As usual, my MIL soaked the turkey in a kosher salt/sugar solution overnight, which keeps the entire thing moist with minimal basting and makes it so you really don’t have to put any salt on it. She made mashed turnips instead of mashed potatoes, another tradition in our house, as well as Pepperidge Farm stuffing (don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it) and a nice can of jelled cranberry sauce (hey, some things you just don’t mess with!).

Rafael chowed down on a whole bunch of turkey, though we had to explain several times that it was turkey and not just a really big chicken. I’m still not sure if he really believed us. Markus ate a couple of small pieces of turkey, but then became a refusnik, happy to sit at the table with us and drink his milk.

Eventually, he agreed to eat pieces of biscuit, but definitely preferred it if we stuck it in his little mouth than if we put it on the table in front of him. Little pasha.

The most interesting aspect of the holiday, for some reason, was Rafael’s ravenous desire for Clementines.

Grandpa had bought a box from Costco and Rafael wanted to try one. He loved it. On Thanksgiving eve, he at at least four or five. On Thanksgiving itself, another two or three. He couldn’t get enough of them.

I don’t really know what that means. But he definitely won’t get scurvy.

Isn’t that always the way, though? Prices always go up quickly, but don’t seem to go down nearly as fast, nor as evenly.

But add to that the uncertain economic climate and the threat of layoffs everywhere you turn and a trip to the grocery store can become fraught with peril. OK, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but fact is, it can become a frightening prospect, even for coupon-clippers like me.

So the other day, I knew I had to share when I saw this article in Men’s Health on tips to save at the grocery store while still buying quality food, I knew I had to share. It seems the American Dietetic Association, basing its research on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (updated every 5 years, so we have a couple years to the new one), “found that you can enjoy a 2,000-calorie, wholesome meal plan for just $6.69 a day—about the cost of one super-value lunch from the drive-thru,” according to Men’s Health.

Even better, the magazine went to a nutritional expert from my alma mater, Anne Leavell from the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern University, for advice on good eats on a budget. For all the original info, of course go to the MH link provided above (aw, heck, here you go again), but I’ll give you the short list, along with my thoughts on each:

1. Get organized. I could not agree more. And I am no paragon of organization. But now that I have two little ones, even if I go shopping with only one of the boys, I find it sooooo much easier to get fully organized before I go. The times when I don’t have a list and coupons separated out beforehand and a plan of attack, I find myself going down certain aisles a second or even third time to get that one more thing I forgot. When I sit down with the circular, coupons and list of things we need to buy and coordinate the three, I am a force to be reckoned with at the market. I mark on the list which items I have coupons for, even write down how much of and which brand of cold cut or cheese I’m buying at the deli counter. Those days, I zip through the market like I own it.

2. Don’t shop on an empty stomach. Trust me. I’ve shopped when I was super-hungry before, and no good can come of it. However, I do find that even if the kids are a little hungry, it’s not so bad, because we go to the deli counter first and get a pound of muenster (“monster”) cheese and I give them slices of cheese as we’re going through the store. Keeps them occupied and happy.

3. Plan ahead. My husband’s great at this. He thinks about meals he wants to make during the week, and figures out all the ingredients he’ll need and gets it all written down on index cards. He also writes down items we need as they come to mind throughout the week, so nothing is forgotten. Then, I swoop in with my clipped coupons and circular and we’re good to go.

4. Set a budget. And stick to it. I truly believe this one depends on how you are with money. We never say, “OK, we’re only going to spend X dollars at the market.” We virtually always spend about the same amount, and with all the coupons (and in our area, all the markets always do double coupons for coupons worth less than a dollar, so if I have a 75-cent coupon for an item that’s $2, it works out very nicely.)

5. Shop the border first. Interesting. Never thought about that. But we always do the dairy aisle last, because we don’t want the milk, cheese or eggs just sitting in the cart, warming up, as we do our shopping. We usually start at the end opposite dairy, then make our way across the store, skipping the freezer aisles to go to last.

6. Look high and low—literally. I never noticed this: “Stores strategically place higher-priced, brand-name items at eye level. The less-expensive generic or store brands provide a great savings for the same nutritional value, Leavell says. They’re usually stowed out of sight, but the extra effort to reach or bend to pick them up is worth the savings.” I will have to watch out for that…

7. Be your own portion police. Well, because the food manufacturers aren’t gonna do it for you! You can buy the junk food you can’t resist in those 100-calorie packs, or you can buy in bulk and also buy resealable plastic bags or containers to make your own 100-calorie packs.

8. Recruit a bulk-shopping buddy. Well, this doesn’t really apply to those of us with families. Would have come in handy in my single days, I suppose. But what family can afford to be without the 24-pack of toilet paper?

9. Don’t waste. Leftovers are your friend. Sometimes we freeze leftovers. Sometimes we eat them for the next day or two or three, even. Sometimes we have one meal at week’s end that is more or less a buffet of all the week’s leftovers.

Which of these tips come in handy for you? And what tips do you have that aren’t mentioned here?

One afternoon when grandma was watching him earlier this week, he asked for green bell pepper with his “special sauce.”

Then he set about enjoying red bell peppers as well. The nice thing is that he’s been asking for the peppers as a snack; we haven’t had to suggest them. That makes it a lot easier to get him to eat them.

But we have a bit of a mystery, too:

The other day, he told us he eats salad with his lunch at school.

I asked him what was in the salad, and he replied, simply, “Salad.”

I asked if there was lettuce. “Salad.”

Tomato? “Salad.”

You get the idea.

The school lunch menu we have at home doesn’t specify anything, so we’re in the dark.

I can hear you ask, “How on earth can you be unaware of what your child is eating?”

Trust me, I feel totally lame.

But in the morning when I’m dropping the smitchik off at school, things are rather hectic and the staffers who man the doors to the gymnasium where the pre-K and kindergarten students gather before being led to their classrooms are kind of tied up with getting dozens of of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds to gather with their correct classmates.

And at day’s end, when my husband picks up Rafael, the teacher is dealing with lots of parents all trying to grab her attention to ask questions.

Besides, it was only just the other day that he mentioned the salad. These days, my brain feels so full that I can’t remember anything but the most vital information from one moment to the next. I’ll remember, at some point.

I’m just glad he’s eating vegetables. And whatever this “salad” is, I’m happy for him to eat it.

We figured the sprouts might win our picky boy over, seeing as they’re a member of the cabbage family and Rafael really likes cabbage.

So, we figured, why not try the über-mini-cabbages?

We learned long ago with Rafael that it’s all in how we sell it.

Cabbage is cool. Tomorrow, we told him, you can try Brussels sprouts, maybe. They’re Hobbit food, we told him.

We often make Brussels sprouts when we have steak, and we were having steak that night.

He was kind of excited to try.

As usual, he was suspicious when he first looked at it. But he would only truy one leaf at first.

Then, a quarter of a sprout. Then another.

Soon enough, he’d eaten two whole sprouts. Along with a whole lot of meat, as usual.

Bonus.

So I checked out the site and found a fun tidbit — the Jif peanut butter folks are holding their Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest.

The folks over at Jif give away $35,000 in scholarships to the creative little chefs. Four children get $2,500 apiece and the big winner gets $25,000.

Children have to be aged 6 to 12, and the deadline is Nov. 14. Go to Jif.com for all the details.

Let me repeat: I have two boys.

No matter what anyone says about children being children and all being the same, I can tell you, that’s a load of hooey.

Sure, there are girls who are not so girly (I, myself, was always a tomboy) and boys who are not so enamored of fart jokes. But, in general, there is a difference between the sexes that seems to rear its head at the youngest of ages.

Whenever one of my boys is having a meltdown or an emotional moment, I know that nine times out of 10, I can make a joke about farts or poop and all turns to giggles. Heck, most of the time, I merely need to say, “booger” or “poop” and a giggle fest ensues.

So I knew when I saw this recipe for “Protein Pus Pockets,” I had a winner in something that would be relatively healthy for Halloween, but appeal to their baser nature.

Whole wheat pitas, low-fat or fat-free mozzarella and deli meat. Oh, and ketchup as fake blood. Even this suggestion:

You could probably sprinkle some additional cheese on the platter to represent maggots.

The estimated nutritional info:

between 200-240 calories
around 6 grams of fat
between 12-15 grams of protein
around 25 grams of carbs

Enjoy All Hallow’s Eve, moms and dads. If you know of anything else super-gross I could make my little men for the holiday, please share.

This week, a modicum of success: Green bell peppers.

Part of it, like anything with children, is the sales job.

The day before Rafael tried the bell pepper for the first time, my husband talked it up. And told Rafael he couldn’t have it until the next day. We had a green bell pepper, but Rafael wasn’t allowed to eat it until the next day.

He really looked forward to trying it, with “special dipping sauce,” which was a creamy Caesar dressing we buy that has very little sugar in it.

Rafael enjoyed it a lot, calling it a cross between celery and broccoli.

He loves to eat celery with his mommy, with peanut butter on it (we buy the Costco Kirkland brand, which is nothing but crushed peanuts, no added sugar at all). He hasn’t really gotten into eating broccoli, even though he likes the idea of broccoli.

I loved the description, though.

Frankly, this isn’t just for the kiddies. I know my husband would probably like this, too. And it’s basically my favorite diner breakfast (except no hash browns, which I like extra-crispy).

Enjoy.

Really Fast, Really Easy, Really Tasty – video powered by Metacafe

Rafael, of course, declared he wasn’t hungry when asked, but my friend’s no fool and was making enough for all even before Rafaelito came out with, “I’m HUN-gry.” She and I just looked at each other and laughed.

So, the pasta was boiling and almost ready when my friend asked the terrible trio whether they wanted butter or cheese on their noodles. (She buys elbow pasta and makes her own mac & cheese when needed.)

Honestly, I wondered, “butter?”

But her daughter is kind of a picky eater (I mean, she doesn’t like chocolate!), and, sure enough, likes butter on her pasta. Then, about halfway through the bowl, she switches to cheese.

My boys, of course, like cheese.

The three of them, sitting side-by-side on the floor on a sheet, each eating from his or her bowl of mac & cheese (or butter) in a makeshift picnic in the living room — some memories you know you’ll just treasure.

Yes, we give them animal crackers. They get chocolate sometimes, but it’s dark chocolate. And the milk they drink is organic.

The problem is greens. In the past, we used to be able to get our children to eat more greens.

Both were really into peas at various points, but that seems to have faded.

My four-year-old was really into olives and even ate asparagus, but since he emerged from his extremely picky stage, he hasn’t accepted them back into his diet.

We’ve gotten lucky that he will eat raw red cabbage and carrots. But they’re not green now, are they?

I worry sometimes that we rely on grains, dairy and meat (and sometimes chicken) for the overwhelming majority of their calories. Both our little guys are huge carnivores. And the bread they eat is whole wheat, multi-grain or bakery-made; no Wonder bread here. Their cereal is either Cheerios or Honey Bunches of Oats.

Yes, they do drink juice and yes, they do eat certain fruits. Bananas, grapes, blueberries; Markus will eat raisins, though Rafael doesn’t like them anymore. But that brings me back to my original point: how is it that my children avoid virtually all greens (the grapes they prefer are red).

Trader Joe’s stores sell long-cut French green beans that are — I think — flash-frozen (when we defrost them, they are crisp, so I don’t think they were sitting around for long before freezing).

That seems to be the one in with Rafael, the four-year-old. He’ll eat them. And if — and only if — there’s peanut butter on it, he’ll also eat celery. Unfortunately, celery has virtually no redeeming nutritional value. It’s basically water with a little bit of fiber. And he already gets lots of fiber from all the grains he eats.

He always wants to try salad, but he’ll take a bite of the lettuce, wrinkle his nose and spit it out onto his plate. We keep letting him try it, in the hopes that one day, some day, he’ll actually eat it.

So this is the plan: walk around the supermarket produce department with Rafael and let him pick out a couple of greens he thinks he’d like to try. If he picks it out, maybe he’ll actually try it.

Stay tuned.

Photo via SXC.hu.