Healthy Cooking by design

I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will help me not feel miserably full during Thanksgiving week.  I think my word for the week is going to be moderation.  No way am I depriving myself of the goodies, just using moderation to enjoy them.

Here’s my “before, during, and after” strategy:

While cooking-

• Roast the turkey, not deep fry it
• Skim the fat well off the drippings before thickening into gravy
• Make mashed potatoes with milk instead of cream
• Cut a stick of butter into teaspoon-sized pats for easy serving control
• Top sweet potatoes with brown sugar, pecans, and slivers of butter instead of marshmallows
• Cut the sugar in half in all recipes

While serving and eating-

• Limit my appetizers
• Put one spoon of everything that I want on my plate
• Skip the roll and butter (or only have one with one pat of butter)
• Eat slowly and enjoy the conversation
• If I drink calories (soda, eggnog, etc.), have only one cup
• If I go back for seconds (because it’s optional), choose the 2 items I’d like another spoon of
• If I want pie, choose which type (probably pumpkin), and cut one slice in half (that way I can have the other 1/2 slice later in the day).

After the meal-

• Send other guests home with servings of things I don’t want a lot of left in the house (pies, etc.)
• Give myself full permission to enjoy all those same things again at the next meal
• If there’s too much food left the next day, pack some up and take to the local firehouse and tell them how thankful I am for their service.

Using these tricks will allow me to enjoy all of my favorite foods but never have to loosen my belt, eat tums, or feel any guilt.  Sounds like a plan to be thankful for to me.

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