How do you eat Thanksgiving dinner without becoming a butterball?

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  Besides seeing my family, it usually gives me the opportunity to get into the kitchen and cook on a grand scale.  I love making both the tried and true dishes, such as Waldorf Salad that my Mama insists on, as well as trying out new recipes.  This year I might try a roasted red cabbage salad:  http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-roasted-cabbage-slaw-with-hazelnuts-lemon-recipes-from-the-kitchn-178256 (thanks to Jessica C. for sharing the recipe!).  Even though Mama's menu is set, I think I can get her to add one more salad if we have time to make it....

With all that food comes a little apprehension about whether my clothes will fit the next day.  Most of us don't eat the way we used to, and I certainly don't serve that much food on a nightly basis in my home.  In addition, my metabolism isn't what it used to be, and I know I can't allow myself to eat everything in sight, unlike the good old days of skinniness.  So, what to do?

This year I am going to try planning ahead.  I suppose you can call it eating in moderation.  I have made a few boundaries for myself to get maximum enjoyment with a minimum (notice I didn't say small or tiny) amount of calories.

1.  Pre-dinner:  Slim down my recipes.  Since I get to help cook, I'll try to use low fat ingredients instead of full fat, as long as the flavor is still there.  That Waldorf salad is definitely going to have low fat mayo.  Our all natural turkey will be grilled instead of slathered with butter and baked.

2.  At dinner:  I am only going to taste the food that I really enjoy, look forward to, or want to try.  It is even easier if the food is served from a buffet instead at the table.  At all the Thanksgivings that I attend, there is so much food that there isn't enough room on my plate to try each dish, even with small helpings.  So, since I don't really like a particular dish that is always served, I'll skip it.  There is no need to get additional calories from something I don't even want to eat.

3.  Avoid the bread.  I love bread, but unless it is homemade bread that I really love or that was made especially for me, I'm going to try and skip it.  I can eat bread any time I want, so I'm not going to fill up on those calories on Turkey Day.  By the way, dressing is not considered bread in my book.

4.  Get small portions.  Just in case that casserole I've been dreaming of didn't really turn out well this year, I don't have a huge amount on my plate to eat.

5.  Drink water instead of sweet tea.  This is for others, I'm going for the tea with real sugar.  It's a treat.

6.  Don't eat a big breakfast.  I'm saving my calories for the special meal later on.

7.  Pick a favorite dessert and only eat one slice.  I'm not sure I can only eat pumpkin pie if there is also a pecan pie staring at me, but I'll give this idea a shot.

8.  Go for a walk.  I hope to be able to get outside after dinner and move around a little bit, so that I won't feel so guilty about leftovers later that night.  Perhaps chasing my 2 year old will also do the trick?

9.  There's always leftovers!  I can get to try something again at home on another day, so no need to overload myself at that one meal.

If you have any tried and true techniques to get the most satisfaction during your Thanksgiving Day with less fattening results, please share them!

(This is one of several buffets we had one Thanksgiving; there wasn't enough room on this enormous sideboard for all the food.)

Turkey Time

Thanksgiving is coming and we are all giving some attention to where we will be and what we will be eating.  If you are going to have the traditional Thanksgiving feast, have you thought about where you will be purchasing your turkey?  Some of you have already bought a frozen turkey from the grocery store and have it safely in deep freeze.  But, for those of us who haven't gotten there yet, there are now other options.  These days you can easily find a fresh turkey (uncooked), or even order one from a restaurant or other organization already cooked.  For the fresh turkeys, they can be conventional, natural (I usually think of this as no additives or preservatives), or even organic (just the turkey, ma'am - no hormones, antibiotics, GMOs in their feed, etc.).  Many health food stores are taking orders for your fresh organic turkey right now, and the prices are not that bad.  I've heard a price range of $4.00 per pound and up.  You can then pick it up the day before Thanksgiving and not worry about defrosting your bird in the refrigerator for days.  If you are lucky enough to have a free range turkey farm near you, they may sell one to you directly, eliminating the middle man.  Each year we usually order a smoked turkey from a barbecue joint, but I'm sure it's probably conventional.  I'm not so excited about it this year, but maybe my solution is to ask around - perhaps there's a delicious organic smoked turkey out there for us.   Do happy turkeys taste better?

(Conventional factory farm)

(Free range farm)

A Birmingham lunch

 Today I am in Birmingham on business and decided to get out of my "I'm traveling so my only choice is a fast food drive-thru" rut.  I succeeded with Brick & Tin (www.brickandtin.com), located on 20th St. N. in downtown Birmingham.  My homemade butternut squash soup and "Tuscan" panini (portobello mushroom, sun dried tomato, walnut and provolone pesto on whole wheat bread) was absolutely delicious, healthy, and prepared within 5 minutes.  It was hard not to say "mmmm" after each bite.   While I waited for my food, I enjoyed looking at the beautiful tin ceiling and rustic decor, with trees lining the street outside.  Next door was a fast food sub shop, where I could have spent the same $8 on a prepackaged lunch meat sub and a bag of chips.  I'd call my effort a success.  Can't wait to find another local restaurant to try on my next trip here. 

Syria...Seriously?

Today I learned from Georgia Organics that Syria is the latest country to ban GMOs.  I had to read the article several times to get my mind around it.  Syria, a country that is attacking and killing "rebels" (who are also Syrians) has decided GMOs are too dangerous to be consumed inside that country.

Not only are GMOs not banned in the U.S., our government doesn't even require our foods to be labeled as to whether they contain GMOs.

What other countries have banned GMOs outright?
Algeria
Egypt
Sri Lanka
Thailand
China
Japan
Philippines
The EU
Norway
Austria
Germany
United Kingdom
Spain
Italy
Greece
France
Luxembourg
Portugal
Brazil
Paraguay
Saudi Arabia
Australia
New Zealand
American Samoa
Cook Islands
Fiji
Kiribati
Federated States of Micronesia
Marshall Islands
Nauru
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu

Many more countries have restrictions on GMOs or require labeling of products that contain GMOs (there may be some that I did not list above).

Thanks to the Center for Food Safety for providing us with this handy map!  (Click here to actually read it:  http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/gmo-labeling-map-of-the-world/#.UJvcduSoPE0)  I don't see any colors near us, do you?

The U.S. is clearly behind many other first world countries when it comes to a) protecting our food supply and b) giving consumers information to make their own choices.  I hope that one day my home state decides to step in and make this change where the Federal government has not.