How Do You Make Healthier Thanksgiving, Christmas And Holiday Desserts?
There are three ways that you can make your Thanksgiving meal a little lighter on the waistband.
- Substitute butter and oil with margarine: Some people don’t like the taste of margarine, and think that it doesn’t cook as well. However, if you are looking to lighten the calories and lighten your food, definitely look into trying a good flavored margarine. The best ones are I can’t believe it’s not butter… and Parkay.
- Substitute sugar with honey or splenda: Splenda is supposed to be able to replace sugar 100% with no problems. However, if you are uncomfortable, honey is a healthier choice because it is less processed. It will also give an earthier flavor to your food.
- Use whole wheat and low fat alternatives: With your dinner rolls, pastas, or even your pie crusts, replace the regular white flour for whole wheat. This way you get a little bit more fiber. Also, if your recipe calls for whole milk or cream, consider using 1% or 2% milk. Skim milk might be too thin to make the roux that you want to make.
They say there’s always room for dessert and unfortunately this is very true. Even if you’ve eaten more turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing than you can handle, once you see that chocolate cake coming to the table, it seems like your stomach opens up an extra slot to make more room. Thanksgiving is full of all types of food and desserts are no exception. There are ingredients you can use to up the healthiness of of your desserts. Sugar is a main component of most desserts. There’s not much you can do to replace sugar but you can use brown sugar or honey in place of white sugar in your recipes. These 2 substitutes still contain a lot of sugar but they also have a small amount of extra nutrients (keyword, small) . You shouldn’t start eating honey or brown sugar by the cup full since they both are basically sugar, but they will slightly improve your desserts. Flour is also used in almost every dessert. Most recipes call for white flour but an easy alternative is to use whole wheat flour.
