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This time of the year is by far one of my favorites.  The family time, the decorations, festivities, Christmas movies, music, food,  more decorations, lights, crafts......

I truly love every moment of it, other than that feeling you get after you have loaded yourself with a plethora of junk foods, processed foods, foods high in saturated fat and sugar, or worse, the foods that contain a ton of artificial ingredients.  In years past we happily joined along in the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts.  I've been cooking those HUGE meals for the last thirteen plus years, happily slaving away in the kitchen.  A light bulb turned on in my head this year...an epiphany of sorts....  Why the heck do people feel the need to binge on these holiday favorites when they are available all year long?  Sure, some things might be seasonal, so enjoy those very favorite items in moderation.  I physically cannot marathon-eat like some folks.  We are most definitely grazers here. 

Before Christmas this year I took a family poll.  I wanted to know what everyone's favorite food was at Christmastime.  Without skipping a beat I had two very strong votes for sausage cheese balls, my homemade mashed potatoes and gravy and cookies.  DONE!  That was what I prepared this Christmas, along with our usual whole fruits and veggies.  I must say that not one of us felt miserable throughout the day and all of us enjoyed our Christmas that much more because instead of spending hours in the kitchen we enjoyed even more hours together. 

I am all for Christmas and holiday traditions.  Rest assured this is one tradition I plan to uphold.