Thanksgiving is next week and I'm in charge of making the succotash and the stuffing. I'm both excited and freaking out thinking, "Great, I get the carb/butter/fat ridden dishes." (Which I realize most of the foods we traditionally eat on Thanksgiving probably fall in these categories. Oh, and I'm going to be honest. I volunteered to bring these dishes because they are 2 of my favorites, but that was before I remembered or thought about the fact that they are both pretty unhealthy dishes.) But, all that being said...I am going to try and re-vamp them and see if there is a way to make them a little more healthy. I understand this won't be able to be a complete win but I am determined to make them a little less bad for you.

Here are some of the recipes I've found that I'm leaning towards making (I even revamped a few of these recipes to make them even healthier. Like swapped out white bread for whole wheat

Vegan Stuffing (which means no eggs & no butter, aka healthier smile emoticon )
Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing the baking dish
2 bags green tea
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 cups stale, 1-inch cubed whole wheat bread (about 1 pound)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with oil.

Brew the tea bags in 2 cups of hot water for 5 minutes. Discard the tea bags (don't squeeze them out).

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until just soft, about 6 minutes. Add the mushrooms, sage, thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the brewed green tea, then bring to a simmer and remove from heat.

Put the bread in a large bowl and pour in the green tea-vegetable mixture. Add the parsley and toss until the bread is completely coated. Let rest for 10 minutes so the bread can soak up the liquid. Gently toss again and transfer to the prepared baking dish. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Serve hot.

Succotash
(this is sad for me that I shouldn't make this in a cream sauce, but this recipe sounds good too.)

INGREDIENTS
• 1 tablespoon light olive oil
• 4 ears corn, kernals removed or 11⁄2 cups frozen corn, defrosted
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 cups baby lima beans (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium-high flame. Add the corn, cooking until it's lightly browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the green onions and cook for a minute or so more. Remove from heat.
2. Bring 6 to 8 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the lima beans and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.
3. Add the lima beans and sage to the corn mixture. Heat all the ingredients well over a medium-high flame. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.