Anke Johnson has put together some fabulous and reasonable tips for surviving the Thanksgiving meal or meals if your me and have two Thanksgiving dinners to attend!

Have a Healthy, Happy Thanksgiving!

By Anke Johnson

For most of us, Thanksgiving is one of the happiest times of the year. The weather is cool and crisp. The wine is flowing. And we get to enjoy the company of family and friends. What’s not to love?

The only drawback might be the extra weight some people gain during the holiday season. Now, I’m not going to be a Scrooge and tell you to skip your favorite dishes on the 22nd. But here is what I do suggest: Focus on eating more of the healthier foods.

There are many healthy foods to choose from at Thanksgiving. Fill up on the turkey, tomatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, salad, nuts (preferably raw and unsalted), and all the other things that are good for you. Eat slowly and stop when you’re full. You don’t have to miss out on the candied yams (but if they’re not candied, fill up on them as well), stuffing, and dessert, but if you fill up on the healthy stuff, you won’t have much room to overindulge in those less-healthy options.

After dinner, take the kids out on a post dinner walk, before you do the dishes.  The fresh air will invigorate the most tired cook, but most of all you’ll get the much needed blood flow back for proper digestion.

Follow this advice and you just might make it till dark without passing out in a food coma.

Above all, enjoy your holiday!  www.naturalsolutionsbyanke.com

We have received a few emails wondering what happened to Postman Pat on NBC. Readers will recall I plugged this show back when it was only on HBO, and then I let you know it would start airing on NBC on Saturday mornings starting in October. In all honesty, we have enough episodes saved on Tvo to last a lifetime, so I haven’t had to tune in to NBC to get my Pat fix…so thanks for checking in with this seemingly unannounced change!

 So far, the only thing I have found online is this quote on a blog associated with the Orlando Sentinal:

“A few weeks ago, I posted some information on Postman Pat, a quaint new British show on NBC’s Saturday morning kids lineup. Tiny Dancer liked it though I’d had my doubts about it, thinking the storylines might not appeal much to toddlers …well, last Saturday we had it on and I see that it’s soon to be replaced with Jacob Two-Two. I inquired to one of Postman Pat’s PR reps a couple days ago, and she’s trying to get more information.”

I too will inquire with NBC and HBO, and will let you know what I find out!

  Aqua Dots , a brand of wildly popular craft toys, have been recalled due to a problem with the coating on the beads.  When ingested, the body metabolises the chemical in the coating as “the date rape” drug.  This can cause seizures, unconsciousness, coma and death.  At least two children who ingested the recalled toy went into comas.  This is a very serious matter, and you should confiscate any Aqua Dots that are included in the recall. 

More information on the Aqua Dot Recall and other recent recalls can be found here.

In light of all of the recent recalls, we’d love to hear readers’ plans for navigating toy purchasing during the holiday season.  Please post a comment and let us know your thoughts!  Mama Jen

We here at MomAppeal are the biggest fans of Bean Sprouts Cafe in Middleton, and what they do, so when they wanted us to combine our mommy powers with their mommy powers to launch Mommy Mojo, we jumped right in!  The first event is coming up soon, so reserve a ticket for this popular free event, November 15th.  Details below:

Mommy Mojo: What Not to Wear

November 15th 7:00-8:30 p.m at Bean Sprouts Cafe

For our first monthly Mommy Mojo, a local fashion guru will be at Bean Sprouts to help you face the truth about your fashion style, point out what styles are the most flattering for you, and boost your fashion IQ. Please reserve a spot by emailing info@beansproutscafe.com in advance. Free!.  For our past review of this fabulous establishment, click here http://momappeal.wordpress.com/2007/07/18/hip-bean-sprouts-cafe-opens-today-in-middleton-wi/

Healthy Child Healthy World is a great place online that gives all sorts of information to help you help your family have the healthiest start in life.  Many mom celebs like Sheryl Crow, Laura Dern, Brooke Sheilds and Meryl Streep give a voice to this wonderful site that offers answers, support and solutions for for creating a healthy and safe environment for kids.

I highly recommend you check it out to see what green tips and inspiration the site can offer you snd your family.  It is so nice to have so much information in one place!  For more local informationabout this great organization and it’s partners please contact Anke at info@naturalsolutionsbyanke.com 

Mama Jen

Mahar Drygoods has some of the most unique, fabulous hand-crafted items you’ll find.  If you are looking for an artisan gift for your child, or a special child in your life, this is a great place to start!!

Look at these adorable Crabby Pants!!!!!  They say it all with loads of charm!  I wish I had these for my daughter when she had colic….
                               

Take a look at this storybook-like elephant teapot.  This is a truly unique and beautiful collectible.
                                                          

Knitting kit for kids?  Check this adorable kid-friendly knotting kit out!!  Now you can share your love of knitting with your child!  Mama Jen
                                                      

Not that I am terrific at it, but I love to knit. I consider myself an enthusiastic beginner. Beginner or otherwise, all knitters know that it’s completely “normal” to have many, many (many!) projects going at once. My husband thinks I made this fact up, but I swear it’s true!

So lots of projects yielded putting one down for several weeks. I picked it back up this weekend and realized for the first time that with knitting (as with most things), you get what you pay for. I had purchased a set of Signature Needle Arts size 9 knitting needles with a stiletto tip and they are hands down the finest needle I have ever worked with in the 7 or so years I’ve been plugging along.

Signature Needle Arts needles are made in Kenosha, Wisoconsin. In full disclosure, I’m from the city right next door so I was buying a set of these needles from my “neighbors” no matter what. The needles were conceptualized and put into production by a knitter that was tired of commercial needles being too dull or too weak, and often not made in America. 

Each set of needles are custom. You go to their web site and you pick the size, length, decorative end and the needle tip. All this customization and you still receive your product really quickly. The customer service is awesome. I placed my order and the same day received a call from the owner offering a suggestion for a different needle tip for the project I was doing…and she was absolutely right!

Signature Needle Arts products have been featured in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, they have beautiful ads in Vogue Knitting and Interweave, and they were very well received a Stitches Midwest a few months ago. Soon they will be putting double pointed needles into production.

So if you or a friend is a knitter, consider adding these beautiful needles to your/their collection. No kidding, you will be tempted to throw away any plastic or aluminum needles you’ve used in the past and make these needles your new collection!

 My son has Lincoln Logs, and enjoys them very much. I knew I wanted to get him more logs to build with this holiday season, and came across Roy Toy play sets online. Very Lincoln Log -esque, but what I like about Roy Toy products is that the logs are not round…soooo much easier for toddlers to build successfully with!

Many sets to choose from, all well priced to fit any budget…from stocking stuffer up to big time gift giving. Reasonble shipping costs and my order arrived very promptly on my door step. Another plus (for me) is that this product is created in Maine.

Take a peek at all of Roy Toy’s products…you won’t be disappointed!

Christine! Congrats, Christine, on winning a long sleeved “Trophy Wife” tshirt from Planet Mom Tshirts!

Thank you to everyone who participated…and thanks again Planet Mom Tshirts!!

With the holiday season coming up, Mama Jess and I will begin every week with a gift idea for parents and/or their kids.  In the meantime, I came across a wonderful collection of links to toys made in the USA which may come in handy while shopping this year if all the recent recalls from toys made overseas has you bummed out.  Check it out at this fellow mom’s site http://journeytocrunchville.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/toys-made-in-america-part-two/.  Mama  Jen