Tag: cornbread

Holidays…family, friends, and FOOD!

Holidays…family, friends, and FOOD!

This is the weight-gaining, cookie-eating, mouth-stuffing time of the year!  It’s the time of the year when people eat cookies, cupcakes, chips, dips, and other sugary and salty foods.  It’s the time of the year when diets seem to be filled with more junk food than fruits and veggies.  It’s the time of the year when there are parties, potlucks, and events.   And, it’s the time of the year when health educators and counselors know what to expect come January when New Year’s resolutions come around!

I am getting ready to cook my “gluten free” Thanksgiving this weekend so that I can actually enjoy it!  Otherwise the day of Thanksgiving I get stuck with meat and potatoes without all the other lovely sides that fill the Thanksgiving table (but are often filled with gluten)!

As a way to cut back on fat and to reduce the calories in my gluten free dishes I will be making roasted brussels sprouts and corn with a couple of slices of bacon rather than a corn casserole or corn pudding which are filled with heavy cream, cream soups, and other fattening additives.  This is a great way to reduce fat and calories while still having great flavor.  The bacon will provide flavor along with chili powder, but since the two bacon slices will be divided among 6 people the amount consumed is very little.

My homemade mashed potatoes will feature part cauliflower.  That may sound awful to some, but I promise you won’t taste the cauliflower and it will save a ton of calories!  I will also use potatoes, but I will combine them with cauliflower to reduce the calories and add some veggies.  I will use reduced sodium, reduced fat cream cheese or greek yogurt to add creaminess to the potatoes.

I will not have bread since I will be making cornbread stuffing.  I made cornbread with reduced fat milk and will make the stuffing using reduced sodium chicken broth.   To save calories, it is great to consider how many “bready” sides or carbohydrate sides you will serve with your Thanksgiving dinner.  Consider having stuffing or bread, pie or cake, with more sides filled with veggies or fruits (i.e. brussel sprouts, corn, green beans, cranberries, mixed fruit, sweet potatoes – healthier than regular potatoes).

If your family does a green bean casserole each year consider roasted green beans, grilled green beans (these are delicious!), or pan seared green beans to cut back on the creamy soups, butter, and fried onions that are all high in calories.

Remember to fill your plates with more veggies than “bready” items and when you go back for seconds fill up on the veggie sides rather than more stuffing, bread, pie, and other high calorie dishes.  Oh, and take a quick walk before or after dinner so your food doesn’t sit in your stomach all day or all night.  You will thank yourself later when your food has a chance to digest rather than sit and make you feel miserable all night! 🙂

Happy eating, enjoy spending time with your friends and family, and have fun making new memories that you will remember forever!

~jj

#ProjectKindnessBook

#AlwaysChooseKindness

Food cheat? Only in moderation!

Food cheat? Only in moderation!

Sorry for the short hiatus!  I have no excuse…I wasn’t on vacation, I really wasn’t any busier than normal, and I actually have a lot of health inspiration so there is no reason for why I haven’t posted lately. 🙁  I hear people say all the time this is my cheat day, so I can eat whatever I want today, but for today only.  Other times I hear people say it’s the weekend so I can eat what I want because I workout five days a week.  I also frequently hear people say they have cheat meals where they can eat whatever they want.  I think one important thing to remember is that while allowing yourself to enjoy all food groups and pleasures in life is great, it is still equally as important to exercise the idea of moderation AND considering the calories you are putting in your mouth.  With that being said, rather than having a cheat weekend, cheat day, or cheat meal, consider having a partial cheat meal whereby you eat a dessert after dinner or you eat fish for dinner, but still have fries as a side or you have scrambled eggs with mushrooms and spinach and a few slices of bacon as a side.

It is important to recognize that moderation needs to be considered when it comes to health, wellness, nutrition, and exercising.  My advice to people who want to enjoy some of the food luxuries in life, but still stay on a well-balanced diet is to consider eating cheat snacks or partial cheat meals.  I recently had a salad for dinner with no meat and then decided after dinner I still wanted something else and preferably something sweet.  I had a small cupcake after my salad and really found that it made more sense to have a salad and a small cupcake rather than a large unhealthy dinner followed by a large dessert.  My salad was filled with lots of veggies and greens that were great for me and then the cupcake was just a hint of cheating that satisfied my sweet tooth.  The best bet?  Choose not to have a large piece of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cornbread followed by a large piece of chocolate cake or have an all you can eat buffet followed by dessert.  This is an overabundance of calories that ruin an entire day (or even week) for a person because of the large amount of calories that are being consumed in just one meal.  Instead choose to pair the healthy with a small indulgence or treat that can accent the meal or be a small token of what you are craving rather than eating a large unhealthy meal and dessert.

That’s a wrap!  Go enjoy a great salad and a cupcake or your dessert of choice (just don’t go overboard with a large dessert such as a carrot cake, or a brownie sundae with chocolate and caramel sauce and whipped cream.  Enjoy your small cheats in moderation because I promise that you will feel better when you’re done, enjoy less calories, and won’t feel sick from over consumption!

~jj

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial