Friday, February 7, 2025

Living Well: With the holiday season, the recipe for weight gain is set

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Holiday cooking made healthy

Jaclyn Bice, Health and Wellness Specialist Ministry Medical Group Jaclyn Brice, Health and Wellness Specialist Ministry Medical Group

By Jaclyn Brice

Health and wellness specialist, Ministry Medical

For many people, a gain of 5 to 10 pounds is common during the holidays. However, getting the weight off can be a challenge.

When making your family’s favorite dishes this holiday season, these tips below can help make your holiday cooking healthier.

Sweet Potato Casserole:

• Substitute egg whites or Egg Beaters for the whole eggs.

• Use light margarine, or reduce the margarine amount and add some applesauce to the sweet potato mixture.

• Make with fresh sweet potatoes instead of canned sweet potatoes.

• Choose pineapple packed in its own juice instead of the kind in heavy syrup.

• Add a cut-up apple to the streusel topping, and cut down on the amount of pecans.

Stuffing:

• Use low-fat margarine.

• Substitute eggs whites or Egg Beaters for the whole eggs.

• Replace pork sausage with chicken or turkey sausage.

• Add fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth.

• Choose whole-grain bread.

Mashed Potatoes:

• Use low-fat cream cheese or lite margarine.

• Replace some of the potatoes with steamed cauliflower (it sounds odd, but it works).

• Substitute 2% milk or low-fat buttermilk in place of heavy cream.

Squash or Pumpkin Soup:

• Use lite margarine.

• Add low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth.

• Choose lite whipping cream or low-fat half-and-half.

Jaclyn Brice, Living Well, Ministry Medical Group, Wellness

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