Tips On Eating Well During The Holidays
By Guest Columnist MVES Nutrition Director Barbara Rougier, RD, LDN

It’s that time of year! With the busy holiday season creeping up, we’re thinking of creative ways to serve delicious holiday fare without serving up all the fat and calories that usually come with many traditional dishes. As I look at the recipes handed down to me from my grandmother, I notice that they are laden with real butter, shortening, and sugar. It certainly is a challenge to alter the recipes without losing that great taste.

Here are some easy things you can do to decrease the fat, sugar, and calories without compromising taste:

• Moisten stuffing with reduced sodium broth instead of butter.
  
  
• Enrich stuffing with nuts instead of sausage.
  
  
• Toast seeds, nuts, and whole spices to bring out their flavor and cook them in a dry skillet over moderate heat or on a baking sheet in a 400ºF oven.
  
  
• Flavor the stuffing with aromatic vegetables and fruits and herbs such as apples, applesauce, apple cider, cranberries, celery, parsley, poultry seasoning, or thyme.
  
  
• Use fresh herbs whenever possible—remember, a little goes a long way. Add thyme, rosemary, and marjoram for a more pungent flavor.
  
  
• Chop or crush up nuts, seeds, and unsweetened whole grain cereal flakes and use them to coat fish filets, chicken, shrimp, veggies, or anything else you would normally coat with bread crumbs.
  
  
• Substitute low fat yogurt in place of mayonnaise or sour cream.
  
  
• Use citrus zest, the colored part of the peel without the pith. It holds the true flavor of the fruit.

To view some of these tips online or to find additional tips and recipes, visit the Eating Well web site, the American Heart Association's Online Cookbook, Tufts University Health & Nutrition Newsletter, and the American Dietetic Association web site.

Also, here are some recipes from the Eating Well web site that you may want to try to add a different zest to your holiday fare:

• Bold Winter Greens Salad
  
  
• Apple-Shallot Roasted Turkey
  
  
• Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
  
  
• Pumpkin Mousse Pie