Does holiday eating always have to ruin your health and waistline? Absolutely not! If you are the cook, there are plenty of ways to plan your meal to be not just healthy, but tasty too. Here are a few tricks of the trade to sneak in better nutrition when no one is looking. (I won't tell!)
Substitute plain Greek yogurt for sour cream
To cut down on the saturated fat, substitute sour cream in any recipe for plain, nonfat Greek yogurt. This will also add protein. Note that if the dish should be especially creamy, this may not be a good swap - or you might instead try a low-fat Greek yogurt.
Swap the salt
Added salts are not always necessary - especially in holiday meals that include salty food options already. If you are cooking a meat or seafood dish, instead of salting, try adding a squeeze of lemon after all cooking is done. This gives a similar salty-type flavor without the salt! For other dishes, try cutting the salt in half. You may be surprised by how little salt you actually need.
Dilute the egg nog
While egg nog is delicious, at 200 kcal per half cup, it isn't the lowest calorie option out there! Try diluting egg nog and almond milk. Per 8oz cup, this will save you around 180 Kcal - not a bad swap!
Reduce the sugar
Similar to salt, most recipes call for much more sugar than is truly necessary. When cooking or baking, decrease the amount of sugar added by 25-50%. This will save you calories, but also allow you to better taste the other flavors and ingredients in the dish.
Add cranberries
Cranberries have fantastic anti-inflammatory properties. Sneak them into stuffing, meat sauces, stuffed mushrooms - the possibilities are endless!
Happy Holidays!
Your Nutrition Coach,
RDKate
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