Making Healthy Holiday Food Choices

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

Did you know that during the holiday season the typical person consumes an additional 600 calories per day? That’s a lot of extra calories, especially for our littlest eaters! Usually those calories are loaded with fat and sugar. It's no wonder so many of us run for the gym come the New Year!

As we ramp up for this busy holiday season, it’s important to keep in mind that some of the treats we enjoy at holiday gatherings and when on the go can quickly add up to more than a day’s worth of calories. During the normal course of the year it’s a lot easier to eat moderately. But for this next couple of months, we’re confronted every day with an incredible array of tempting choices and once a year treats.

You can justify those extra calories by compensating with a strict exercise regime, the way I used to when I had more time. If you live in a snowy climate, sending the kids outside for an hour each day will surely help. But the more common winter scenario, at least in my house, is a period of less activity where we nest at home, hunkered down with our family and friends, playing with our new Christmas toys and games, and enjoying each other's company. That brisk walk we always plan to take after a big holiday meal usually gets forgotten in our post pig-out food coma.

Plus we all have those few holiday treats that we can’t resist. For me it’s chocolate and pie. I am an absolute sucker for homemade pie. I also love eggnog, cookies, and those delicious holiday themed lattes, and it goes on from there. My son has turned into a real candy freak this year after fully experiencing the joy of Halloween so I’m sure we’ll have plenty of candy around too. I’m gaining a few pounds just thinking about it. What’s a person to do? While you can’t necessarily refuse a slice of Aunt Edna’s coconut cream pie, you can balance it out by watching your diet in other ways.

A popular smart phone application and book series, called Eat This, Not That shows you better alternatives to common high calories snacks, meals, and drinks both at home and at popular fast food chains and eateries. Now this is an eating approach I can live with. It’s a kinder and gentler tactic to policing calories. For example, this method suggests that instead of traditional eggnog, you enjoy a cup of hot cocoa, as it contains half of the fat and calories. In place of crabcakes, try shrimp cocktail instead.

Now I knew one of my favorite holiday appetizers, spinach and artichoke dip, would be on the list. The suggestion is to limit yourself to one chip’s worth. For me, that would be nearly impossible to pull off. I’m not sure if my method would be officially sanctioned, but I choose to enjoy a full serving in place of a regular dinner meal. Another way to enjoy creamy dips in more sensible quantities is to portion them out ahead of time and serve on rounds of toasted bread.

In my family, we love appetizers so much that one of our holiday and vacation treats is to enjoy a full meal of just appetizers. For everyday, it’s probably not the best example to set for your kids, but I think it’s a fun once-in-a-while treat. Kids love foods they can just pick up and eat, including healthy starters like fresh veggies and dip.

So if you make this a season of sensible indulgence, you and your family can still enjoy those special treats once in a while. After all, what would the holiday season be without them?

Serves/Makes: 8

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 10 ounces fresh baby spinach
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 package (16 ounce size) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped (can substitute canned artichokes, drained)