Trim down Holiday Treats by Swapping Ingredients
Holiday meals and treats don't have to be fattening. There are several tricks one can use to cut the fat and calories from food and no one will notice. Your meal will still taste delicious, and with fewer calories, you can enjoy more of it too.
For the turkey, rinse the inside well. Don't add the giblets or innards to your stuffing; they are incredibly fattening. Use a combination of whole grain bread and rye bread for your stuffing. Rye bread is one of the lowest calorie breads available, and after hours in a turkey it will taste the same as the other bread. Use chicken broth for basting the bird, instead of oil or butter. Skim the fat off the liquid before you make gravy. Everything about the turkey will be lighter with these swaps.
The rest of the main meal is just as easy. Don't put butter or cream in your mashed potatoes; use chicken broth in place of both, or add some low-fat milk with the broth if you prefer. For a creamy texture, all you have to do is mix the potatoes with an electric beater. Don't use an immersion blender though; it makes potatoes rubbery.
Serve a selection of bread, offering whole wheat and sour dough as well as white. Set out whipped butter instead of plain, as it has more air and fewer calories. Be sure to offer salad too. Avoid prepared Caesar salad, as it is very high in calories and fat. Serve a garden salad with some romaine lettuce mixed into it, and offer a variety of light dressings for people to choose from. The oil and vinegar based dressings are the healthiest, and the creamy dressings are the most fattening.
Now that your dinner has been made over, here are some tips for lightening up homemade holiday treats. Many ingredients can be substituted for others with little or no effect to the taste.
For cookies and white cake, keep 1/4 of the butter or oil, and substitute the rest with apple sauce. In muffins or loaves, use the same amount of yogurt in place of butter or oil. For brownies or chocolate cake, use pureed prunes instead of oil. In any recipe, substitute two egg whites for one egg. Reduce white sugar by 1/4 in any recipe, or use half the amount of brown sugar instead of any white. Brown sugar is less processed and much sweeter, although similar in calories, so you can use less of it for the same taste. If you are making gingerbread, you can eliminate half the sugar and add two extra tablespoons of molasses to keep the sweetness.
Use any of these tips to make your holiday feast a bit healthier and no one at your table will ever know. You can have a delicious holiday meal that won't put inches on your waistline or increase the number on your scale.
