Lightening Up Your Christmas Menu

With Christmas around the corner and New Year’s resolutions following shortly thereafter, why not shave some calories before you even kick start your New Year’s weight loss resolution with a healthier Christmas meal.

Stephanie Schiff, RD, nutritionist at Huntington Hospital, suggests these swaps and changes to make classic holiday items healthier:

• Lighten up your mashed potatoes with fat free half and half and chicken broth or low-fat sour cream.
• Use cauliflower for mashed potatoes. Make “feaux-tatoes,” as Ms. Schiff calls them. To do that, microwave cauliflower and then grind it in a food processor. You can then substitute it for mashed potatoes.
• For gravy, pour your turkey drippings into a measuring cup and skim off the fat that rises to the top.
• With green bean casserole, try using low fat milk or sautéing onions rather than using the crispy fried ones or use the recipe on the back of the soup can but use a low sodium soup and double the amount of green beans in the recipe.

“The key is to keep the flavors the same or better because you’re dealing with food and family and memories and expectations,” Ms. Schiff said. “So you don’t want to switch it up, but there are definitely ways to lighten up your menu.”

For more information about healthier holiday recipes, click here.

To see a video about this, click here.