Thanksgiving Tradition for Developing Gratitude and Giving

Meet Tom T. Gracias. He's a new addition to our home this year. I can't decide if he is cute or creepy (😂), but he's really growing on me so I'm guessing he's the former. I found him in Michaels last month, and although I didn't buy him right away, he kept popping into my head. I think it is because he is a creative take on a popular Thanksgiving activity: writing down what you're grateful for and then reading those things aloud on the actual holiday.

Tom (a name I totally made up) was actually created by the company Turkey on the Table (read more about them below). He's a hit with my family, and I don't just mean my kids. Even my nieces love him and write down what they are grateful for on a blank feather so they can add it to his tail. I mean, I don't even have to ask any of them to go write something down. They just see him and grab a feather and a pen.

I left him attached to the "board" he came with, but he'll easily stand alone on his big feet. He's a sturdy guy, which is good because he gets handled a lot as the kids try to attach his feathers. I chose to set him up way in advance of the holiday so that my kids would spend time thinking on a daily basis about those things for which they are grateful. I don't want them to just think about it once a year on Thanksgiving. So Tom may stay up for a while. 

He came with a small picture book that describes his purpose. You can read it to your young children - they'll love the illustrations and rhyming story. And he also came with a set of blank feathers and a permanent marker. But I'll be honest, I decided to use dry-erase pens so that the kids could correct any mistakes and so we could use the feathers again next year. But if you visit their website, Turkey on the Table offers a variety of feather styles and other accessories.

Oh! And one of the best parts of him is that he's multilingual. Ha! You can write on his feathers in whatever language you wish.

Part of why he caught my eye at the store is that the company has partnered with the nonprofit Feeding America. According to the company's website:

To date, over 1 million meals have been donated through the efforts of Turkey on the Table. For each Turkey on the Table® kit purchased, Turkey on the Table donates one dollar to Feeding America on your behalf, which in turn helps secure ten meals.

So in buying this turkey kit, I managed to double the difference I am making. And that means a lot to me. 

Although I bought Tom at my local Michaels, you can find out more about him on this website: turkeyonthetable.com.

Just so you know: This is not a sponsored post in any way. I stumbled upon this lovely product on my own and paid for him out of my pocket as a gift for my family. I love this activity so much, I wanted to share with you...

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

Teaching Kids About Giving with Frigidaire & Best Buy

This is a sponsored post.

With Christmas and the opening of gifts less than a week away, I am still working on teaching my children to focus on those less fortunate and develop their Spirit of Giving. Over the last month or more we've worked on handmade gifts for our family and friends, we've also tried to spread the message about non-profits across the country who do so much good in their communities, and even donated some of our earnings to a few of them. Today I want to talk about how you can help your local community.

I know that during the holidays, there are usually lots of fabulous deals on major appliances. Perhaps you are planning on buying one for yourself or maybe for los abuelos? Or maybe, as the end of the year approaches, you are already thinking about making some tax-deductible donations to help you when tax time rolls around in a few months. Or maybe you just want to help teach your children about the spirit of giving to those who have less.

If so, I want to encourage you to think about donating a new or gently used appliance to your local chuches, food pantries, and community centers who serve at-risk families.

I'm so thankful that this year, Best Buy and Frigidaire made it possible for me to donate a new Frigidaire Gallery 30" Induction Range to our local church. The church is located in a low-income neighborhood and during the spring and summer months feeds some of the poor and homeless in the community. It's been bothering me so much that the equipment in their kitchen is badly outdated. I'm not sure what type of oven they had, but it was badly rusted. It had a double oven (one on top and one on bottom) and the bottom one didn't even work, neither did one of the stovetop elements and one of the knobs didn't even match the stove! I don't know how they managed to cook on that thing.

Anyway, we asked them if they would accept the donation of a stove and they readily agreed. The new Induction Range was a big deal for everyone! The new technology took a bit of figuring out, but it is so efficient now and makes cooking meals easy. The biggest difference is the induction range, which transfers heat directly to the cookware leaving the cooktop cooler to the touch so your spills don't burn and stick!

The only thing is, though, that not all pots and pans work on the stove. Since the heat is transferred magnetically, you have to use stainless steel pots (Note: not all stainless steel works!). But we got this 10-piece set of reasonably priced cookware which works beautifully. (Psst! Lots of department stores have this on sale during the holidays!)

Anyway, the induction range comes with five cooktop elements, including a food warmer, so if your bread/soup/vegetables are finished before the roast, you can still keep them warm. There are various settings, but one of the best features is the power boost that allows you to boil water in under 2 minutes! (Champurrado, anyone?)

And the oven! It's fantastic. You can choose from a normal baking setting or the convection oven, which circulates the air prefectly around your food, cooking it faster and more evenly. It also comes with a delay-bake, which allows you to program the time to start baking at a certain time in case you want it to start warming up while you are driving home from work/school/shopping or are otherwise busy.

It also comes with an Effortless™ Temperature Probe that allows you to set the desired finished temperature and alerts you when that temperature has been reached. The oven then holds the desired temperature of the meat by switching to a keep warm function for better cooking results. How crazy wonderful is that?

All of these features make it easy to create large meals when feeding a lot of people.

Here's a video to show you exactly what I've been trying to describe:

The church members were so thrilled with the new stove and we immediately tried it out with a few dishes... which came out beautifully, I might add. 

I was so happy that my daughter had the opportunity to experience this moment of giving so that she could learn how important it is to give selflessly to others and help make a difference in someone's life. And I hope it made her realize that it's important to think about purchasing big-ticket items for others (not just ourselves), such as non-profits, churches, cultural centers, and other organizations who play a vital role in a community.

Now we just need to get them a new refrigerator!

May your holidays be filled with loving and giving.

Disclosure: I am a Best Buy Brand Ambassador and was compensated for this post. However, all thoughts and opinions listed above are stictly my own.