through more then most in his life time. He is paralyzed from the chest down, and has been for over 20 years due to a terrible car accident. My husband...his only child was just a tot. He took sole custody of him and raised him from his wheelchair, and in turn my husband cared for him as soon as he was old enough. This has been their life ever since (excluding a year here and there). They have a bond like no other and as irritating as it can be at times, my husband will not allow anyone else to take care of his father, cause he knows their won't as well as he does. But even with his great care, his dad has lived more then doctors predicted, and has had many, many scares. This was not the first time he had been on life support.
   So it didn't hit like it should of with us. This is just him being sick...he does this all the time. He'll come back to us. But he didn't...time went on and the doctors started to let us know by facial expressions and subtle actions, that a choice was coming. With about 20 people gathered and a couple on a phone conference..the Doc delivered his dreaded news...make him comfortable, or wait to see if he gets better to give him a tracheotomy and moved him out of state. But his chances for surviving the surgery or even enduring much after was improbable. He never got stable enough to even go for that option. His vitals were sporadic and he seemed to be getting brain damage. His body was going into septic shock. The doctors told us there was nothing else they could do. Now we focus on comfort...wait for a good moment..bring the kids in to say goodbye... and wait. They took him off sedation, and started lowering the oxygen. Less sedation was making him more aware. He started biting the tube..we all got the sense he had had enough. He confirmed that when he was conscience. He made the decision himself to get the life support out, even knowing he wasn't ready and they had tried that before. He knew, but didn't care. He put his on DNR in place too. That was a finalizing blow to us. The morning he was scheduled to have it out ...family gathered once more. I'm glad I wasn't there, all I could picture was a fish out of water but it was a loved one who couldn't give you their last message.
   The tube came out...and he breathes....and breathes....3 days later...he didn't need oxygen at all. About 5 days later, he can talk pretty well and has no recollection of the trials he went through. Now we are looking at any time a call can come through on the phone to go get him and bring him home! Tell me that this wasn't a miracle! I've kept some of the details for my family alone, but it only furthers how exceptional this is, and the gratitude I have in this Thanksgiving season is profound. This song is dedicated to you Pops. We love you. Thank you for fighting a little while longer, so my kids will remember you. Thank you God for allowing him to. (Since I couldn't get the embed code...heres the link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4-rBF1UM3o&feature=related




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