by Amelia M.L. Montes (ameliamontes.com)
FelÃz Dia de Acciónde Gracias or simply Dia de Agradecimiento this Thursday! Here are two bilingual children’s booksthat work well reading out loud con familia on Thanksgiving. Even if your familia doesnot include anyone under 10, I find these books fun and lovely to read duringthis time—especially if you’re wanting to practice tu Español!
Gracias * Thanks by Pat Mora and illustrated by John Parra. Mora illustrates a little boy’s gratefulness in beautifulpoetry.
Celebra el Dia de Acción de Gracias con Beto y Gaby by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy. Illustrations by ClaudiaRueda.
A snowstorm isapproaching preventing relatives from coming to Beto y Gaby’s house. The snowstorm, however, brings otherunexpected guests: elder friendswho are stranded. The celebrationbecomes a gathering of an alternate familia. This coming weekI’m getting together con mi familia and, as always, everyone has a dish toprepare. All of us are watching the carbohydrate (sugar) content in the foodswe eat at the same time that we are committed to enjoying deliciousdishes. So how do you do that on aday like Thanksgiving?
There are manylow carbohydrate recipes on-line and there are also a number of lowcarbohydrate cookbooks offered. Instead of giving you a listing, I’m going to tell you about a fewdishes I’ll be bringing to the table. I find that food is much more delicious now on a low carbohydratediet. I can taste more and I don’tget that heavy feeling after a meal. I remember those Thanksgiving meals that were heavy on carbohydrates/simplesugars and how all of us felt sleepy and lazy and we all complained aboutgaining weight during the holidays. Not any more!
A note oncarbohydrates: Carbohydrates aresugars and starches. There are twotypes of carbohydrates: simple andcomplex. The simple carbohydrates are refined processed foods like white bread,packaged cereals, soda, corn syrup, etc. Even non-refined foods like carrotsand potatoes have a very high content of sugar. Eating one carrot is like eating a spoonful of pure sugar.Foods that are on this list have a low or non-existent nutritional value andcause hunger and weight gain. Complex carbohydrates are foodscontaining a lot of nutrients and fiber as well. Examples: spinach, broccoli, all the berries (raspberries, strawberries,blueberries, etc.), cauliflower, asparagus.
At the end of this section on food and recipes, I've included atimeline that explains how we have been conditioned to think thatsugar/carbohydrates are not dangerous. Mother Jones Magazine this month includes an in-depth article about how ourconsumption of sugar has increased and why. In 2010, the Centers for DiseaseControl (CDC) predicted that by 2050, 1 in 3 individuals will haveDiabetes. Just this past week, theCDC reported that “Diabetes prevalence rates jumped dramatically across thenation between 1995 and 2010.” “ .. . [O]verall, the median prevalence of diagnosed diabetes went up from 4.5% in1995 to 8.2% in 2010.”
“All told, ratesincreased 50% or more in 42 states, and 100% in 18 states. The largest increases were in Oklahoma(up 226%), Kentucky (158%), Georgia (145%), Alabama (140%), and Washington(135%). CDC representatives saidthe new numbers were a mere taste of what’s to come unless public healthagencies figure out how to combat Type 2 Diabetes, which was diagnosed in anestimated 18.8 million people in 2010.” (from L.A. Times article by Eryn Brown)
Instead ofcrying over these statistics—I bring to you alternatives to help you consider adifferent, more delicious, nutritious and life-saving Thanksgiving. After all—Thanksgiving translated inSpanish is “Acción de Gracias.” “Accion”—Action! Bring yourfamily together in an act of loving and health-filled kindness. Also, this month is Diabetes Awareness Month and if you have a Walgreens Pharmacy in your area, they are offering free A1C testing for the month of November (A1C is the best test to find out if you or your loved ones/friends have pre-diabetes or diabetes. It's a quick and easy test and you don't need to fast. All that is asked of you is a little blood via a pin-prick on your finger). Here's the info: CLICK HERE
AlternativeDishes to try (and also to add or delete ingredients as you see fit. It’s fun to play with recipes):
Stuffing: A possible alternative to avoid allthat high sugar bread that is in most stuffings is to try GarbanzoStuffing. Here is the recipe: (CLICK HERE) Check out the reviews of this recipe as well because in thereviews, you’ll find how some people added other ingredients (likezucchini).
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| Garbanzo Stuffing |
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| Mashed Cauliflower |
Alternative side dish: Spaghetti Squash makes an excellentside dish for Thanksgiving. It isalso a perfect alternative to the very high sugar/starchy spaghetti. And it’s another “easy to prepare”food.
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| Spaghetti Squash |
The most difficult part ofthe process is cutting the squash in half. You’ll need a good sturdy knife and strong hands. Be patient and careful. Once it’s cut in half, scoop out theseeds, etc. from the middle of the halves. There are various ways to cook the squash (lots of on-linerecipes). Keep the cut side upand place both in a baking dish. Rub olive oil on the cut sides and also drip a bit more in the interiorsections. Cut up an entire garlicbulb (the cloves in fine slices) and place the slices where you scooped out theseeds. Salt and pepper and add atouch of cumin too. Depending onwhere you live (altitude and humidity are a factor—I would just keep checkingthem throughout the cooking process), place in a 275-300 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2hours or until you can easily place a fork in the squash. Let sit (covered in foil) for a about ahalf hour (again depending on where you live this varies). When the squash is ready, scoop it out(it will be so easy) with a fork and it will look exactly like spaghetti. 1 cup of cookedspaghetti squash: 8 carbohydrates
I have mixed thespaghetti squash with homemade pesto, with zucchini, tofu, sausage—so many possibilitieshere!
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| Spaghetti squash with olive oil, asparagus, and nuts |
I hope thesethree alternative dishes peak your interest enough to try either thisThanksgiving or anytime!
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| spaghetti squash with leftover turkey and basil on top |
Sending you all,Queridas y Queridos La Bloga readers a most health-filled week.
TIMELINErevealing how we have been conditioned to think about sugar:
1934: The Sugar Act,championed by FDR, subsidizes sugar farmers and makes their crops basiccommodities
1943: The SugarResearch Foundation debuts. Fouryears later, it renames itself the Sugar Association Inc. (SAI)
1949: Postintroduces Sugar Crisp, Sugar Smacks, Frosted Flakes, and Cocoa Puffs soonfollow
1954: The SAI setsout to “destroy these fallacies” that sugar is fattening and causes diabetesand cavities
1955: McDonald’sstarts offering Coke. Servingsize: 7 ounces
1959: “Are yougetting enough sugar to keep your weight down?” asks an industry ad. “No other food satisfies your appetiteso fast with so few calories.”
1964: Big Sugartakes on diet soda. One ad depictsa young pitcher winding up: “Heneeds a synthetically sweetened diet drink like a moose needs a hat rack.”
1968: The SAIlaunches the International Sugar Research Foundation (ISRF) to help itscrutinize the safety of rival sweeteners cyclamate and saccharin.
1969: The FDA banscyclamate based on a study suggesting it causes cancer in rats. The industry “pioneered andpersevered,” the ISRF boasts, “in the program of research that so quicklycatalyzed the events leading to banning the product.”
1970: “If sugar isso fattening, why are so many kids so thin?” asks an industry ad. (By 2010, 17percent of kids ages 2-19 are obese.)
1971: “Enjoy an icecream cone shortly before lunch,” beckons an ad in Women’s Day. “Sugar can be the willpower you need toundereat.” The following year, theFederal Trade Commission orders the industry to stop making such claims.
1974: The FDAapproves aspartame, marketed as NutraSweet.
1976: The SAI winsthe Silver Anvil award for its PR campaign countering growing health concernsabout sugar.
1980: 7-Elevenintroduces the 32-ounce Big Gulp.
1982: Hershey’sReese’s Pieces appear in E.T., TheExtra-Terrestrial. Sales ofthe candy reportedly soar 65 percent in a single month.
1989: Monkeys fedenough cyclamate to sweeten 150 cans of soda per week for 17 years are deemedcancer-free. “With cyclamate wemade a mistake,” FDA honcho Robert Scheuplein admits to the Washington Post.
Early 1990s: Coca-Cola,PepsiCo, and others secure “pouring rights” at universities (and later K-12schools), giving them exclusive access to vending machines, snack bars, andsports events.
1998: A Georgia kidis suspended for wearing a Pepsi T-shirt to his high school’s “Coke Day” rally.
1999: A record 151pounds of “caloric sweeteners” is sold in the US per capita—42 pounds more thanduring the 1950s.
2000: After a USDAdraft report suggests that people “limit” sugar intake, Big Sugar successfullylobbies to retain the old word: “moderate”
2003: The sugarindustry threatens US funding for the World Health Organization [WHO] after aWHO panel suggests that added sugars should account for no more than 10 percentof a person’s diet.
2011: KFC introducesthe 64-ounce Mega Jug. For eachone sold, the chain donates $1.00 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
February 2012: A paper in Nature argues that sugar is physically addictive and linkedto diseases associated with metabolic syndrome—including heart disease.
February 2012: Mars Inc. pledges to stop selling candy in portions exceeding 250calories—like the 540-calorie King Size Snickers. (Now it sells slightlyundersized Snickers in twin “Share Packs.”)
May 2012: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposes a ban on sugary drinksexceeding 16 ounces. Days later,the Center for Consumer Freedom, a group backed by the fast-food industry, buysa full-page in the Sunday New York Times: “New Yorkers need a Mayor, not a Nanny.” In September, the NYC Board of Health votes 8-0 to approvethe ban.
Timeline From: “Sweet Little Lies: The 40-Year Campaign to Cover Up Evidence That Sugar Kills” (Mother Jones, December 2012, pages 35-40 & 68-69). Timeline by Maddie Oatman for thisarticle (pages 38-39).
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