Don't be a turkey this Thanksgiving! Let's talk about our Rich Food picks (and favorite recipes) for Thanksgiving.
Starting with the Turkey…
Before you purchase that frozen conventional turkey this year, we want you to consider a couple of important points on why we recommend avoiding them! We suggest opting for an organic free range turkey, it'll be healthier for you and your family and also support your local turkey farm!
Poor Food: Conventional turkeys. These guys get minimal (if any sunshine) and can have unwanted pesticides and antibiotics.
Rich Food: Organic – Free Range (pesticide free feed, no hormones, no antibiotics). Healthy turkeys have higher percentages of omega-3 fats, which reduces the inflammation that can lead to heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, and Alzheimers.
Stuffing – make the swap!
Swap out packaged stuffing or homemade stuffing made from bread. The processed packaged stuffing options are usually made with white refined flour, which is grain that has had most of micronutrients removed. White flour wipes out 50 to 80 percent of the various B vitamins, 86 percent of the vitamin E, 85 percent of the magnesium, and 60 percent of the calcium. Here's our Rich Food pick, Quick Quinoa Stuffing!
Quick Quinoa Stuffing:
1 cup quinoa (sprouted if possible)
1 chopped onion
1 lb chopped white or exotic mushrooms
2 organic apples cored and chopped (should buy organic due to high pesticide residue)
1/8 cup chopped dried apricots
1/8 cup raisins
1/3 cup organic pine nuts (sprouted if possible)
1 tsp unrefined sea salt
½ tsp organic black pepper
1-3 tsp organic poultry seasoning
Directions:
1. Cook quinoa as per the directions
2. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and stuff tightly in turkey as usual.
Before you start mashing… read this! You've got options….
Swap out the Poor Food traditional mashed potatoes, For the Rich Food, micronutrient rich mashed potatoes with grass fed butter & organic milk & cream. Grass-fed dairy cows produce butter that has 50% more of the vitamins E and A, and nearly 400% more beta-carotene (which gives the grass-fed butter its deeper yellow color) than the butter produced from factory-farmed cows. Organic milk supplies 50 percent more vitamin E and 70 percent more omega-3 fatty acids, which are thought to reduce the risks , of cancer and cardiovascular disease. And, Add Garlic- active ingredient allicin, fights infection and bacteria. Try our Rich Food recipe below!
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
3 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (peel or leave the peels on for added potassium)
2 tablespoons unrefined sea salt
1 cup of organic milk (full fat)
1 cup of organic cream
3 tablespoons grass-fed butter
6 cloves garlic, crushed (at least 10 minutes before) or use roasted garlic (WE LOVE ROASTED GARLIC)
6 ounces organic grated Parmesan cheese
unrefined sea salt and organic pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Peel and cut potatoes. Place in boiling pot and cook till soft and breaking apart easily.
2. Place in mixer and beat in the remaining ingredients or use hand masher for extra exercise.
Or opt for low carb cauliflower mash instead… (like we do)
Simple & Deliciously Creamy Mashed Cauliflower
2 heads cauliflower
unrefined sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder & organic pepper to taste
4 tablespoons organic cream cheese
4 tablespoons organic grass-fed butter
Directions:
1. Chop cauliflower and steam till cooked.
2. Place in blender (vitamix or similar) and blend in the remaining ingredients.
Put down that can opener!
Canned cranberry sauce contain both sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), unlike sugar, it does not trigger the secretion of leptin, a hormone that tells your brain when you are full. Because of this, eating HFCS can lead to increased caloric intake and obesity. Instead, opt for fresh Cranberries made with stevia (without the sugar-like side effects and stevia does not spike insulin the way sugar does, so it is great for diabetics. It has been shown to kill oral bacteria, and it may help to lower elevated blood pressure.) Here's our very own homemade cranberry sauce recipe.
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
1 cup water
1 12-ounce package Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
Stevia to taste (use a little and you can always add more)
Directions:
1. Combine stevia and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil
2. Add cranberries and return to boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate and chill before serving.
Don't dig into dessert until you try this!
Swap out traditional pumpkin pie made with canned pumpkin and crust for our Rich Food, no crust pumpkin pie made with fresh pumpkin. Pumpkin pie will naturally make a crust on its own when baked. Remove the white refined flour altogether and save all the calories in the crust. Fresh pumpkin tastes a lot better and use organic spices to eliminate irradiation and substitute stevia for sugar. Everyone will love this Rich Food Pumpkin Pie recipe!
Pumpkin Pie
15 ounces of pure fresh cooked and pureed pumpkin (seeds removed) (about 2 cups) If you use canned pumpkin choose one in a BPA free can (like Natural Value)
Stevia to taste
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons raw honey
2 pastured eggs
3/4 cup evaporated milk (skim or full fat)
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each of organic ginger and nutmeg
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix pumpkin (seeds removed), stevia, honey, cinammon, ginger and nutmeg.
3. Beat in eggs vanilla extract.
4. Slowly mix in evaporated milk.
5. Put in a greased pie pan – use butter
6. Cover with foil to prevent burning.
7. Bake the pie for 40-45 minutes, or until the pie just setting in the middle.
8. Cool completely on a wire rack, and refrigerate until ready to eat.
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