Healthy Holiday Cooking Tips

If Santa had to make a list of "naughty" food, we would find on it lots of the foods associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although very delicious and fine if eaten in small quantities, these foods are highly fattening. Additionally, most of us do not stop at one small piece of fudge or a sliver of pie. Because we feel the necessity to indulge, we ingest countless unnecessary grams of fat and calories. That's when we gain weight.


Fortunately, there are many ways to cook and eat healthy during the holidays, while not having to gag down our food. Just by making some small changes and adaptations to our cooking, we can have delicious, healthy meals for all our holiday festivities.
One wise thing to do when cooking is to review your recipes and note the ingredients that are high in saturated fats. Then consider these ingredients and ascertain what their purpose in the recipe is. All ingredients in a recipe are needed for a purpose. What is the purpose of the ingredient that is high in unhealthy fat? Does this ingredient give the food its flavor? Does it add texture to the food, or does it act as a thickener? After determining its purpose, choose an adequate substitute for the high-in-fat ingredient. Each ingredient can realistically be replaced by another that provides similar taste and function. Here are some examples:

• Use bacon bits instead of regular bacon.
• Use light salt instead of regular salt.
• Use spices and herbs instead of regular salt.
• Use lean ground turkey instead of pork bacon.
• Use ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese.
• Use non-fat cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese.
• Use non-fat cheeses instead of regular cheeses.
• Use egg substitute instead of eggs.
• Use 1 egg yolk and 2 egg whites instead of a whole egg.
• Use chicken or beef broth instead of oil for saute.
• Use applesauce instead of oil for baking.
• Use canola margarine instead of butter.
• Use evaporated milk instead of half and half or cream.
• Use nonfat yogurt instead of sour cream.
• Use whole wheat pasta instead of regular or egg pasta.
• Use 1/2 cup of whole wheat and 1/2 cup of bleached flour instead of 1 cup of bleached flour.

GIFTS

Gifts of food are normally high in fat. Be creative with your ideas for this year. Give gifts of healthy foods (breads, pastas, juices, or veggies). Give a favorite healthy recipe with ingredients for that recipe measured out. Give gift baskets that have a theme. For example, a basket with a breakfast theme could include: pancake mix, juice mix, hot cereal packets, and fresh fruit. Healthy, fun, and appreciated!