Food and Fitness Fundamentals
We all realize the holidays can be a challenging time gastronomically as far as keeping our calorie and fat consumption under control. In today’s blog, I will suggest some ideas that touch on this problem and hopefully stimulate you to come up with some creative ideas of your own.
To start with, consider the pre-dinner festivities. The types of food and drink normally involved can add enormous amounts of extra unwanted calories. With this in mind, consider offering foods in their natural state such as a fruit and vegetable platter with hummus as a dip. The elimination of fried foods or otherwise heavily fat laden items provides a good progression to your main meal and helps keep your calories in check. When drinking alcoholic beverages, think about minimizing the alcohol by adding seltzer or plenty of ice. Another good suggestion is to drink one full glass of water between each alcoholic beverage.
When making my thanksgiving turkey, I bypass butter and basting and instead use a roasting bag. The turkey is placed breast side down so it remains extremely moist and tender. In addition, I add fresh rosemary and vegetables to enhance the flavor of the meat and also to provide an additional side dish. This method of cooking is fantastic for easy clean up.
Speaking of side dishes, one that is quite traditional is sweet potato casserole. Instead of using the typical marshmallow topping, try using meringue see recipe. When comparing this meringue method to other standard recipes, more than 100 calories per serving can be eliminated. Sweet potatoes themselves are also a wonderful source of vitamins A and C, as well as potassium and fiber. If you prefer to go with standard mashed potatoes, make gravy by adding fresh squeezed lemon or other citrus juice instead of fat, see recipe.
Incidentally, spreading cranberry sauce in lieu of butter on your dinner roll will enhance the taste while limiting the fat and calories. Remember, fresh cranberry sauce can be easily homemade. This allows you to reduce excess sugar and gives you the bonus of providing more nutrients than the canned version offers.
Finally comes the dreaded dessert course, which commonly results in menu sabotage. In staying with the theme of Thanksgiving, don’t forget the pumpkin! It’s a tasty way to finish your meal and at the same time can add vitamins A and C as well as calcium, iron and fiber into your diet. Instead of the typical pumpkin pie, you may want to try this pumpkin pie pudding recipe instead.
In summary, for the anticipated upcoming holiday food and drink challenges, don’t despair. With a little thought and creativity, you can come up with a dinner menu that is both tasty and responsive to your best dietary intentions.
