Thanksgiving Eating Tips
The typical American holiday season begins on Thanksgiving and continues through New Years Day. During this time, a typical American gains 5-10 pounds. This holiday season can be different and you can start by making Thanksgiving dinner a lot healthier. Here are some great Thanksgiving substitutions and recipes without the excess calories and fat.
Appetizers:
- Try and keep the holiday appetizers simple and fresh.
- Try making simple and healthy appetizers such as hummus with raw vegetables, fruit salad, or a fresh vegetable salad with low calorie dressing on the side.
- Consider adding flaxseed mill and pumpkin flavor to hummus for extra fiber.
- Soups such as pumpkin soup and butternut squash soup can be great meal starters with low calories.
- Avoid making or eating fried or greasy cooked foods.
- Eliminate bread rolls.
Main Entree: Turkey
- Choose white breast meat without the skin. Darker meat has more fat and calorie content. Skin adds extra calories and fat so remove all the skin prior to eating.
- Cook the stuffing separate from the turkey over the stove. When stuffing is cooked inside the turkey, it will absorb the fat as the turkey cooks. Be creative with stuffing! Use festive fruit flavors such as cranberry, pumpkin, and apples.
- When using juice from the turkey for gravy, drain out as much fat as possible and only use the clear juice. Corn starch is a healthier thickener than regular flour and butter. By adding 1/4 cup of cornstarch and 1/4 cup water per every 4 cups of turkey broth and juices, you can create gravy that only contains 12 calories per 1/4 cup serving.
Side Dishes
- Focus on fresh fruits and steamed vegetables. When cooking, remove the butter out of the recipe and season with garlic, herbs, or olive oil. Artificial sweeteners can be used in fruit and vegetable sauce recipes to increase flavor without adding calories.
- Try making your own cranberry sauce or sweet potato mash. Fresh cranberries are loaded with antioxidants and have less sugar than canned products. Sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A, beta carotene, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. For mashed potatoes, try moistening with low sodium chicken broth or skim milk instead of butter or cream.
- Vegetable casseroles such as green bean can be made with low-fat condensed soup, reduced butter, and toasted almonds instead of fried onion rings.
Desserts
- Do not try to eliminate all of the desserts because it could lead to uncontrollable cravings.
- Focus on making the family favorite desserts healthier and eating small portions. Fruit recipes such as cobblers, pies, and smoothies make great dessert ideas. Pumpkin pie can even be included in the equation. Start with a low fat graham cracker for the crust and use skim milk instead of 2% or whole.
- www.allrecipes.com
- www.eatingwell.com
Here is a table of easy substitutions that will help reduce the calories, fat, and sugar in recipes.
| Instead Of | Use |
|---|---|
| 1 cup of butter or oil in baking | 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/2 c. of butter or oil |
| 8 ounces of cream cheese | 8 ounces of yogurt cheese or light cream cheese |
| 1 cup heavy cream | 2 tsp. cornstarch or 1 T flour whisked into 1 c. nonfat milk |
| 1 cup sour cream | 1 c. lowfat yogurt or low fat sour cream |
| 1 cup whole milk | 1 cup skim milk |
| 1 egg | 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup of egg substitute |
| 1 cup oil or fat for basting | 1 cup fruit juice or low fat stock |
| 1 ounce solid chocolate | 3 T. cocoa powder and 1 T canola oil |
| Whipped cream | Low fat or low calorie products are available |
| 1 can cream of mushroom | 1 can low fat, low sodium cream of mushroom |
| Regular sugar | Truvia or Splenda (use as a complete substitute or 50/50) |
After the meal, immediately split up leftovers into individual containers and provide take-home packages for all the guests. You've come this far. Determine your priorities, be consistent and you will maintain your good habits into the holiday season!
Sources: