How to celebrate a non-traditional Thanksgiving

For many reasons, perfect traditional Thanksgiving celebrations aren't always possible. Sometimes loved ones have moved away and can't return for the holiday. Sometimes petty disagreements keep family members from being close. Maybe you have suffered a loss of a loved one and would rather not celebrate this year or maybe your new job has relocated you far away from family and friends and except for the goldfish, you are totally alone in this world.

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Perhaps it's not people that are the problem but the menu. You might have just committed to vegetarianism and the thought of a twenty pound turkey sitting on the table is enough to make you break out in a sweat. Maybe your family has moaned one too many times, "We don't like turkey. Why do we have to eat turkey when we don't like it?" Or maybe you are struggling to lose weight and need to find a non traditional way to cook traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Not everyone is blessed with a large loving family, but everyone is able to invite a friend, co-worker, or neighbor to Thanksgiving dinner. Cooking for guests can be fun and rewarding as you are not only pleasing yourself you are giving happiness to your guests who might otherwise do nothing special for the holiday.

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Don't like to cook? Pick up Thanksgiving dinner the day before at your local supermarket and just heat it up before your guests arrive. Prepared turkey dinners are quite good and usually all you need to buy is some wine or soft drinks; everything else comes with your order including dinner rolls. If you don't have anyone to enjoy the day with and don't want to invite anyone to your home, think about helping out at your local shelter or soup kitchen. Acts of kindness always fill hearts with happiness and you can end up spending the day feeling lucky rather than sad about being alone.

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Menu problems are another story. The vegetarians in the family should be honored with meatless foods they can enjoy. If possible you can ask them to bring their own favorite dishes so that they enjoy their Thanksgiving meal and you can learn what to make for them another time. Vegans need even more care as their diets are stricter than average vegetarians. There is no shame in asking them to bring a dish of the food they enjoy for the same reason. When a whole family is dieting, keep the menu as low fat and low cal as you can. If only Aunt Martha is dieting, she can pick and choose from the numerous dishes what and how much she wants to eat. A great turkey dinner that will keep you slim is a sauteed turkey cutlet with mushrooms and walnuts, drizzled with a light sherry glaze, oven roasted Brussels sprouts, baked sweet potatoes, steamed green beans, rice stuffing and cranberry orange relish. Delicious, yet low in calories.

An even more nontraditional menu is to scrap the turkey and cook something your family likes better. Filet mignon, spaghetti and meatballs or even a roast chicken are great foods to serve family or friends and you can always have cranberry nut muffins to keep a bit of tradition in your nontraditional meal. Make Thanksgiving Day a special day by celebrating it exactly the way you want. If it's with family and friends fine, but if this year you want to take a vacation to the islands, that's okay too. Whatever you eat, and however you celebrate the day, take a minute out to say thanks because after all, that is what the day is about - not the menu; not even the guests.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!