Thanksgiving Day is 48 Days Away: Planning Ahead

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Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday.  I hate that it seems to get lost between Halloween and Christmas - or at least that's how it seems out in the stores.

I saw Halloween stuff competing with Christmas decorations in the last week of September!  Ye Gads.

Meanwhile, maybe some would say I'm just as bad.  Why?  I'm doing menu planning now.  For Thanksgiving.  Forty-eight days in advance.  Yepper -- crazy, right?

Planning Ahead for Turkey Day

Well, here's the thing.  I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month in November, so I need to get ready for that added work load.  (Which is writing 50,000 words or more in 30 days.  I plan on writing a very bad first draft of a thriller novel.  LOL)

But I might be planning for Thanksgiving this week anyway.

Why Plan for Thanksgiving Now?  

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Why?  It's gonna save me money and time and stress.  And it makes me happy.

That is Simple Living, at least in my view.

How is it saving me money and time?  Well, I'm planning the whole weekend.  Bill will provide his famous hash brown and egg tacos, that's a tradition.  There will be leftovers.  Natch.

No one in this casa cares about Black Friday, so no worries there.  Well, if there's an online special for a TV or laptop for a penny or a dollar, we might be a little interested.  Maybe.

Football may be involved.  To me, this means snacks.  Walks in the park will occur.  Naps.  Soup. Movies.  Fingers crossed, we'll have sweater weather!

Today, I'm going to have all the recipes together, including the snacks and the drinks, right in front of me. I'm buying in bulk at Sam's Club -- and watching the food ads --  for things I can store or freeze and have ready come T-Day.

I'm looking for deals.  (Yesterday, I found a nice price for pecans at HEB.)

I'm keeping the recipes simple, too.  No Bon Appetit here.  Simple stuff.  Good stuff.

Plus not so many choices.  Two desserts.  One kind of coffee.  Chips and queso.  Turkey Chili.  Iced Tea. You get the idea.

I'm excited thinking about Thanksgiving.  Counting blessings; eating queso while watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie; the turkey-induced nap.

I'm plotting things that are fun and free.  Walking in the park, bringing bread to feed the ducks and geese while the dogs sniff the goose poop?  This costs nothing and it's amazing.  Memory-making.

Ditto the movie night with popcorn and classic movies.  At some point, there may be watching sports on TV; I never do this -- but I'll be writing that thriller novel.  As long as no one is hogging the chili con queso, we'll all be fine.

Oh, my, this is fun!!!  I like this planning ahead plan.  It makes me happy.  Maybe it will bring a smile to your face, too, Dear Reader.

Free Public Domain Image No. 5 - Encouraging Word

I created this image using Canva's free service and I release it into the public domain.

This file is in public domain, not copyrighted, no rights reserved, free for any use. You can use this picture for any use including commercial purposes without the prior written permission and without fee or obligation.

Psalm 27:1

Scripture source is the World English Bible - a version placed into the public domain. 

Resistant Starch: Potatoes are Good for You (Again)

Resistant Starch Helps Fight Inflammation and Does Lots More Good Things

Awhile back, I shared Bill’s Hash Brown Potato Salad recipe. Now, admittedly Bill likes to put hash browns in most anything. And he’s usually right. Hash browns combined with eggs and bacon in your morning breakfast taco? Nothing better, my friend.

Now, however, there seems to be medical research supporting eating those hash browns along with other kinds of potato fixings as well as other starchy stuff you thought was on the Bad Food List.

 It’s called “resistant starch.” Time Magazine covered the topic in its May 2016 article, “Eat This Carb and You Won’t Gain Weight.”

That’s right. That is the title – from an article in Time Magazine. 

Good news, right? You’re already thinking French Fries, aren’t you?

What is Resistant Starch? 

Resistant starch is found in potatoes, as well as beans, unripe bananas, brown rice flour, and more stuff. It’s found in lots of leftovers because cooking certain foods and then cooling them down helps to create it.

There are different types. All forms fight against being digested in the human digestive tract, which means that they help fight against weight gain as well as boost consistent blood sugar levels.

They are also supposed to help fight against bad bacteria in the gut (as in the evil Candida that causes so many problems).

From Today’s Dietitian: 

"As their name suggests, resistant starches are starches that resist digestion in the small intestine. Their definition is “the sum of starch and products of starch degradation not absorbed in the small intestine of healthy individuals.”2 Starch polymers are present in granules in plants and exist as either a straight chain (amylose) or a branched chain (amylopectin). The structure of both the granules and polymer chains affect the starch’s digestibility, making some more digestible than others. 
Resistant starches are classified according to structure or source, as follows2,3: 
• RS1 is physically inaccessible to digestive enzymes. Its sources include whole or partially milled grains, seeds, and legumes. 
• RS2 resists digestion because of the granule’s nature. Sources include raw potatoes, underripe bananas, some legumes, and high-amylose starches, such as high-amylose corn. 
• RS3 is produced in the cooking-cooling process. Sources include bread, tortillas, cooked and cooled potatoes, rice, and pasta. 
• RS4 is a chemically modified starch found in a wide range of products. 

Check out the full article from Today's Dietitian here.

Exciting news, isn’t it?

Read more in this May 2016 article by Samantha Olson published in Medical Daily, “How To Eat Carbs And Still Lose Weight: Resistant Starch Foods Improve Gut Bacteria.”