7 Ways To Serve Healthy Food For The Holidays

A variety of food is always present during the holiday season. Therefore, one may eat excessively during this season as celebrations are everywhere. It may be hard but, you need to be cautious about what and how much you eat. As long as you adhere to some eating habits, you can enjoy the holiday and all that comes with it and be healthy throughout.    

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• Buy Ingredients In Advance    

Buy the needed ingredients of the meals you intend to serve for the holidays in advance and store them in your freezer and pantry. These could be food items like whole grains, herbs and spices, meat, poultry, vegetables, and fruits, among other food items. You can prepare delicious and healthy foods from these ingredients during the holidays. It will save you from going to the supermarket and picking food items in a rush when everybody else is shopping. In such a case, you would end up picking unhealthy items because stocks would likely run out since everybody is buying them. 

• Consider Getting Local Produce   

As you plan for the holiday, find local produce. Locally produced ingredients like fruits, vegetables, and herbs and spices, have little to no chemicals. Therefore, you would be serving much healthier dishes during the holidays if you buy local produce. You’re not only buying healthy ingredients for your meals, but you are also helping out your local farmers earn more. 

• Use Recipe Books   

If you run out of ideas or you want to try out new ways of preparing meals, then recipe books could help you. Recipe books guide you in cooking healthy dishes that you and your family can enjoy in the yuletide season. You can access downloadable ones online and select recipes for delicious foods to serve during the holidays. 

• Redefine Common Meals   

There could be a traditional way of cooking some food which may take quite a long time. Preparation time could get family members or even guests you may have invited over frustrated waiting for meals to be ready. To avoid such scenarios, you could learn new ways of making ordinary meals. For example, when making pasta, you could do away with waiting for noodles to boil and instead make a spaghetti pie. You will need to cook the pasta slightly until it is still firm to bite, then mix it with cheese, eggs, and vegetables or herbs of your choice. Pack the mixture into a pan and refrigerate for eight hours before baking. The result you get after baking is pasta that is crispy on the outside, which you can also slice like a cake and serve while hot or at room temperature. Redefining how you cook meals would allow you to serve them uniquely without compromising their nutritional value. 

• Avoid Too Much Salt   

The health requirement for salt in the body is 200 milligrams per day. It is way lesser than the 3400 milligrams people consume daily, which is dangerous because it causes bloating, and the heart and blood vessels may function beyond normal. To help your family members or guests avoid taking too much salt, do not bring salt shakers to the table and keep away from processed ingredients. Take time to read labels of particular food products like dressings, cheese, processed meats as these usually contain a lot of salt. 

• Be Smart In How You Display The Food   

Come up with a way to display the food that will enable your family members and or guests to make healthy choices. Designate an area away from the table and display the meals in a buffet style. This way, your family members and guests will think twice about getting up from the table several times to get more than enough food. It also helps to avoid careless eating. 

• Use Not Too Large Plates   

Despite the amount of healthy food that is available, it is the size of the plate that determines the number of servings. It is thus advisable to prepare smaller ones on the table, preferably about 9-10 inches in diameter. Because the tendencies are you would be overwhelmed with the variety of food on the table and eat them all. Using a decent size of plates will allow you and your entire family to eat the right amount of food instead of impulsively eating everything on the table. 

Conclusion    

The holiday season is not a time to defy your goals on healthy eating and then struggle to get back on track afterward. You can celebrate, eat what you want in the right portions, and still observe your healthy eating habits. You may follow the tips above on serving healthy foods during the holidays.  

Last Updated on January 6, 2022 by Carleen