A special Thanksgiving HFCS food of the week

What two side dishes are practically synonymous with Thanksgiving? Why, stuffing and cranberry sauce! There are tons of great stuffing and cranberry sauce recipes out there, but sometimes it's easier to turn to stuffing from a box and cranberry sauce from a can. Heck, cranberry sauce from a can is a tradition in itself for many families. So, let's take a look at these two Thanksgiving staples in a little more detail.

First, stuffing. I've talked in the past about how HFCS is ubiquitous in bread products, so it should come as no surprise that most commercial stuffing products contain HFCS. Take a look at the Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken ingredient list:

Enriched Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid], High Fructose Corn Syrup, Onions (Dried), Salt, Contains Less than 2% of: Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Yeast, Cooked Chicken and Chicken Broth, Maltodextrin, Monosodium Glutamate, Parsley (Dried), Celery (Dried), Spice, Sugar, Corn Syrup (Dried), Caramel Color, Turmeric, Disodium Guanylate, Disodium Inosinate, with BHA, BHT, Citric Acid, and Propyl Gallate as Preservatives.

What a list! And there as the second ingredient is HFCS. It also contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil, another ingredient I'm striving to avoid now. As tasty as it is, best to just avoid the Stove Top.

Next, cranberry sauce. I personally have never cared for cranberry sauce, but I know lots of people who really prefer their cranberry sauce to come from a can. I guess the texture of the sauce from the can is hard to duplicate. If you buy canned cranberry sauce, though, beware! Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce has a very simple ingredient list - Cranberries, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Corn Syrup. Unfortunately, a main component of that list is HFCS.


So, what can you do? Well, there are options for cranberry sauce that do not contain HFCS. Most organic varieties - such as Grown Right Organic Jellied Cranberry Sauce - won't contain HFCS. Or, if you have the time, you can make your own. VeganYumYum has a very yummy looking recipe for homemade jellied cranberry sauce.


Finding a stuffing mix without HFCS on your grocery store shelf might be a little harder. Luckily there are tons of delicious stuffing recipes online. We started making a bread-free wild rice stuffing a couple of years ago when my daughter had a wheat intolerance (one that she has since outgrown, thank goodness). It's easy and delicious and has become a new family tradition for us - one that I don't mind sharing with you.

Wild Rice, Sausage, and Apple Stuffing

1 cup wild rice (I use a wild rice/brown rice/white rice mix from the store)
3 cups water (or however much water the rice package indicates for a cup of rice)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 TBSP butter or olive oil
1 medium onion
2 cooking apples, peeled and chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ground thyme
pinch ground nutmeg
pepper to taste
1/2 lb turkey breakfast sausage links, casing removed

Combine wild rice, water, and 1/2 tsp salt in medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until the rice is tender and just bursting, about 30 min. Saute the onion, apple, celery, garlic, thyme, nutmeg and remaining 1 tsp of salt and pepper. Cook until softened. Stir in sausage, breaking it up, and cook until done. Combine the rice and sausage mix.

Hope everyone has a wonderful, HFCS-free Thanksgiving! I'll be taking the rest of the week off from blogging to enjoy all that this week has to offer. See you next week!

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Friday links

Time to pass a little love to some of the links that I've enjoyed through the week.

Do you take a lot of different medications? Or maybe have a parent or loved one that does? Then read this post! Musings of a Distractible Mind talks about the dangers of overmedication and gives great pointers on how to avoid problems when taking multiple medicines.

I love reading about different food ingredients and how they work together in cooking. Accidental Hedonist dissects the Toll House cookie recipe and explains each ingredients roll in the final product. Good stuff!

Liz Rosembaum has a great article on a subject near and dear to my heart - boycotting the clean plate club. As a parent, I often find that the dance between making sure my kids try good healthy foods while still maintaining their ability to stop eating when they're full (an ability I have long since lost, unfortunately) can be a difficult one. Check out her post for good tips for how to get back that ability as an adult.

Last is this really interesting publication (ok, in a very geeky, food science kind of way) from the American Council on Science and Health on the natural carcinogens lurking in your Thanksgiving dinner. The article isn't bashing Thanksgiving dinner, but it is eye opening!

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Finding a HFCS-free jelly

Jelly was going to be the surprising HFCS food of the week, but then I thought that jelly with HFCS - maybe not so surprising. I mean, jelly is sugar based, so it isn't surprising that jelly manufacturers might want to use HFCS to save a little money. But what do you do if you're a mom and you or your kids want a PB&J? Or if you want a piece of toast with a little smear of jelly? Well, fortunately, there are HFCS-free jellies and jams out there!

Most of the jams and jellies on my grocery store's shelves are loaded with HFCS, but I have found some exceptions. Most of the organic jellies, jams, and preserves do not use HFCS, and more and more brands are offering an organic option. I've bought Tropical brand strawberry and peach preserves that are just fine and HFCS free. One of my favorite non-organic finds has been Smuckers Low-Sugar (No Artificial Sweetener) Preserves. With less sugar, the fruit flavor is a little more pronounced than in the full sugar preserves.

One flavor - one of my favorite flavors - that has been exceedingly hard to find in a HFCS-free jelly is concord grape. In fact, I haven't found a HFCS-free concord grape jelly. I'm a bit surprised by that as it seems to be the flavor synonymous with PB&J sandwiches. There is a decent substitute, though. Cascadian Farm Organics sells a concord grape fruit spread. The consistency is not the same as a jelly, but it has a good concord grape flavor.

Or if you're really lucky, you have a mom who likes to make her own jelly and is happy to share it. I get the most amazing jellies from my mother - including kudzu blossom jelly made from the flowers of the kudzu vine. It has a kind of deep red-purple color and tastes kind of like a combination of strawberry and grape.


And my favorite - scuppernong jelly. My mom gathers wild scuppernongs (a wild grape closely related to the more familiar muscadine grape) or else gladly takes some that someone else harvested and makes a divine jelly that is quite unlike concord grape jelly.


You can also make freezer jellies and jams that have an amazingly fresh taste. They are a thinner consistency but really preserve the true flavor of the fruit much better than the kind of jellies that you can store in your pantry. I don't have it in me to make regular jams and jellies, but I think that I might try my hand at some freezer jams next year to preserve some of the wonderful fresh fruit of summer. The taste really is amazing!

Last, do you know what the difference between jellies, jams, preserves, and fruit spreads is? Jelly is made from fruit juice and has no fruit bits in it. Jam is made from crushed fruit and fruit puree and is generally less stiff than jelly. Preserves are made with large fruit chunks in a syrup or jam. There you go. They're basically the same, just getting chunkier as you go from jelly to jam and preserves.

So, if you're looking for a HFCS-free jelly or jam, head to the organic or specialty jellies and jams. Or, if you're an adventurous cook, make them yourself!

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All about nutritional yeast

Have you heard of nutritional yeast? I hadn't until a couple of months ago when I reviewed a cookbook that used it as an ingredient. Now I find myself using it more and more. I love finding and learning about new foods, and thought I would share some of what I've learned about this odd ingredient with you.

So, what is nutritional yeast? Nutritional yeast is a deactivated form of the fungus (yes, yeast is a fungus) Saccharomyces cerevisiae that has been grown on a molasses-based medium. The molasses gives it more flavor than either brewer's or baker's yeast. The yeast is dried and sold as a powder or a flake. Nutritional yeast has a cheesy or nutty flavor - think cheesy umami flavor. It's often used by vegans for its cheesy flavor.


What's special about nutritional yeast? Nutritional yeast is loaded with protein (50% by weight!), B-vitamins, essential fatty acids, and folic acid. Some brands, but not all, are fortified with B-12. (The vitamin B-12 is produced by bacteria and then added to the yeast during the growing process. Not all companies do this, but Red Star apparently does.) The addition of B-12 makes nutritional yeast especially popular among vegans and vegetarians, as B-12 is an important nutrient that can be hard to get if you don't eat meat. It's also low in sodium, which is great when you're trying to impart a little extra flavor without loading up on sodium.

How do you use nutritional yeast? It's apparently a very popular topping for popcorn in some areas and because of its cheesy kind of flavor is often used in place of parmesan cheese in vegan diets. I've been sprinkling it onto vegetables like lima beans while I cook them. It adds a very subtle pleasant flavor to them. It could also be a salad topper. Its flavor is mild enough and pleasant enough that it really could be used on many different foods with good effect.

Where can you find nutritional yeast? You can order on-line or many health food stores sell it. Red Star is a very popular brand, and one of the brands that adds B-12 to the yeast. (If you're specifically consuming nutritional yeast for the B-12, read labels carefully! They aren't all fortified with B-12.) Nutritional yeast is sometimes sold as "savoury yeast flakes" or "vegetarian yeast."


Whatever you do, don't confuse nutritional yeast with brewer's yeast! I had two health food stores in my town tell me that they're the same thing - one even sold nutritional yeast (as vegetarian yeast) without knowing it. Brewer's yeast is a byproduct of the brewing industry and has a bitter flavor. It's the same deactivated yeast strain, but the growing medium is decidedly different resulting in decidedly different flavors.

Also don't use active, bread making yeast in place for nutritional yeast. Active yeasts are still alive and may continue to grow in your intestines resulting in you not getting all of the nutrients out of your food as you should.

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Wraps - my favorite lunch

I am crazy about homemade wrap sandwiches. I have a wrap almost every day for lunch. They're so easy, and if you choose the right ingredients, very healthy! So, I thought I'd do a quick post today and share one of my favorites.

Start with a tortilla - I like to use a whole wheat or multi-grain tortilla. Unlike bread, I have yet to see a tortilla with HFCS in it, so it's a pretty easy to acquire HFCS-free ingredient. Next, add a smear of hummus to your tortilla. Then top with your favorite ingredients - today I added sliced onion, bottled roasted red bell pepper, fresh basil, and feta cheese.


I came across this combo in Cooking Light. They also added sliced lemon chicken, but I never have lemon chicken on hand and like it just as well meatless. Roll up and enjoy! So quick and easy!

Other standbys for me are a smear of cream cheese topped with a smear of basil pesto, onion, tomato, and sliced turkey. Or a smear of cream cheese topped with a smear of salsa, sliced avocados, and onion. The combinations are endless!

So, for a quick and healthy lunch, grab some fresh ingredients and a tortilla and go crazy! And if you come up with some particularly tasty combos, let me know about them!

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And the winners are...

Time is up! Thanks to everyone that commented this week. Your comments are always appreciated, contest or not!
The winners of the two 1 year subscriptions to James Hubbards' My Family Doctor are.. MizFit and Amy from Super Healthy Kids! Congrats to both of you!

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Friday links

Time to send out some link love again!

Dr. Bryan Vartabedian writes about HFCS in a well-balanced post on his blog Parenting Solved. If you're a parent, you'll want to add his blog to your daily reading list!

Healthy Eating has a couple of posts well worth reading this week. First, is the nutritional information you get off the web reliable? Find out where to go for quality information. Second, Thanksgiving is coming up. How are you going to handle well-meaning moms and grandmas who want to fatten you up with a second helping?

For all the parents out there, I just discovered this blog - Parent Proved - and love it. Lots of food for thought - as well as lots of good information.

Last, A Life Less Sweet made the list for 100 Best Blogs for Mind, Body, and Soul. Can't wait to check out the others on the list!

Enjoy your weekend! And don't forget to comment for a chance at the My Family Doctor magazine subscription. Tomorrow is the last day for comments!

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