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One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. It seems while everything was delicious and beautifully presented during the holiday meal itself, leftovers give us the opportunity to experience those same delicious tastes - with a twist.

In my kitchen, potato soup is created from the leftover mashed potatoes. Leftover cooked vegetables go into breakfast (or even lunch) fritattas. Any remaining raw vegetables are incorporated into salads. I bet you have your own family favorites as well!

Check out these delicious and healthy tips for Thanksgiving leftovers from the American Dietetic Association’s Kids Eat Right campaign. Be sure to fit in some outdoor activity inbetween the cooking, shopping, clean-up - and eating! http://www.eatright.org/kids/tip.aspx?id=6442459987

I’m not talking romantic dates - I’m talking fresh, delicious, dates that you eat.

Growing up in the Midwest, dates weren’t a part of our usual weekly fruit choices. In fact, I can only remember eating dates as part of my mom’s date nut bars that she made every holiday season. Last year I was introduced to fresh dates, and this summer I really enjoyed nibbling on dates as a snack or dessert.

Here are some cool date facts:
- in several countries, a bowl of fresh dates is always on the table as a sign of hospitality
- dates contain less water than any other fruit - they’re fresh, even though they seem like a dried fruit
- dates are fat free, saturated fat free, cholesterol free, sodium free, and a good source of fiber (1/4 cup provides 12% of the daily value for fiber).
- 3 dates are a serving (about 50-60 calories)
- dates keep for up to 1 year in the refrigerator - and you can even freeze them!

If you’re looking for a tasty fruit to add to your weekly choices, consider dates!

Today I tasted lower salt potato chips. Let’s face it - most of us love chips because they’re crispy, crunchy, and salty. If I didn’t know these chips contained less sodium, I would never have guessed. They also had a more pronounced potato flavor, maybe because the salt wasn’t masking the potato.

Lay’s Lightly Salted potato chips have 90mg of sodium per 1 ounce serving. I know what you’re thinking - who eats just one ounce? You can - if you serve a portion in a bowl, or purchase a 1 ounce package and eat mindfully. The regular chips have twice as much sodium - 180mg.

Full confession:  I used to love salt. I would eat celelry just so I could load it up with salt. Instead of sugar, I sprinkle salt onto my grapefruit. Over the past few years I’ve made a conscious effort to eat less salt, and I’m proud to say I now eat celery with no salt (but I still sprinkle just a bit on my grapefruit).

I like the new lightly salted chips, and while I don’t make chips a regular part of my food choices, I’ll certainly look for these in the store whenever I decide to purchase chips.

My take away message:  make small, simple, good-tasting changes in your food choices and you’ll inch your way toward better health.

Here in the Northeast, we’ve already had several inches of snow on top of our mountains and snow flurries down in the valleys. Until the time changes this coming weekend, it’s not light until after 7am, and dark enough to need a headlamp to run after 5:30pm.

Along with the darker days and colder temperatures, I’m finding myself looking for a change in beverages. This summer I loved brewing sun tea, switching up flavors from green tea to traditional black tea to even trying out some fruity teas. Tea is a great source of antioxidants to help us stay healthy and feel great, and I like that the sun brews my tea. All I add is ice!

Now I’m switching to hot, brewed tea. It’s fun to choose between several different tea varieties and flavors, and all types of tea have some health benefits. I recently found this interesting online quiz all about tea:  check it out! http://www.teausa.org/general/teatest/teatest9.html

Let me know how well you did on the quiz, and tell me about your favorite brewed tea.