During the hectic holiday season, I find it particularly important that my kitchen be organized, so I don’t pluck out all my hair out while trying to put together a fantastic home cooked meal for the most important people in life: my family and best friends.

I like to be set up for successful eating extravaganzas by having a “built” kitchen, not just during the holidays, but all year round.

What do I mean by “built”? A “built kitchen” is one where you have easy access to affordable, authentic, and nutritious foods.

Here are some tips to build a healthy kitchen environment in your home:

– Have an organized spice drawer, where all of the spices are visible in one glance. That way you can see right away what calorie-free seasonings you have to access to jazz up your dishes, instead of digging around in the dark back corners of your pantry for lost, forgotten jars of potentially valuable ingredients.

– FIFO: First in, first out. This is standard commercial kitchen terminology, however highly valuable to implement in your own food preparation space. The food rotation rule goes as follows: place new purchased food items, such as a new carton of milk, behind the older carton, so the older ones get used up first. This can save you money because the older food gets used up before the expiration date, which limits food (and money) waste. This method also prevents against food borne illness.

– Healthy pantry for healthy meal preparation. Check out fellow Wild Oats’ blogger, Linda Bonvie’s, healthy pantry series of the best tips and tricks for stocking your pantry successfully.

– Have non-alcoholic beverage options available, like sparkling water with a tad bit of unsweetened cranberry juice added. Not only is it polite to have something other than booze to offer to your guests, it may prevent you from getting so tipsy while you are cooking that you burn the bird and curse to high heaven! No need to scare the kids, folks, Halloween has come and gone.

Have an organized kitchen keeps you mentally, physically and emotionally happy and healthy during the holidays, and reduces stress and anxiety that can prevent you from experiencing all the joy you can give and receive this festive time of the year.

Happy holidays!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Organic set the standards for Organic food production in 2000, after ten-years of research and development. Organic certifiers are accredited by the USDA, and are responsible for inspecting the claims of producers. The USDA Organic seal indicates that the food or product has met the standard.

There are three levels of Organic certification:

100% Organic, which means all ingredients were produced without the use of antibiotics, hormones, genetic engineering, radiation or synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Products that meet this standard can display the USDA Organic seal, and/or the certifying agent’s logo.

Organic, which means that at least 95% of the ingredients have been produced organically, and the remaining ingredients, while not available organically, are on the National Organic Program’s list of approved substances. These products may also display the USDA Organic seal, and/or the certifying agent’s logo.

Made with Organic Ingredients, which means that 70-94% of the ingredients have been produced organically, with the majority of the remaining ingredients coming from the NOP list of approved substances. These products can display up to three organic ingredients on their packaging as well as the certifying agent’s seal, but they may not bear the USDA Organic seal.

You may also find products that list organic ingredients in their information panel but don’t bear a seal; this means that less than 70% of the ingredients have been produced organically, making them ineligible for certification.

Takeaways? If you are looking to buy organic, it’s hard to beat 100%, but it’s also true that every little bit helps. Some ingredients are not yet available certified organic (it takes a minimum of 2 years of organic practices before soil can be called organic, for example), but supply is working to catch its way up to demand. By choosing to purchase organic products, you are helping to make 100% organic possible.

For more information on Organic:

www.organic.org

For more information on the National Organic Program’s List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances

Who doesn’t love cranberries?  And especially at this time of year — when their colors reflect the warmth of the season — why not make a slightly boozy, fresh and festive cranberry-cherry compote to accompany your holiday meal. This tart-sweet compote also makes a great appetizer when served warm with sweet potato chips.

Fresh And Festive Cranberry Compote Recipe

1 bag fresh cranberries, sorted and washed

5 oz. Wild Oats Marketplace Organic Dark Sweet Cherries (1/2 a bag)

1/4 cup orange liquor such as Cointreau*

1 cup fresh orange juice with pulp

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons fresh orange zest

1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

1 cup (or to taste) sugar**

1 tablespoon dark rum such as Myers***

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups water

2 tablespoons corn starch

Put cranberries, cherries, orange juice, Cointreau, lemon juice, sugar, Myers, 1 cup of water and orange and lemon zests in a large, non-reactive saucepan.  Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the cranberries pop.  In a small bowl stir cornstarch into remaining 1/2 cup water, then stir mixture into the cranberry mixture.  Stir to combine. Cook on low, stirring occasionally until mixture thickens, 1-2 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almond extracts.  Allow mixture to cool, then refrigerate for up to 4 days in an airtight container. Can be served cold, or reheat and serve warm.

*Omit Cointreau by adding an extra 1/4 cup of the orange juice.

** Adjust sugar to suit your taste

***Omit Myers rum if desired

Plant sterols and plant stanols lower cholesterol, specifically, the “bad” kind.  Plant Sterols?  Plant Stanols?  I know, you are probably thinking …. “What are we even talking about?”  I’ll explain what they are and where to find them in a minute, but let’s start with the cholesterol piece.

When it comes to cholesterol, also called lipids, there are 2 basic kinds   –  good cholesterol, that is the HDL cholesterol … and bad cholesterol, the LDL cholesterol  … plus several other bad ones that are measured in more detailed blood tests.  Think of HDL as a vacuum cleaner for your body.  The HDL moves throughout your bloodstream gathering up “bad” lipids and bringing them back to the liver so your body can process them for removal.  You’ve heard that high levels of HDL are good, and that is true, with HDL, the higher, the better.  LDL cholesterol is the major bad cholesterol that is measured.  We all know someone who has a problem with high cholesterol, and we know that unhealthy cholesterol levels are associated with heart attacks and strokes!

Now, back to the plant sterols and plant stanols.  Together, these are also called phytosterols. These are substances that are found in small amounts in grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds.  Phytosterols have a chemical structure that is similar to cholesterol. The research shows that phytosterols work best when taken with meals, especially meals containing fat, and are equally helpful with people consuming a low or a high cholesterol diet.  If you happen to be eating a meal that contains cholesterol … things like eggs, meats, cheeses … it also directly blocks some of the absorption of the cholesterol from those foods.

Because the effects of phytosterols is so predictable, and the ingesting of phytosterols is so safe, they have been used to fortify a variety of foods.  The FDA gives certain products permission to have a heart health claim based on the addition of the phytosterols.  That is why you find fortified “heart healthy”  margarine, yogurt, bread, cheese and orange juice … to name just some of products available.   The research shows that 2,000mg daily decreases LDL by about 12% on average.   The typical average American gets about 250mg daily in their normal diet, and vegetarians get about 500mg daily.

If you have an issue with high “bad” cholesterol, adding plant sterols and stanols to your other dietary strategies, like eating oatmeal, eating beans  or eating walnuts, can make good sense.  With the phytosterols, it is difficult to get enough from foods without going too high on the calorie side of things. In my practice, the product that I recommend is Benecol Smart Chews.  Each caramel flavored chew contains 400mg of phytosterols at only about 15 calories.  It is not a perfect product as it is not completely natural  … but I like it better than the other “fortified” food options  …. and, at 24 cents per chew, it’s a good value.  Although I like solving issues through diet first, I like the additional of phytosterols, even as a food supplement, much better than the addition of a drug to lower cholesterol!

Additional Resources:

Phytosterols in different foods

Plant sterols/stanols lower cholesterol

Phytosterols in Medical Practice

Just because it’s Thanksgiving doesn’t mean turkey’s the only game in town.

And even if you can’t part from the tradition, you may want to consider an “alternative main event” beside that beautifully prepared bird.

Especially if some of your guests include vegetarians. Vegetarians don’t usually fit in at the traditional Thanksgiving meal. They sort of get relegated to the kids’ table, picking at a salad and a very large plate of candied yams. And they usually end up hearing certain relatives telling them “a bite of turkey won’t kill you!”

Well, here’s your chance to keep the peace at the table and look like a gourmet chef to boot.

How about:

• Baked salmon: Since word of salmon’s amazing nutritional benefits have gotten out, it’s easy to find fresh salmon most everywhere. You can also find a good-sized portion of frozen, wild-caught salmon halves that can provide a perfect complement to your “bird of honor.”  Salmon cooks fast and it’s an easy dish to make. Look here for some salmon cooking tips.

• Pan-fried scallops: A little more complex than cooking salmon, but about as “fancy” as it gets. If you live on the coast, like I do, and have a nearby fresh fish market, these can be a really succulent addition to your Thanksgiving table, which even turkey lovers will enjoy. Scallops are cooked best with butter, lots of butter. So if you’re going to include these marvelous mollusks on your menu, be sure not to forget the butter! For some scallop cooking tips, check out this page.
• Gourmet mushroom lasagna: This can be a perfect alternative dish for any vegetarians among your guests — lasagna pasta layered with a mix of gourmet mushrooms and veggies. You can even ditch the tomato sauce in place of a white wine and cream sauce.
• Pasta with white beans: This can be both a quick and easy dish when you really don’t feel like doing any more cooking, as well as a good main dish for any vegetarians at your table. Cooked rotini pasta is tossed with a sauce that’s made from a combination of a can of diced tomatoes, a drained can of white beans and added at the last step, fresh baby spinach leaves. Top with crumbled feta cheese.

And what’s best of all is that if you do have leftovers – as you invariably will – they’ll provide you with a lot more variety than just variations on turkey for the next week!