Baked sweet potatoes with a touch of honey are much healthier than sweet potato casserole, topped with marshmallows, and taste better too. Mahed rutabaggas with salt and pepper are yummy, and healthy. Salads such as grated carrot with pineapple chunks are healthy and deliscious. There just isn't much you can do to a potato to make it healthy, so just eat reasonable portions.
Fro a healthy dressing/stuffing, make a brown & wild rice stuffing with giblets, livers, (giblets and livers are optional), celery, onion, sage, and turkey stock. Season with S&P, and garlic to go along with the sage.
Roast the turkey at 425 degrees F. until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees with its tip inserted through the breast, next to the thigh joint. Cooking hot will give you a crispier skin, and melt off more of the turkey fat. There is no need to baste, or fuss with the bird once it's in the oven. Let it rest, after removing from the oven, for 15 minutes. Then remove the breasts, and slice against the grain into thin slices. It's more tender that way, and everyone gets a bit of the crispy skin. Carve the dark meat from the bird in large chunks, so as to be able to slice them.
People won't be as apt to over-eat the turkey meat when it's portioned into thin slices. And remind all guests that they need to take a reasonable amount of food, so that everyone gets a some. There always seems to be someone that wants to hog a particular dish, be it the cranberry sauce, or the turkey, or the dressing, or whatever. Sometimes, they need a gentle reminder to share.
Freshly steamed green beans, dressed with a little olive oil, and dill weed, are better tasting, and healthier than your Aunt Lilly's green bean casserole with canned mushroom soup added.
Carrots are wonderful, steamed, and served with a bit of honey butter.
You don't have to do without to have a healthy, and delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Simply think about what you're making. If you are unsure of heathly foods, as described, try making them between now, and crunch time. That way, you can decide what will meet your standards, and allow you to be the culinary hero.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind fo the North