Nine Tips for Cooking Healthy over the Holidays

Here are a few things that might come in handy as we move into the holiday season. I'll give you more as I think of them!

1. Make your own butter. For spreading on food (including cooked vegetables), try 2/3 butter mixed with 1/3 flaxseed oil; mash together and then put back in the fridge so it will solidify. It's a great blend of healthy fats. If you're using it for cooking or stir frying, mix 1/2 butter with 1/2 coconut oil, or even 1/2 and 1/2 with olive oil. (My personal recommendations: Barlean's Flax Oil and Barlean's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil are the best in their categories!)


2. Replace potatoes with mashed cauliflower- add a little butter (see above) and season with fresh herbs. And speaking of herbs, if you use fresh, fragrant herbs in your turkey, you'll be able to get away with a lot less stuffing- or even none!


3. Go organic to avoid hormones, pesticides and antibiotic residues in meat.


4. Replace mayonnaise with low-fat yogurt for tasty dressings without the extra calories and artificial stuff. (Note: There's absolutely nothing wrong with mayonnaise, especially when you make it yourself from whole eggs, but you'll save some calories this way. During holidays, every little bit helps.)


5. If you're going to have desserts, consider building them around nutrient dense foods like sweet potatoes, pecans and pumpkin. Even without a boatload of sugar these make great basics for a terrific desert, and they're way more loaded with nutrients than the usual cream pies. You might even feel a little better about overindulging if your choices are healthier.


6. Check the ingredients label on canned foods! High-fructose corn syrup is lurking everywhere and is certain to be in a lot of canned cranberries. Avoid sugar as much as possible. For small amounts of sweetening consider Xylitol or cold pressed raw honey.


7. When choosing honey try to find the raw, unfiltered, cold-pressed kind. It's still sugar, but at least it's actually a food and has some good stuff in it like enzymes and nutrients.


8. Don't go overboard on the number of courses. Studies show that the more options we have at the table, the more we eat. Stick with a few basics. You'll create a satisfying meal that doesn't overstuff your guests.


9. Consider serving a salad as the last course. You can make a really good (and small) dessert salad out of some crumbled blue cheese, candied walnuts or pecans, dried cranberries and a whole bunch of greens. Add a little raspberry or pomegranate dressing and you're in business!


Adapted from my book, "The Healthiest Meals on Earth"