5 Fattening Holiday Foods and Easy Ways Make Them Healthier

It's easy to treat the holiday season as a Big Fat Feast. Starting at Thanksgiving, the fattening holiday food just keeps on coming through Christmas, Hanukkah and into the New Year. Nobody expects to lose weight over the holidays (nobody sane, that is) but you can try to limit the damage. Here are five of the worst offenders-- high calorie holiday foods you need to avoid-- and easy ways to make usually fattening holiday food better for you.

Fattening Holiday Food: the Traditional Green Bean Casserole

No doubt about it, the traditional green bean casserole is a fattening holiday food. Campbell's classic recipe has a whopping 91 calories of fat in every serving. Some recipes have more, which I think is a lot of fat grams to waste on a mere side dish. Not only is traditional green bean casserole one of the worst high calorie holiday foods, but it is high in sodium, too.

Luckily, green bean casserole is a fattening holiday food that is easy to make healthier. Use low fat cream of mushroom soup and skim milk instead of the full fat versions. Instead of a regular can of French fried onions, consider using the healthier version recently introduced by Alexia. Look for a cream of mushroom soup that is lower in sodium and consider using frozen green beans instead of canned to cut down on the salt in this fattening holiday food.

Fattening Holiday Food: Sinfully Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Heavy cream, big knobs of butter and mounds of freshly grated cheese: cheesy scalloped potatoes are not just any fattening holiday food. Some recipes even call for sour cream and bacon! Every Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah, cardiologists gather their college bound children around the dining room table to give thanks for America's favorite high calorie holiday foods.

Potatoes are not the only vegetable getting buried in scrumptious cheesy goodness. Broccoli casseroles and otherwise healthy cauliflower get smothered in creamy cheese sauce and turned into high calorie holiday foods, too. Even the usually innocent onion can mutates into a fattening holiday food at this time of year. The easy way to make it through November and December without irreparable harm to your diet is to treat any dish featuring creamy cheese sauce as an unconscionably fattening holiday food to avoid.

Family traditions being what they are, if Aunt Martha is threatening mutiny at the thought of missing out on her favorite high calorie holiday foods, at least you can try to minimize the damage. Substitute vegetable stock low fat milk for full fat cream, cut down on the butter and use low fat cheese. Or sprinkle on a little grated Parmesan instead: it has a stronger flavor, so you do not need to use as much in fattening holiday food.

Vegetable stock can be used in all sorts of high calorie holiday foods to boost flavor while cutting down on salt and fat. Keep some on hand for a easy way make less fattening holiday food. (My easy recipe for vegetable stock delivers a lot of flavor with very little time or effort and freezes well.)

Fattening Holiday Food: Tortilla Chips and Chili con Queso

Fried tortilla chips and Queso Cheese Dip are high calorie holiday foods that few Superbowl Parties and New Year's Eve celebrations will be without. Deep fried tortilla chips are high calorie holiday foods that everybody enjoys, but chips and spicy Tex-Mex cheese dip is one fattening holiday food it is easy to avoid. Chow down on tomato salsa instead of piling on the melted cheese and save yourself as much as 282 calories and 19 grams of fat.

Fattening Holiday Food: The Decadent Pumpkin Cheesecake

In the realm of fattening holiday food, pumpkin cheesecake reigns supreme. You may not be able to resist dessert entirely- and Grandma might never forgive you if you try- but at least try to limit the damage. Pumpkin pie is your best bet here, with some slices clocking in at as low as 150 calories when made with evaporated nonfat milk. And in an article about high calorie holiday foods to avoid, do I really need to tell you to skip the whipped cream?

I happen to adore pumpkin pie, but I do know a few misguided souls who do not. If you happen to be one of them, avoid another favorite fattening holiday food by passing over the pecan pie for small slice of apple pie, preferably one with a lattice crust or no top crust at all. If you have enough willpower left to minimize the damage caused by this fattening holiday food, plead fullness before you get to the crust on the end and save yourself 100 calories.

What if you think pumpkin cheesecake is not only decadent and delicious, but utterly irresistible? If all else fails, you can try to make this high calorie holiday food a little less fattening by making it yourself. Substitute Philadelphia Neufchatel or other low fat cream cheese for the full fat Philly. (Whipped cream cheese is not a good substitute in recipes.) Trim more calories off the total by swapping fat free sour cream or non fat yogurt for the artery clogging full fat versions and it is easy to limit the saturated fat and calories in this still delicious but slightly less fattening holiday food.

Fattening Holiday Food: Booze

Eggnog gets a lot of press for leading the pack of high calorie holiday foods, but a White Russian is even worse. The truth is any type of alcohol can be a fattening holiday food, especially when you are drinking festive quantities of liquor and your holiday schedule seems to be nothing but parties. If you are serious about wanting to avoid high calorie holiday foods, booze will be the first thing you strike off your list. If so, stick to nonfat eggnog with no booze whatsoever or order a Virgin Mary and prepare for a long, cold December.

If you want to have some fun this holiday season, choose heart healthy red wine over fattening holiday foods like eggnog. If you are unwilling or unable to avoid fattening holiday foods, at least remember to enjoy high calorie holiday foods in moderation.

Sources

Personal knowledge
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=1
http://www.campbellskitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?ab=B&recipeID=24099
http://www.peertrainer.com/DFcaloriecounterB.aspx?id=27329