Let’s be smart!
This is my granddaughter who arrived just last week. Look at those cheeks! She’s happy and healthy and absolutely adorable.
But you know, slap those same cheeks on me and … well, it might not be such a good look. You know what’s coming. My seasonal binge eating warning.
This is a tough part of the year. I mean, it has all of our favorites, right? From Halloween candy right on through to those New Year’s Eve hors d'oeuvres. The next two months are so calorie dense that we can literally eat two days worth in one meal. The average American consumes over 4,500 calories just on Thanksgiving dinner.
Just to be clear … I’m not going to skip anything, I am going to eat all my favorites. I mean, there is no way I am passing up pumpkin pie. It just comes down to how much I pile on that plate. When I was in my teens I had metabolism like a race car. I see my new granddaughter eat every couple hours and can think back to when I could do that too!
At this point in my life, when I preface things with “grand”, things are way different. I gain weight just by smelling food. There is so much math with eating now too. Counting the calories, macro ratios, percents of protein … sheesh, I need to take an abacus to lunch with me.
So I need to come up with a simple strategy to use this season. I think I am going to use the “picky 3 year old” strategy. Ever heard of this? You fill your plate like you were making it for your picky 3 year old. You want them to try everything, but you don’t want to give them a lot so they don’t waste it.
Now I just need to convince my stomach that it is not a ravenous 15 year old.
I want to wish you all a safe, happy Thanksgiving. All of us here, farmers included, want you to know how much you mean to us. We so appreciate your support and for the privilege to share our food with you!!
Highlights this week
Last call! The last day to order a turkey is Tuesday the 14th. We have a couple dozen frozen birds from 12 to 16 lbs from Nine Pines and our Amish Danville farms.
Please remember that our online store will close from the 14th to the 21st. There will be no deliveries on the 23rd and 24th.
So stock up now on anything you will need. If you order by the 14th, we will deliver on the 16th and 17th.
Here is something else we can do to save our waist line this holiday season. Cook smarter.
For example, I went to my favorite cookbook (Google) and asked for “healthy turkey stuffing”. It gave me pages of results, but as I dug in, they weren’t all healthy. Compare this recipe for Homemade Turkey Stuffing from a healthy eating site. 367 calories per serving with 11 grams of fat. Then we have Apple, Onion & Cranberry Stuffing that has 241 calories with only 4 grams of fat. They both look delicious, but losing those 7 grams of fat could make that slice of pie possible.
I did the same for pumpkin pie. Some healthy recipes weighed in at over 230 calories with 11 grams of fat! Yikes.
Most recipes used almond milk to cut down some of the fat, but I’m not really a fan. I finally found the Ultimate Healthy Pumpkin Pie recipe that used yogurt with honey or maple syrup and was able to only add 135 calories with 4.6 grams of fat.
Imagine this made with Painterland’s skyr, Wilcox honey and Jelliff’s maple syrup!!
I find that in real life, there are always compromises. We may have saved some calories on the pie, but now we are going to use them on this Fried Corn with Bacon side dish. It has 184 calories but brings a heavy 9 grams of fat with it. But that is bacon and to be honest, there really is not a substitute for bacon.
During the summer we took fresh from the field organic corn and froze the kernels for you. Throw in some bacon from Bluebird Ridge and you have an amazing side dish.
