Holidays

andreagreenwade

The holidays are fast approaching. Anyone have any healthy swaps or receipes?

lynn_glenmont

What do you normally serve? If you don't tell us what foods you want to find substitutes for, we could waste a lot of time offering you swaps for things we normally serve but aren't part of your plans. Not everybody eats the same thing for the holidays (and bear in mind that there are English speakers from many countries on this board).

If you roast some kind of meat or poultry, have a couple of veggie sides that aren't drowning in sauce or cheese among the many veggie sides that are typically served, and limit yourself to one reasonable-sized serving of one of the starchy or fattier sides, you should be fine. No need to overhaul all the traditional foods most people look forward to, unless everybody is on board with that.

Lounmoun

For holidays I watch portion sizes more than changing recipes much.

If you post a typical holiday menu and what you would like to specifically change then it would be helpful for swap suggestions. Like if you want lower sodium or fat or you want low carb recipes you could say that.

Eat turkey breast meat
Turkey gravy- https://www.centracare.com/wellness/healthy-recipes/gravy/
Plain sweet potato instead of sweet potatoes covered in sugar/marshmallows
Mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes
Baked apples
Roasted vegetables or salad instead of green bean casserole
Cut down on side dishes or appetizers. Have lots of lower calorie vegetables.
Have 1 dessert instead of several.
Drink low or no calorie drinks like diet soda, water, unsweetened teas.

There are tons of suggestions on the internet for lower calorie Thanksgiving menus and recipes. Do a search.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/thanksgiving/photos/healthy-thanksgiving-recipes
https://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1408
https://www.cookinglight.com/thanksgiving/13-great-thanksgiving-meals

mds1207

I wasn't thinking of doing much different other than portion control. I'll prolly take some of the advice on this page, like regular sweet potato rather than sweet marshmallow sweet potato casserole. Thanks @Lounmoun for the resources.

HereToLose50

Less of the highest calorie items like mashed potatoes, bread stuffings, pies, rolls. I skip rolls because I can have bread some other time.

I prefer whole sweet potato over the monstrosity of the marshmallow stuff. If you need the potato sweet then sprinkle a little brown sugar and cinnamon on it. A small amount of chopped walnuts sprinkled on can also add flavor and decadence.

Limit gravy. Maybe get a small amount on the side to dip food into instead of pouring it over.

Veggies - if they are drowned in butter or "drippings" or sauces then eat less of them

I eat more turkey and I eat it first so I'm already getting a little full. I make sausage oyster dressing that I eat more of at first too because it's so rich in flavor it also gets me full and I am unable to go overboard eating other things 😀

I don't say no to anything that I like. Many items are things we don't make except holiday dinners so I'm not passing them up completely.

Eat at maintenance that day then go back to reduced calories the next day.

Give away high calorie leftovers to guests.

CarvedTones

I love pecan pie and apple pie. I found an interesting combination. You core an apple carefully by carving in from the top but not going through the bottom and then you fill it with a pecan mixture that is pretty much what a pecan pie would have and bake it. Slice in half to serve.

https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/pecan-pie-baked-apples

ETA - Also, I am the only one at my house who cares much about pecan pie and this recipe can be sized up or down pretty freely to limit leftovers.

Cbean08

We don't always eat traditional holiday food. For us, it's a time to get together. We've done everything from the full traditional spread to hamburgers/hotdogs on the bbq. Serve whatever you want. The food is not the main focus.

Last year dad's menu consisted of-
baked greek chicken
roasted vegetables
roasted red potatoes
greek salad

Mom's menu consisted of-
roasted turkey
shrimp cocktail
lumpia
steamed green beans
carrot salad
homemade cranberry sauce (grandpa's recipe! the best!)
mashed potato
bread rolls

My aunt's menu consisted of-
chicken tamales
pork tamales
rice
refried beans
chips and salsa
taco salad

TeaBea

andreagreenwade wrote: »

The holidays are fast approaching. Anyone have any healthy swaps or receipes?

For Thanksgiving there are some "throwaways" for me. Not a fan of green bean casserole, so I also make steamed green beans for me. Mashed potatoes and gravy are things I can have all year round, so I skip those.

Recipes - I don't need to add a whole stick of butter to make stuffing. Pumpkin pie is way less calories than something like cheesecake or pecan pie. Try a new twist on sweet potatoes this year. I found a Weight Watchers Apple, Ginger sweet potato recipe that is really yummy (and much lighter). Fresh cranberry sauce (easy!) can be made with Splenda.

AndThenIWoreIt

I’m not a fan of pie crust anyway, so I bake the pumpkin filling in a dish instead. Love this stuff and actually make it year-round.

CarvedTones

AndThenIWoreIt wrote: »

I’m not a fan of pie crust anyway, so I bake the pumpkin filling in a dish instead. Love this stuff and actually make it year-round.

I love pie crust and its equivalent in cobbler, but it does add a fair number of calories. Bottom/side crust is about 100 calories per piece and a top crust adds about 75 more. Some crusts are a little less, but if I am not going all in for crust i would rather do like you and just not have one at all. I have had what you describe many times, often baked in individual stoneware serving bowls and referred to as pumpkin pudding.

Cbean08

AndThenIWoreIt wrote: »

I’m not a fan of pie crust anyway, so I bake the pumpkin filling in a dish instead. Love this stuff and actually make it year-round.

I agree. Pie crust is pointless to me, besides to hold the fillings. Another option for pie is to make mini pies in a cupcake tin with a mini crescent roll for a crust.

CarvedTones

Cbean08 wrote: »

AndThenIWoreIt wrote: »

I’m not a fan of pie crust anyway, so I bake the pumpkin filling in a dish instead. Love this stuff and actually make it year-round.

I agree. Pie crust is pointless to me, besides to hold the fillings. Another option for pie is to make mini pies in a cupcake tin with a mini crescent roll for a crust.

Awesome little mini tart suggestion! The gears are turning in my head; some diced, uncooked sweet potato with a little pumpkin pie spice and sugar, a very small batch of pecan pie filling, a little single serve can of baked apples, etc... I could make a dozen and have 3 or 4 choices without it being much trouble.

psychod787

I plan on calorie cycling personally. Have some lower cals days through the week and have an extra few for dinner. Still make smarter choices but just be a little less strict. If I give myself an extra 600 cals or so and don't go crazy, I should be ok. Oh, what's the worse that happens. I gain a pound? Well, most of us know how to lose weight.