When holiday dinners are mentioned this time of year, most of us conjure up images of guilty overindulgence, bloated bellies, and excessive amounts of wasted leftovers. However, if you can be thoughtful and prepare ahead of time, you can make healthy and mindful choices throughout the holidays to avoid the typical American weight gain of 1-3 pounds between November and January.

Fill up on vegetables first, and aim to eat much smaller portions of starchy vegetables such as potatoes/corn and meat. Did you know that a three-ounce serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards? Consider trying the plate method for your holiday dinners this year.

Choose lean meats without the skin. A 3-ounce serving of skinless white meat has 25 grams of protein, 3 grams of fat with <1 gram of saturated fat. If you skip the dark meat and skins, you will avoid the higher saturated fat content.

Prepare foods that most benefit your body, which is easy with sweet potatoes and pumpkins. These two vegetables are low in fat and excellent sources of vitamin A and fiber. Just watch out for the popular high sugar and fat additions such as brown sugar, marshmallows and butter. Consider eating a plain sweet potato with salsa or cranberries.

Buy at least half of your produce from local sources. You will be getting the freshest fruits and vegetables and will avoid the produce which has been shipped for days over thousands of miles, therefore helping the environment. Did you know that non-local fruit or vegetable may have to travel around 1,500 miles to arrive at your grocery store?

If you are accustomed to serving stuffing or gravy, consider a vegan choice and reap the health benefits by cutting back on excessive saturated fat and cholesterol intake. Try this vegan sage gravy recipe - it has only 40 calories per serving (and no saturated fat). If you would like to try a vegetarian stuffing, enjoy this wild rice and cranberry stuffing with walnuts. Eating Well has a great collection of more healthy recipes for holiday dinners.

Happy and healthy eating for your holidays!

If you have watched Oprah, walked into a bookstore or read the New York Times in the past year, then you have probably heard about the latest trend in cooking: sneaking pureed fruits and vegetables into kids’ favorite meals such as casseroles, pizzas, muffins and desserts. The introduction of two new cookbooks, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals by Missy Chase Lapine, and Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Foodby Jessica Seinfeld, have recently popularized this concept for many American families.

However, these books carry a lot of controversy along with them! Health professionals and parents have argued that we should not be "tricking" our children, but many mothers and doctors point out the recipes simply add a nutritional boost to kids’ favorite foods. I have a two-year-old daughter who loves her raw fruits and veggies, but my vegetable-averse husband acts like he is allergic to anything green or orange! So, I tried both of these cookbooks for our household, and here are my pros and cons from the perspective both of a mother and wife and of a dietitian.

Pros:

• Both authors encourage the use of highly nutritious ingredients such as whole wheat flour (instead of white flour), wheat germ, healthy nuts and cooking oils.


• The cookbooks provide educational information such as the nutrient analysis of popular fruits and veggies and the top 12 most important foods to buy organic.


• In every completed recipe, the nutritional value of each meal is improved, even if only slightly, in fiber, vitamins and minerals.


• Many of the recipes appeal to stubborn adults (e.g. my husband) who are guided to eat based on taste and eye appeal rather than nutritional content.


• You don't have to be sneaky to your family about the recipes - feel free to be honest and tell them the truth about the hidden blueberries in the tacos!


• It doesn't have to be a permanent way of life; consider making 1-2 meals per week by using pureed fruits and vegetables.

Cons:

• The amount of pureed fruits and vegetables in each recipe may not significantly increase the nutritional content of the final product. Some recipes call for only half a cup of pureed vegetables for four servings of food - the equivalent of only two extra tablespoons of veggies per person.


• It is extremely important to keep children exposed to the beautiful and bright colors of fruits and vegetables, so they will know that fresh broccoli is bright green and carrots are deep orange.


• Let’s be honest - lying to your children should be discouraged.

My final advice: I would suggest adding pureed sweet potatoes to mac n' cheese and carrots to your spaghetti pie, but please consider serving a side portion of sweet potatoes and zucchini in their true natural and beautiful form. And if you are going to make French toast for breakfast tomorrow morning, why NOT add a spoonful of pureed pumpkin or sweet potato to boost the vitamin A content of an otherwise low vitamin A meal?

Also, if you don't want to spend the time pureeing fruits and vegetables, consider high-quality frozen purees. Homemade Baby is one excellent brand - I've been a consultant on dietary matters for the company for a while.

Have tried these recipes at home? How did your kids or spouses react to the modified meals? How do your kids feel about "real" vegetables, and how do you encourage them to eat enough of them? Share your story with us!

You have likely heard that you need fiber in your diet, but do you know why? How much do you and your children need? Do you know which foods are the best sources of fiber?

Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, beans and lentils (not in dairy or meat products). A high fiber diet helps to promote regular bowel movements and gives your body a sense of fullness after eating it, thus helping to prevent obesity. By offering high fiber food choices to our children, we are encouraging them to establish eating patterns that may help reduce their risk of developing heart disease and some types of cancer later in life.

If you are 18+ years, aim for 25-35 grams fiber per day. For your children, follow this rule: AGE + 5 GRAMS FIBER PER DAY (Example: A 7-year old would need 12 grams fiber per day).

If you want to increase your daily fiber intake, do so slowly to allow the intestinal tract to adapt. If your current intake is only 10 grams and you are aiming for 35 grams per day, increase this gradually over 2-3 weeks. And be sure to drink plenty of fluids with high fiber intake.

You can easily read food packaging labels to determine the fiber content of specific foods. A “high” fiber food has 5 grams or more of fiber per serving and a “good” source of fiber is one that provides 2.5 to 4.9 grams per serving.



Fiber Content of Foods:

• 1 medium apple, orange, banana or pear: 3-4 grams


• 1/2 cup raspberries: 4 grams


• 40 grapes: 2 grams


• 1/2 cup beans (kidney, black, pinto): 5-8 grams


• 1/2 cup green beans: 2 grams


• 1/2 cup corn: 5 grams


• 1 ounce (20-25) almonds: 3 grams


• 2 tablespoons peanut butter: 2 grams


• 1 slice whole-wheat bread: 3 grams

Try some of these creative tips to incorporate fiber throughout the day into your family’s diet:

• Use whole grain breads and crackers (look for whole wheat flour to be the first or second ingredient in these products).


• Top cereal, yogurt and ice cream with berries, nuts and/or wheat germ.


• For baking, use half whole wheat flour and half white flour instead of 100% white flour.


• Add canned pumpkin to homemade waffles, pancakes and breads.


• If your children are old enough, encourage them to eat the skins of vegetables and fruits. (The skins are the high fiber part!)


• Add almonds, chickpeas and beans to salads or vegetable casseroles.


• Make a smoothie at home with frozen fruits, milk, honey and wheat germ.

Remember that good eating habits for your family today…will lead to a lifetime of healthy habits for your children!

Photo by The Wandering Angel, shared via Flickr