We’re on the final countdown to the big day, when our family and dear friends will gather around the Thanksgiving feast.
If you’re the one manning mission control (a.k.a. the kitchen), good luck!
It’s not an easy task, no matter how many years you’ve been doing it. You have to provide so many different (and perfectly made!) dishes, along with dealing with Aunt Suzy, who won’t touch gluten, and cousin James, who made the decision to stop eating meat last summer.
So, given all these frenzied activities, even the most experienced chefs can slip up now and then. Especially when it comes to cutting corners.
Before you dash out the door for another round of parking lot bingo, take a moment to review some Thanksgiving dangers you want to make sure to avoid — including the top three common shortcuts that may save time but ruin your meal.
Food to die for, not from
By now, you probably already have the main event, your Thanksgiving turkey, “waiting in the wings.”
But when the time comes to send that festive fowl into the oven, putting it — or any other kind of raw poultry — in your sink and running water over it first is asking for trouble.
It’s very easy to spread dangerous bacteria all over your kitchen in tiny drops of water you likely won’t even notice. In fact, experts say there’s no reason at all to be rinsing off raw poultry.
So, no matter what you’ve been told… or what it seems like you should do… don’t wash the turkey!
There is, however, something that does need a good washing — and that’s anything that’s touched raw meat or poultry. Take that cutting board and any utensils that came into contact with the bird before roasting, and put them all in the dishwasher — or give them a really good scrubbing with soap and hot water.
And nothing can ruin a good bird faster than stuffing it full — and surrounding it — with some of the worst and riskiest additives food chemists have come up with!
That brings me to three common Thanksgiving staples that can cause the greatest risk to your health:
#1 Synthetic stuffing
If you think about it, stuffing is probably as simple a dish as it gets — seasoned bread with chopped veggies and fat. But if you read the ingredients on some of those bags or boxes in the supermarket, they’ve added a lot more than that.
Among the additives found in these products are HFCS and MSG (including “hidden” forms such as hydrolyzed proteins) — which have been known to trigger A-fib — trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils (despite the “ban” on these heart-stoppers that’s supposed to be enacted by next summer), and preservatives, including petroleum-based BHA and BHT.
The easiest solution — and a far healthier one — is to look for an unadorned bag of stuffing and add your own herbs and seasonings, or you can use your own loaf of past-its-peak bread to mix some up.
#2 Cringeworthy cranberries
This one is real shame, because the cranberry is probably one of the most nutritious berries out there. It contains the anti-inflammatory compound resveratrol, as well as loads of vitamin C and other antioxidants.
So, why settle for a gloppy, canned version that contains HFCS and has the most nutritious parts, such as the seeds and skin, processed out?
If you just don’t have another minute to spare to make your own fresh cranberry sauce (which is actually very easy), be sure to look for a “whole berry” version sweetened with cane sugar.
#3 Poisoned pumpkin pie
Nothing says Thanksgiving more than a freshly baked, yummy pumpkin pie — unless it’s one from the frozen food section that contains more additives than a high school chemistry lab!
I’m talking about ones such as carrageenan, a thickening agent that’s linked to a whole host of intestinal problems (including colon cancer!), along with HFCS, those killer partially hydrogenated oils I mentioned previously, GMO oils such as soy, and “natural flavors,” which could be just about anything.
The answer is to read the ingredient labels on these items carefully, or, better yet, buy a ready-made organic crust, a can of pumpkin with spices, and a can of evaporated milk. Now, that’s a real homemade pie!
When you’re juggling so many different dishes, getting some of the most popular Thanksgiving staples in ready-made form may seem like a great way to save time and focus on what’s really important. But in reality, all you’re doing is serving yourself and your family up a load of toxic additives.
And despite all the hustle and bustle, shopping, and cooking, remember, this is a time to be thankful — as much for your family and friends as for the food you’ve gone to all that trouble to prepare.
“Don’t serve up food poisoning for Thanksgiving. Here’s how to stay safe.” Kristi L. Nelson, November 10, 2017, Knox News, knoxnews.com
