How to Hack the Holidays: A Healthy Harvest

When the colder months are upon us, we often want comfort and typical holiday food. Did you know you can make your comfort foods count toward your health?

Bayhealth’s Bariatric Program Coordinator Patty Deer, MSM, BSN, RN, CNOR, CBN, shares a few tips on how you can make your bountiful harvest a healthy one.

How to make staple comfort foods healthier:

• Change up the mashed potatoes by whipping your mashed potatoes with either broth or skim milk; and roasted garlic instead of butter and full fat milk/cream. Mashed cauliflower is another option.
• To spice up your stuffing, cook this dish in the oven rather than inside your turkey or chicken. To add in extra fiber and texture, throw in some apples, cranberries, nuts, and vegetables such as onions, carrots, and celery. For extra flavor, add in some low sodium broth.
• Rather than opting for the canned jelly cranberry sauce, enjoy whole berry cranberry sauce. Making this dish yourself will also allow you to monitor the amount of sugar that is included.

Balance is beautiful:

• Roasted vegetables are a healthy addition to any dish. Winter squashes such as butternut, acorn, and delicata can be roasted, blended into soups, or mashed.
• Including grains such as quinoa or farro is another way to bring variety to a dish. These grains are good sources of fiber and protein; they also aid in improving digestive health and blood sugar.
• While a green bean casserole may sound healthy, it can be heavy and packed with fat, sodium and calories. A better option is to use fresh green beans instead of canned to reduce the sodium content and low-fat dairy. Or simply sauté, steam or roast fresh green beans with olive oil and garlic.

Portions are important:

• Everyone’s nutritional needs are unique. When focusing on your health, a good rule of thumb is to fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables, ¼ with whole grains, and ¼ with a protein of your choice.
• Including a variety of food from different food groups helps with a balanced and a nutritious diet.
• Opting for low fat or fat free dairy, eliminating or limiting added sugar and salt and choosing healthy fats are useful tips to help with healthy weight management.

Don’t forget about dessert:

• Pumpkin is a good source of fiber and antioxidants. While pumpkin pie is one of the healthier dessert options, little substitutes such as switching out pumpkin pie filling for real or canned pumpkin puree can make this treat even healthier. This simple swap helps control sugar intake as pumpkin puree is pure pumpkin whereas pumpkin pie filling contains additional ingredients such as sugar, spices and thickener.
• Choosing low fat or sugar free sweetened condensed milk can be a better option to include when making a pumpkin pie.
• Bite size or mini pies made in a mini muffin pan as well as pumpkin parfaits are a creative way to prevent or limit overindulging.
• Some other festive desserts are mini apple pie tarts, fresh berries and whipped cream, angel food cake with berries, fruit crumbles, black bean brownies, and pumpkin cheesecake bars.

While it is easy to become overwhelmed during the holidays in terms of food, it is important to remember that all dishes can be modified to fit your nutritional needs.

“Remember – the holiday is just one day, not an entire eating season. Look forward to the experience of the holidays by spending time with friends and family. Start new holiday traditions that are not food focused,” said Deer.

Some non-food focused activities that are beneficial to your physical and mental well-being are taking outdoor hikes and enjoying the seasonal scenery with loved ones, bike rides, short walks, apple picking or visiting a pumpkin patch, and yard work such as raking leaves.

Visit Bayhealth.org/Bariatrics to learn more about how you can take control of your health.