Nine ways to cut calories from your favorite holiday dishes

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It's the season for casseroles, mashed potatoes, cocktails, pies... And calories. Yes, we went there, but we don't want you to deprive yourself of all the good things. Make small changes to your holiday diet to enjoy yourself without putting on extra weight. Look at these nine ways to reduce calories from your favorite holiday dishes. You will have healthier dishes, which are still very tasty and win-win in our book.

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1. Adding non starch vegetables to holiday dishes, such as broccoli, zucchini and carrots, can significantly reduce calories. " Use non starch vegetables instead of some ingredients containing meat, cream or starch. "It increases color, flavor and nutrition while keeping the amount of food constant," said Jackie Newgent, a culinary nutritionist and author of the all natural diabetes diet. For creamy flavors, use low calorie vegetable milk, such as unsweetened coconut milk, rather than regular milk or cream. Then add flavor with roasted garlic, onions or seasoning salts such as truffle, "Newgent suggests.

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2. Use the low calorie and delicious liquid

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to increase the water content of stuffing and other delicious recipes. The low calorie and delicious liquid helps to reduce the heat while maintaining the flavor. " Consider using low sodium vegetable soup; carrot or other vegetable juices; unsweetened green tea; or apple vinegar instead of butter or oil. As an alternative to gravy, Nugent recommends buying a vegan soup based on non starch vegetables. The store has organic cashew, carrot and ginger soup, organic chili tomato soup and organic cream and pumpkin soup. " "Use this to make an interesting and colorful gravy," Nugent said. Get sweetness naturally on the right sugar

use natural sugar substitutes to help you reduce the amount of refined sugar (and calories) that you usually find in holiday foods. For example, mix dried fruits, such as raisins, apricots, or cranberries, into baked goods. Don't you like dried fruit? You can even use dates or bananas. Instead of adding a shop bought blender to the cocktail, use fresh squeezed grapefruit or lime juice. " In dishes such as sweet potato casseroles, sugar in a typical recipe can usually be reduced by half and a less refined sweetener, such as maple sugar, can be used instead of white sugar. "So you get more flavor, but you get fewer calories," said Ellie Krieger, M.D., RDN.

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4. SIP smarter drinks, such as eggnog and Pingguo wine, and even if they don't contain alcohol, they will add a lot of calories to your diet. Dilute 50% of your wine, juice or cocktail with sparkling water, then cut calories in half immediately. On the other hand, alcohol can not only increase calories, but also reduce inhibition and increase hunger - which makes the fourth chocolate biscuit irresistible. Offer yourself and your guests a simple choice of alcohol, such as wine and beer, and avoid a sugar cocktail mixer. There are also sparkling and plain water. Don't forget some seasonal juices (cranberry, apple or pomegranate juice) to add flavor and color.

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5. Roasting or barbecue is a simple and low calorie cooking method. Roasting or barbecue meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables is an excellent way to show the natural sweetness and flavor of food. Roasted sweet potato with cinnamon or fresh vanilla, plus a little butter, can be a delicious alternative to traditional high calorie Casserole Dishes. Grilled pork chop with grilled mushrooms is a delicious alternative to traditional pork chop with mushroom cream sauce. For dessert, you can choose to bake apple slices or roast apple slices, sprinkle cinnamon and a small amount of honey on them, instead of traditional apple pie, so as to reduce the calorie intake.

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6. Extract calories instead of flavors

extracts and spices provide a ton of flavor, with almost no calories. This makes them ideal for lighting up holiday dishes. " The pure vanilla, coconut, chocolate and almond extracts are ingeniously applied to sweet food and selected delicious dishes. They offer almost zero calories, while replacing or strengthening more calories, "says Jackie Nugent, RDN. Reduce sugar by 25%, such as three quarters of a cup of sugar instead of one. Then add extra sweet ingredients, such as a quarter teaspoon of pure vanilla and a small amount of "sweet" spices, such as cinnamon or pumpkin pie spices.

read more: 7 amazing foods to fight the winter cold. Image. Reduce the weight of the dessert, instead of making a large number of calorie rich desserts, focus on the small portion and turn it around a little. For example, instead of chocolate cake, eat strawberries dipped in chocolate. If you want pie, make a healthier pie with skim milk and seasonal fruit every week. Greek yogurt is a healthy (delicious) alternative to oil, butter and cream cheese in baked goods. If you're making cheesecake, just use a glass of Greek yogurt instead of a cup of cream cheese. You will reduce the fat and calorie load, but still keep the cream and delicious taste. For best results, allow yogurt to reach room temperature before using it in the formula.

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8. Use foods with lower natural fat content

instead of artificial ingredients and processed foods with lower natural fat content. In most recipes, applesauce and nonfat yogurt are good fat substitutes. In order to maximize flavor and texture, the exchange should not exceed half of the fat content listed in the formula. For example, if a recipe requires half a cup of butter, replace half the butter with a quarter cup of applesauce, and then subtract 400 calories from the recipe. In addition, banana puree can also be used as fat substitute in banana bread, carrot cake or muffin, while plum puree is especially effective in chocolate, carrot or spice cake. Built in partial control function

no matter what you eat, how much you eat will make your best drinkThe intention to eat produces or destroys. " "One of the easiest ways to reduce calories from your favorite holiday dishes and still meet your cravings is simply to take a small part and taste every bite," says ellikrieg, M.M., RDN. In order not to overdo it, try using smaller plates and bowls; put the fork in the middle of the bite; drink water before and after meals. It's also helpful to understand what healthy portions are (for example, when it comes to meat, poultry, and fish, serving portions the size of the palm of the hand) and to pre distribute food. " Put casseroles or other rich noodles in separate ramen. This helps to control the size (and calories) of the food. "It also seems special because everyone has their own," said Jackie Nugent of RDN.

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What do you think? Would you like to reduce your calorie intake from your favorite holiday dishes? Can you try the advice in this article? Please leave a message below and let us know.

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