Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Bet You Didn't Know: Thanksgiving



Thanksgiving is about traditions of being thankful and individual Family traditions that give us memories that last a lifetime. Our family traditions can vary from home to home and at Thanksgiving many traditions include favorite family recipes and sharing what we are thankful for, these are all good for the soul.

I want to share with you one of my favorite family recipes and my thoughts on being thankful year round.

Being Thankful

Thankfulness, gratitude, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling, emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. When you focus too much on what you want, the mind creates reasons why you can’t have it. This leads you to dwell on your weaknesses. The best way to avoid this is consciously focusing on gratitude and being thankful.

Set aside time each day to mentally list everything you have to be grateful for. Recall your past successes, unique skills, loving relationships, and positive momentum. You’ll be amazed how much you have going for you and motivated to take that next step towards success.

Family Traditions

Traditions offer numerous benefits: they strengthen your family’s bonds, enrich the life you share together, contribute to your children’s well-being, and create lasting memories. For this reason, they form one of the three pillars of family culture.

Values. Values are the foundation of a family culture. Values give a family an overarching purpose and guide as to how each family member acts and behaves in different situations

Norms. Norms are the spoken and unspoken rules of how a family operates; they represent your values in action.

Rituals/Traditions. Rituals and traditions are a set of behaviors and routines that provide a family a sense of identity and purpose.

Orange Salad Recipe

My mother told the same story every time she served this salad. If you asked, she would not divulge the ingredients until you tasted it. Then she would talk about how much my brother liked this salad even though he did not like cottage cheese.  So, try this salad and maybe it will become one of your family traditions.

1 large container of small curd cottage cheese
2 small packages of orange Jello ( the dry power- do not add water)
1 can of well drained crushed pineapple
1 small can mandarin oranges chopped
1 large cool whip

Mix cottage cheese with dry orange jello and mix well.  Add the pineapple, mandarin oranges then fold in the cool whip.