The holidays are a lot of people’s favorite time of the year. For most of us they are filled with family, friends, religious activities, and each year brings back sweet memories we thought we had forgotten. I love the holidays! I also love to EAT all through the holidays. While the average person doesn’t gain that much weight during the holidays, we eat much more food per meal than we typically do throughout the rest of the year. It can also be extremely difficult to diet throughout the holidays, and the likelihood of being successful is low due to the festive atmosphere. So where does that leave us?

One way to ease up on our bodies this time of year may be to incorporate more fresh foods into our holiday meals. I’ve always thought that Thanksgiving could use a little more fresh fruit (seeing as how most of the fruit comes in the form of pie.) A Thanksgiving Pear Turkey would be a hit. It’s not too “out there,” for those who may not be as health conscious, it’s cute, and pretty simple to put together!

You can pick and choose the kind of fruit you want to use depending on what is in season in your area and what might be on sale. (I got a whole pineapple for $0.99!) I also used 1 banana, 1/2 apple, 1 cup of grapes, a handful each of raspberries and blackberries, and a pear. You will also need a few carrot slivers for garnish.

First, wash your pear and slice it in half length wise. When shopping for your pear it is best if you find one with a fat bottom and a taller skinnier neck to look more like the body of a turkey.

Now you can start layering the fruit. I started with a handful of raspberries and placed them around the “head” of the turkey like so.

Follow with the next layer of fruit until you have filled up the plate or serving platter

Now use the carrot pieces to make legs and a beak for the turkey. The eyes in this turkey are seeds of the blackberry, but you can also use peppercorns or chocolate covered raisins as eyes.

And there you have it! A Thanksgiving Turkey everyone will be happy to gobble up. 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving from INDULGE in Nutrition!