One of my favorite times of the year is here again. And once again, my family Thanksgiving table will NOT have placed upon it one iota of fake, grain-ridden, fraken-foods that so many people year after year “enjoy.” Celebrating a holiday with loved ones is not the time for going face down in the foods that require a bucket of Tums to neutralize. In fact, it is my opinion that it is time for the exact opposite to happen in your family. Its a time to enjoy only the most healthful foods that money can buy.
Let me ask you all a question – if you ran out of pet food, would you ever feed your dog or cat a bowl of Quaker Oats instead? How about cereal – would you place a bowl of breakfast cereal like Wheat Chex or Captain Crunch down on the ground for your best friend to eat? Pancakes? Waffles? Pop-tarts?
So why then do you feed this stuff to your kids? (Yes my parents were guilty as charged too.)
Human behavior is really interesting. We do all sorts of things to ourselves and to our loved ones that are harmful without the slightest thought. Halloween candy? Sure! (But just not too much we warn, as if even one candy bar isn’t too much.) The irony: You get livid at your teenager for smoking a cigarette, when for the past 13 years of her life you’ve fed her foods that have harmed her health to a far greater extent than that one silly smoke.
I feel as if most of us are walking in our sleep when it comes to nutrition.
We blindly accept this Cheerios heart healthy symbol without stopping to think that the entire idea of it completely nuts. So why do we believe such nonsense? Why do we believe that whole wheat bread is healthy and white bread is evil? Are we really this dim-witted?
Of course not. So what is going on? Marketing you say? C’mon. Do you think even the largest and wealthiest companies could ever market you into believing that eating a medley of wood and metal flakes sprinkled with sugar and salt was healthful?
Think again. And again.
Make this years Thanksgiving a true giving and only put on your table foods that nourish. Make every dish a dish of love that harms not. Splurge for a free-range Turkey. Make a wonderful salad with roasted pine nuts and cranberries instead of mashed instant white potatoes. Or if you must have potatoes, mash real yams. Load it up with grass-fed butter and raw cream instead of marshmallows (that’s what my mom put on our potatoes).
“It’s tradition!” you shout. Tough noogies, say I. You’re afraid you’re going to hurt grandma’s feelings if you don’t eat her gluten-ridden gravy on top of her wheat-encrusted stuffing? You’re health is far more important than her feelings about her stuffing. And when you explain to her what you know about such foods and the reason why you just cannot eat them, she just might surprise you next year. In fact I know she will.
You could also share this recipe for gluten/wheat free stuffing.
Honesty is the best policy.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all and safe travels! I’d love to hear what you changed this year to make your turkey-day healthier!
