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I'm a big tea lover, and fall and winter are the perfect times to warm up with a nice cup in the evening. I have also found having a tea in the evening is the perfect way to may me feel full and even satisfy my sweet tooth. In the past I have written about Chocolate Teas, which I absolutely love, but there aren't many decaf options for the evening. So this post is all about vanilla teas!

Holidays bring a myriad of emotions. The joy of spending time with family and friends can be the highlight of the season. The flip side of this coin is that family gatherings tend to center around food, and the inevitable pressure to eat everything your Aunt Trudy made. After all, she made that sugary carb-loaded favorite just for you! Will it really hurt to have just one serving and save her fragile feelings?

Thanksgiving was Thursday. Maybe you took an Indulgence Day, maybe - like a growing (or, more accurately, shrinking) group of low carbers, you kept on low carbing right through the feast. I heard from a lot of people who had fauxtatoes and sugar-free pumpkin pie. Regardless, you probably have some leftovers kicking around. You're not going to be eating turkey sandwiches, or at least I hope you're not. So what to do with your leftover bird?

I have had very low carb stuffing that was remarkably like cornbread stuffing, made from - of all things - crushed pork rinds. The recipe comes from my erstwhile friend Trish Z. who very kindly let me use it in 500 More! Low-Carb Recipes. Here it is!

As a Yankee, I'm used to stuffing made from wheat bread, but if your roots lie in the South, you've likely grown up on cornbread stuffing. You'll need to make your own cornbread if you want to keep the carbs reasonably low. Here's a lower carb recipe for a good Southern-style cornbread.

Less traditionally, you can make this great Low-Carb Apple Walnut Dressing with no bread at all. Try this quick-and-simple skillet recipe.

Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake recipe from Liz Nielsen.

Call it stuffing, or call it dressing, it's just not a holiday turkey without it! For me, stuffing is an essential part of holiday dinners. Indeed, I used to have what I like to call an "indulgence" (a term I prefer to "cheat") on holidays largely so I could have stuffing! Since then, however, I've learned to cut back on the carb count of my turkey stuffing. Here are some ideas:

Dana Carpender's Low-Carb Gravy Recipe. The holiday season is here! That means lots of big family dinners, flocks of roasted turkeys - and gallons of gravy. This last gives many people pause. I learned this at age twenty one, when a group of young and broke friends bought a couple of whole chickens on sale, and roasted them for a budget dinner party. When the chickens came out of the oven, I said, "Look at those nice drippings. Would anyone like it if I made gravy?"

We have all heard and/or made self-defeating statements regarding our low carb plans, but the enticement to stray is far more insidious during the holiday season. Watch out for these statements of sabotage which can wreak havoc on your low carb plan.