Wondering which bites
score an A+ on the good-for-ya scale and which are failing out of health class?
Read on for the dishes to load your plate with (and how to make the
not-so-healthy ones A-OK).
Eat turkey, not ham
White meat turkey is naturally really lean, making it an
excellent main dish for any holiday. While ham is certainly super-tasty
(especially the honey-baked kind—yum!), it’s also on the fatty side. If you’re
craving it, go ahead and have a small slice, but don’t go hog wild.
Eat homemade
cranberry sauce, not the canned kind
Cranberry sauce that you buy is loaded with sugar. While
it’s fine in small quantities, we’d rather get our sweetness in with Grandma’s
pie. Just ‘cause you’re tossing the can, though, doesn’t mean ya can’t spoon up
some sauce—just make it yourself! Try our healthy recipe, which replaces
traditional cane sugar with healthier honey and orange juice.
Eat roasted winter
veggies, not green bean casserole
Green bean casserole is a GL staffer Turkey Day favorite.
But even its cheerleaders can’t hide the high sodium and fat content in the
mushroom soup. Either substitute low sodium and/or fat free mushroom soup for
one you might ordinarily use, or toss a tray of winter veggies (think: carrots,
parsnips, squash, potatoes) cut into similarly sized pieces into the oven at
400 degrees for about 40 minutes. Drizzle ‘em with olive oil and sprinkle with
salt and pepper before hand and you’re set!
Eat mashed potatoes,
not candied yams
There’s something about the ooey-gooey goodness of
marshmallows on top of brown sugar-baked sweet potatoes, but all that
deliciousness has a price. A better starch option would be a baked sweet potato
with a tab of butter and a sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon, or white
potatoes mashed with low-fat milk and a smidge of butter.
Eat pumpkin pie, not
pecan pie
Put these two classic desserts head to head, and we’re not
sure we could choose! But if you take a peek at the nutritional ingredients,
pumpkin kicks the pecan’s booty. Sure, pie is still pie, but at least with pumpkin,
ya get tons of nutrients and antioxidants.
BY BRITTANY TAYLOR ON 11/21/2012 12:00:00 AM
POSTED IN healthy eating 101, how to cut out junk food, thanksgiving