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SoutheastTexasWeddings.com

Beat the Holiday Bulge!

A Never-ending Woman’s Guide to Holiday Health

By Natalie Griffith

During the holiday season there are many opportunities for get-togethers. Office parties, your children’s school Christmas party, family gatherings and New Year’s parties…you name it. What is normally always available at these type gatherings? Yes, that’s right FOOD. Before you rush over to the food table take a look at these holiday food alternatives:

• The vegetable and deli meats tray is ALWAYS a good options.
• Instead of mixed nuts opt for olives.
• Eggnog is a holiday favorite but BE CAREFUL. One 8oz. serving packs a whopping 400 calories. Try drinking low fat hot chocolate or mulled cider instead.
• Rather than drinking red wine choose champagne which has 15 less calories than red wine per serving.
• Want something sweet? Instead of holiday desserts you can spare yourself hundreds of calories by choosing a candy cane instead.

Think you can cheat the system by going hungry all day then indulging yourself? Think again. You are actually cheating yourself by doing this. If you chose to starve yourself all day then eat a great, big meal later, odds are you are going to overeat (did someone forget about portion control?). If you know you want to eat rich holiday foods later try eating fruit and vegetables throughout the day rather than starving yourself.

Here is a tasty and healthy recipe for cookies. Your family will love them and Santa will too!

Walnut-Raisin Somersaults

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, chilled
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons raspberry jam

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir the flour and sugar together. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the chilled butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the cottage cheese and gather the dough into a ball. Knead the dough a few times in the bowl and cover it loosely. Chill for one hour. This recipe can be made ahead at this point and stored overnight in the refrigerator before baking.

2. Combine the raisins and walnuts on your cutting board and chop them finely. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and stir in the cinnamon and vanilla.

3. Heat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.

4. Lightly flour your work surface and a rolling pin. Divide the dough in half and lightly flour each piece. Roll out each piece into a 12x5-inch rectangle. Place one rectangle with the long side toward you. Brush the bottom half with half the jam. Sprinkle it with half the raisin mixture and fold the top half of the dough over it to cover the filling. Cut the folded strip crosswise into eight, 1 and 1/2-inch wide cookies. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, jam and filling.

5. Bake the cookies until golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool and serve.

Serving Size: 1 somersault

Nutritional Information: Number of Servings: 16

During holiday family gatherings stuffing it doesn’t matter if the main dish is ham, turkey or gumbo, stuffing is always on the menu. Here’s a healthier take on the traditional holiday food.

Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Dried Apricots

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 cup dried apricots, diced
2 cups chopped celery
1 pound chicken or turkey sausage, crumbled
3 cups cornbread, crumbled, preferably homemade
4 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup pecans, hazelnuts or slivered almonds, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped

Cooking Instructions:

1. Melt a tablespoon of the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and saute the onions for 5 minutes. Add the apricots and celery and saute until the celery is softened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in the same saucepan and cook the sausage until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage to the celery mixture.

3. Add the crumbled cornbread, thyme, sage, salt, pepper, chicken broth, nuts and parsley and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning.

4. Transfer the stuffing to a shallow baking dish or stuff the turkey. If baking separately, heat the oven to 350°F, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Nutritional Information: Number of Servings: 10

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