Healthy Food Alternatives
With the holiday season upon us, many people feel anxious about their nutrition. After all, the holidays are the time to be with family, relax, and enjoy tasty food.
But what if you’re determined to keep eating healthily during the holiday season instead of falling for temptations? Is there any hope?
While sometimes challenging, healthy holiday eating is entirely possible. Let’s go over four healthy meal options to consider.
Green Bean Casserole
Most people don’t see casseroles as the healthiest dish because traditional recipes often include lots of butter, cheese, and other goodies. Luckily for us, we can put together a healthy casserole meal without sacrificing its taste.
The green bean casserole offers fewer calories and saves you some fat, making it a good option for a healthy holiday meal. Here is what you’ll need to prepare it:
Roughly eight cups of cut green beans
Medium-sized onion, sliced
Three tablespoons flour
Three tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Three-fourths teaspoon salt
Two and a half cups low-fat milk
Black pepper to taste
Half a cup shredded cheese
You can also include some lean meat, such as chicken, into the mix. A serving will have fewer than 200 calories with lots of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Tasty Oven-Roasted Turkey
You can’t go wrong with an oven-roasted turkey when it comes to healthy holiday eating. Turkey meat is great because it is tasty, low in calories, and full of protein to keep you satiated after eating.
You can try plenty of recipes, but it doesn’t need to be anything special. Prepare the turkey, pre-heat the oven, and roast. You can use bacon and sausage as stuffing for extra protein and taste.
Mashed potatoes are a healthy and nutritious side dish you can always add to turkey.
Pork Tenderloin Over Quinoa
While some people see pork as fatty and bad for our health, it doesn’t have to be the case. Pork tenderloin is lean and has almost no fat, which saves you calories. Plus, combining the meat with quinoa is a great way to make a tasty, nutritious, and filling meal.
One option for your pork tenderloin is to cook it on a skillet with a bit of olive oil. Doing so makes the meat more savory without adding tons of extra calories. The simplest way to cook your quinoa is in a pot until it absorbs all the water. For fluffier quinoa, add more water.
Chicken Cacciatore
Skinless chicken is always a good option because the meat is easy to prepare, offers plenty of high-quality protein, and will keep you full for hours. Plus, it doesn’t take much to make your chicken taste well.
Here’s how to prepare the dish in five steps:
Cut up some chicken breast, season it, and cook the meat in a deep skillet until golden brown. Transfer the meat to a plate once cooked.
Meanwhile, chop up some mushrooms and pop them in the skillet for a few minutes.
Add the mushrooms to the chicken and put a bunch of chopped peppers, onion, and rosemary into the skillet.
Cook those veggies for a few minutes and add some chopped tomato to finish things up.
Transfer the veggie mix to your plate, season with salt and pepper, let the dish cool a bit, and enjoy a healthy holiday meal.