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Healthy holiday favorites

By Julie Whittington | Statesville R&L

Published: December 4, 2008

With Thanksgiving over, you can feel the Christmas spirit in the air. Why not make your home festive and cook up some healthy holiday favorites over the next few weeks?

Holiday foods do not have to be over-indulgent. The key is portion control and balance during the day. Try not to "save up" during the day in order to eat more later. Instead, eat small frequent meals during the day and allow yourself the occasional treat. In this way, you won't over-indulge on huge portions later after trying to "save up" during the day. Just remember to continue focusing on mindful eating — eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are satisfied (not stuffed!)

Here are a few ideas for some holiday favorites that can fit in to a balanced meal plan without going overboard:

• Make some holiday gingerbread. Opt for cutting the oil or butter in half. Replace with applesauce or lowfat plain yogurt. Don't do this trick for gingerbread houses, since a lower fat bread may not be as sturdy.

• Make holiday apple cider instead of hot chocolate. It is lower in fat and still warms you up.

• Make apple butter by slow cooking fresh apples (organic if possible) over low heat with a splash of water and some cinnamon. This can be done on the stovetop, in a slow cooker or in a shallow baking dish in the oven. Cook until dark golden in color and aromatic. Shorter cooking times will yield delicious applesauce, while longer cooking yields apple butter.

• Homemade cranberry sauce is delicious on baked chicken or sandwiches. Look for online recipes.

• A nutritious afternoon snack could be a handful of whole nuts that you crack with a festive nutcracker.

• Another snack idea is two or three Moravian-style cookies with applesauce or a container of lowfat yogurt.

• Try the soymilk version of eggnog. It is about half the calories and one-fifth the fat of traditional eggnog. It is great in coffee instead of creamer.

• Have a homemade cookie with a glass of milk. The protein in the milk will help balance the sugars in the cookie. And, it will satisfy you more, too. This will help prevent you from eating two or three cookies in order to get satisfied.

• Remember, the holidays are more than food! Enjoy the time you have to be thankful for your blessings and your ability to continue to focus on your health.