what's in your feast

*** Updated 11/24/10 ***
THE ANSWERS ARE HERE... (in bold, under ingredient list)
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!


It's that week again... Time to pull out the menus and stuff ourselves silly.  Somehow, all of this cooking, eating, and eating some more is related to a celebration of gratitude.  It's also a time that brings back memories for many of us, often stirred up with the smells and tastes of the week's feast.  I distinctly recall not liking certain parts of traditional Thanksgiving dinner when I was a child, so now I make different items or eliminate the offending items completely.  Happily, I can report that some of those dishes were pretty unhealthy, so it would be hard to consider them a loss.  I'm not just talking decadent or deliciously-guilt-inducing unhealthy.  In reality, a lot of Thanksgiving favorites have more to do with modern chemistry than old-fashioned harvest bounty.

One of the topics that I get pretty excited about is nutrition.  I don't follow a lot of complicated, calorie-spouting, gram-checking dieting, but I do try to live by simple, basic health values.  For example, we like the Real Food Rule: a grocery purchase should be a real, identifiable, item, as close to it's original state as possible.   We aim for nutritional balance, and believe that some things add flavor (i.e. butter, salt, sugar), so they're worth the investment.  Basically, eat less or make less, but don't bother with fake stuff.  And save the road trips for summer vacation: with a few exceptions, buy food that hasn't travelled too far.

They're simple rules to live by, of course, and they don't neglect the biggie of any feast: food should taste good!  Frankly, real food tastes better.  I'm not a gourmet cook, but I do feel like it honors our bodies & those who grow food to take the small effort required.

So, in the spirit of good food and better health, I bring you a little quiz.  Given only the ingredient lists of many a Thanksgiving dinner staple, I challenge you to a game of name-that-menu-item.   The idea is simple; take a look at the ingredients and guess the dish.  All are common Thanksgiving feast options, and likely available from your local grocer.  If the answer is obviously listed as an ingredient (some aren't!), I've substituted an * in its place.  Put your guesses in comments and I'll publish all appropriate efforts, as well as the answers, later this week. Enjoy!

1. Canola Oil and/or Soybean Oil, Egg Yolk, Sugar, Salt, Cultured Nonfat Buttermilk, Natural Flavor, Spices, Garlic (Dried), Onion, Vinegar, Phosphoric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Modified Food Starch, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Artificial Flavors, Disodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium Edta, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate.
Club Crackers

2. Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Spice, Yeast Parsley (Dried), Cooked Chicken and Chicken Broth, Hydrolyzed Soy and Corn Protein, Celery (Dried), Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Soy Flour, Onions (Dried), Sugar, Whey, Corn Syrup, Garlic (Dried), Caramel Color, Turmeric Disodium Guanylate, Disodium Inosinate, Sulfites, Corn Oil, Bha and Bht, and more...
Stovetop Stuffing


3. *, Powdered Cellulose, Salt, Maltodextrin, Cream, Sugar, Modified Wheat Starch, Butter, Natural Flavor, Nonfat Milk, Mono And Diglycerides, Buttermilk, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Sour Cream, Disodium Phosphate, Artificial Color, Soy Flour. Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bisulfite And Bht.
Betty Crocker Homestyle Reds Mashed Potatoes

4. Water, *, Salt, *, Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, Corn, Cottonseed, Canola, Soybean And Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed And Soybean Oil, Cream, Milk, Soy Protein Concentrate, *, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Potassium Chloride, Maltodextrin, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Spice Extract, Yeast Extract, Dehydrated Mushrooms, Flavoring, Dehydrated Onions, Dehydrated Garlic, Butter, Cream Powder, Soy Lecithin, Enzyme Modified Butter, Nonfat Dry Milk, Lipolyzed Butter Oil, Oleic Acid, Butter Oil, Enzyme Modified Butter, Acetic Acid, Lactic Acid, Palm Oil, Wheat Flour, Soy Flour, Salt Dextrose, Tbhq, Citric Acid,in Propylene Glycol
Campbell's Green Bean Casserole

5. Corn Syrup, Sugar, *, Water, Modified Food Starch (Corn), Dextrose, Gelatin, Natural And Artificial Flavor
Sweet Potato Casserole with Kraft Marshmallow Topping

6. Water, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sodium Bisulfite And Sodium Benzoate, Lemon Oil, *, Wheat Flour, Shortening (BHT), Brown Sugar, Sugar, Modified Cornstarch, Salt, Dextrose, Spice, Water, Propylene Glycol, Artificial And Natural Flavors, Alcohol, Methocellulose, Defoaming Agent (Mono- And Diglycerides, Acetylated Monoglycerides, Fatty Acids, Ascorbyl Palmitate), Caramel Color.
Frozen Apple Pie


7. Water, Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Coconut And Palm Kernel Oils, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sodium Caseinate (From Milk), Natural And Artificial Flavor, Xanthan And Guar Gums, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Monostearate, Beta Carotene
Cool Whip


mmmmmmm.....  Enjoy your feast!