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How to Have a Delicious and Nutritious Thanksgiving

Standardby carynfasko1 Comment

Whether you are planning a feast at your home or bringing a dish to someone else’s home, read on for tips and recipe ideas for a healthier thanksgiving.

Tips:

1. Don’t starve yourself before your feast. You will be overly hungry and eat way too much and then feel terrible. Eat something light and healthy prior.
2. Make sure you exercise. Just going for a walk can help burn some of the extra calories you indulge in and may make you feel less sluggish. You can make exercise a fun family activity too…. in my family we do the turkey trot, a five mile run in downtown Cleveland every thanksgiving we are together.
3. Watch your portion sizes. You don’t need to eat as much as possible. Leftover turkey and pumpkin pie can be frozen.
4. Replace high fat high calorie items in recipes with reduced or nonfat lower calorie items when possible. For example, using reduced fat cheese in your macaroni and cheese recipe can help decrease the fat and calorie content. Applesauce can also be a replacement for some or all of the butter in some baked goods recipes. If it is your first time trying applesauce as a substitute, and the recipe calls for 1 cup of butter I would use half the butter (1/2 cup) and replace the other 1/2 cup of butter with a half a cup of applesauce.
5. Don’t continue to sit by food when you are done eating. Move yourself away from the food or clear the table so you don’t keep mindlessly eating.

Now that you have some general tips….what kind of healthy recipes can you make that everyone can enjoy? Read on for some of my own Thanksgiving appropriate recipes and other recipes I found from around the web that have the “Caryn seal of approval.” 🙂

 

I like to start out my Thanksgiving with some healthy appetizers and festive drinks:

Turkey Veggie Platter:

http://www.eatingwithfoodallergies.com/turkeyveggieplatter.html

Skinny Pumpkin Dip:

Pumpkin Yogurt Dip

Sparkling Apple Cider Sangria:

http://www.floatingkitchen.net/sparkling-apple-cider-sangria/

Cranberry Margaritas:

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/cranberry-margaritas/

 

Turkey is a must at my Thanksgiving feast….here are a couple ways to cook your turkey that I think sound flavorful and delicious:

Rosemary Orange Roast Turkey:

http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/rosemary-orange-roast-turkey

Herb Roasted Turkey:

http://mobile.eatingwell.com/recipes/herb_roasted_turkey.html

Try and fill your plate with lots of fresh vegetables with these recipes:
Salad with Goat Cheese, Pears, Candied Pecans and Maple Balsamic Dressing:
Honey Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Feta:
Roasted Squash Stuffed Roasted Vegetables:
Green Beans with Brown Butter and Toasted Almonds:
Cauliflower Salad:

And of course we have to have some stuffing, potatoes, cranberries and macaroni and cheese:
Herbed Wild Rice and Quinoa Stuffing:
Wild Rice Mushroom Stuffing:
Sweet Potato Casserole:
Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries:
Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes:
Yukon Gold Sweet Potato Mash:
Roasted Cranberries with Grapes and Rosemary:
Lighter Macaroni and Cheese:

Last but not least here are few healthier (and gluten free) dessert options:
Pumpkin Squares:
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Check me out on Pinterest and follow my Thanksgiving board for more holiday recipes! @DelishnNutrish
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About carynfasko

One comment

  1. Fitoru Keto
    March 19, 2020 at 10:44 am
    Reply

    Great tips! I’ll definitely keep this information in mind. Thanks a lot for posting!

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