Holiday Meals: Bring the Good Option

Watching waistlines during the holidays is always a challenge. Plan for success this year by bringing the good option to holiday gatherings. Whatever your favorite dish / greatest weakness is, offer to make that dish and then bring a dish that you feel good about eating yourself and about serving to family and friends.

Here are a few suggestions for good options to bring:

Salad
Use a luxury ingredient like pecans or avocados for some heart-healthy fats that will curb your holiday appetite and help prevent over-indulging later in the meal. And take a stab at making your our salad dressing!

Hot Vegetable Side
Bring green beans simply sauteed in a dribble of olive oil with some sea salt (rather than drowned in 'cream of something soup'). Or, depending on the crowd (whether people love garlic or not), make Angry Broccoli: lightly saute several cloves of minced garlic with some red pepper flakes in a tablespoon of olive oil, toss in steamed broccoli and top with a few shavings of parmesan or pecorino cheese.


Dessert:
A fresh fruit plate with plain greek-style yogurt or a fresh farmers cheese (low in fat and calories) drizzled with honey, or a simple baked fruit dessert (without a pastry crust) garnished with a few nuts.

Happy Holidays!

Homemade Candies in Minutes!

This December's recipea is one of our simplest and most elegant yet. These chocolate candies are great to bring along to a holiday party, to make for last-minute gifts, or a fun way to enjoy a snow day with the kids.

Chocolate Cherry Candies

Make your own chocolate candies this holiday season. These have half the fat of traditional store bought chocolate candies, so you can feel great about giving them to little ones, gifting them to loved ones, and having a few yourself. In place of excess saturated fat, sugar, and calories; these treats offer antioxidants and iron from the dried fruit, healthy unsaturated oils, Vitamin E, and minerals (like Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc) from the nuts. Hap-pea Holidays!

• 8oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate
  (50-70% cocoa, chips, or chopped)
• 1 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
  (substitute with dried cranberries or apricots)
• 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted (substitute with chopped hazelnuts or walnuts)
• 1 cup crispy rice cereal
• fleur de sel or other finishing salt

Prepare one 3-foot-long piece of parchment or waxed paper with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine the dried fruit, nuts and crispy rice cereal in a medium-sized bowl. If using chocolate bars, chop the chocolate into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces. Melt the chocolate by heating gently either in the microwave or a double boiler, stirring regularly until fully melted, about 100 degrees F. Continue stirring the melted chocolate using a folding spatula.

Fold the fruit mixture gently into the melted chocolate. Once all the fruit mixture is covered, working quickly with two small spoons, drop heaping teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared pieces of paper. Before they set, sprinkle a few grains of fleur de sel onto each cluster. Let cool completely, about 1 hour. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to a few days.