Tips for a Healthier Holiday Feast

Traditional holiday meals can be a calorific nightmare for those that are trying to watch their weight. However, there are ways to lower the calorie count of your favourite holiday foods. Here are some tips for skimming the fat, without sacrificing the traditional meals that your family loves.

When a recipe calls for butter, try replacing half of the butter with olive oil for savory recipes or canola oil for sweet recipes. This will not only lessen the amount of calories in the dish, but also mean that you are adding some healthier fats in to replace the unhealthy ones.

Substitute creamy sauces with vegetable-based sauces. Try roasting up some red peppers and onions, puréeing them and then adding a little homemade (or low-fat store-bought) vegetable/chicken/beef stock (whichever best suits the dish that you are going to serve).

If a recipe calls for sour cream, use yogurt instead to lower the amount of calories with very little difference in taste.

Poaching fruit such as pears and apples in wine makes a super easy, delicious and low-fat substitute for rich fruit cakes. Check out a recipe here.

If you are cooking a ham, be sure to trim as much fat as possible from the meat before you put in the oven.

When you are making gravy, with the juices of whatever meat you are cooking, be sure to skim the fat from the top off the jug before serving.

Instead of serving mashed potatoes whipped with cream and butter, try instead substituting this dish with baked sweet potatoes which are a whole lot healthier for you (if your family protests, you can always still make the mashed potatoes for them provided you have the self-control to  stay away!).

As your turkey cooks, and releases it's fatty juices, be sure to pour the fat away so that the bird doesn't cook sitting in all that fat and take on extra calories.