Thanksgiving is a great time to introduce more whole grains and whole sweeteners.

Pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, turkey stuffing and even mashed potatoes can be
adjusted to provide more nutrition and keep all the delicious flavour.

Those who eat whole grains and whole sweeteners on a regular basis will find
they eat less at the traditional food fest as the body will be satisfied sooner.
But eat slowly to give the body time to tell the brain it has received sufficient food.

Dressing: This is the easiest to change. Buy a whole grain bread loaf to substitute
for the white bread chunks. Kamut bread  has a taste suitable for easy substitution
with those use to to the taste of white bread. Dry bread is best for dressing.
However, if the bread is fresh, place it in the oven at 150 - 200 degrees F until
it is dry (about an hour). For a rice dressing, use brown rice or a wild rice blend.
Quinoa or millet can also make a nice dressing.

Pumpkin Pie. The pastry needs to be made with whole grain flour and whole sweeteners
but this is easy to do. Spelt makes the best pastry as it is soft like traditional cake and
pastry flour. This pumpkin pie recipe is has a gluten-free option as well.

Mashed Potatoes: Make with butter and whole milk as usual but leave the skin on
the potatoes. Yukon Gold potatoes are the best as the skin is quite thin and not
that noticeable. Leaving the skin on keeps the fibre, making this potato option complete

Cranberry Sauce: It's traditionally made with white sugar but can easily be made with the
whole sweetener of choice.  A 50/50 blend of maple syrup and sucanat would be
the most like the version most people are expecting. 

Here is an easy recipe:

1 package cranberries (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup sucanat
1 cup water

Mix all the ingredients together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and lower to simmer.
Simmer until the liquid starts to thicken (about 25-30 minutes). The spoon test is the
easiest way to see how thick the sauce will be when cooled. Stir the sauce with a spoon
Turn the spoon sideways with some of the juice on it and hold it above the saucepan
to allow the juice to run off. The juice will cool quickly as it falls from the spoon and
if it is ready, the run-off will quickly thicken. Otherwise, if it is still too thin, it will run off
like water. Once it has reached the desired consistency, remove from saucepan,
transfer to a glass serving dish and let cool. Serve with dinner.

For an different flavour option: Substitute the jucie of an orange for some of the water.
Make sure the liquid still equals 1 cup. Grate the rind of the orange and add to the
cranberry mixture.