Holiday recipes???

[Pony]

OK, taking a cue from Ann, I thought maybe it might be helpful if we all shared some of our favorite healthy recipes to get us through these holiday dinners that we all have to attend or cook for.

So get out your recipes books and cards files and get to searching.

[Pony]

OK, where is everyone......guess I'll have to resort to talking to myself again.....HHmmmmm! You must be busy going through your bookcases to find those cookbooks with those great recipes. That's it!!!

Anyway, I was going through this one sugar free cookbook I have and to my surprise I discovered that they use .... alcohol in some of these recipes!!!!!??? you know brandy, rum.....I can't believe it. This book was supposed to have good recipes for diabetics......but to use rum?! Back to the drawing board, sort to speak!

So anyone...find anything?

[Ann]

Pony - I'm afraid that most of my good recipes aren't very low-cal but they sure are yummy.

I'll search and see if I can find anything appropriate.

This isn't really a recipe, but something fun I do when my little great nephews are coming is that I found plastic ice-cube trays that the holes are shaped like Christmas trees, Snowmen and bells, and I use red Jello and Green Jello and make up some cute Jello forms (I think there is a low-cal Jello out there somewhere) and then put them in little bowls for them and let them top it with Cool Whip.

Let me think on this and come back. I just didn't want you to think I wasn't interested because I AM

Hugs
Ann

[QTpie]

Hummm, I'm going to check with my sis who has been a diet since thride grade and a size 2. Do need some I am cooking this year so I'll be back!!

Colleen

[Juls]

When it comes to the Holidays, I don't even try to think about low cal. LOL I want the real thing. I use real butter for all my baking and cooking, and I don't scrimp.

My menu will be Roast Turkey (free range, no hormones or antibiotics), cranberry sauce, (made from whole organic cranberries) that I make with sugar and orange juice, sourdough bread stuffing, fresh organic green beans, carrots, and asparagus, sweet potatoe casserole, corn casserole, home-made gravy and fresh buscuits. Oh, I almost forgot, fresh made mased potatoes, also from organic potatoes, and a green salad.

However one way to cut down on fat in mashed potatoes but still have good taste is to use chicken broth. I get it at the health food store though because the broth you get at the regular supermarket is full of MSG. I didn't even realize this till a couple of years ago, and I am pretty fanatical about reading ingredients. It just never occured to me to read a chicken broth lable.

I really enjoy cooking with organic foods as much as possible because I know I am feeding the people I love good food. I don't eat much fat or sugar most of the time, so when it comes to holiday cooking I like to indulge a little. I don't sit down and stuff myself until I can't move though, I do not like that feeling at all. I don't like feeling overly full either, so I eat small portions.

For dessert there will be a selection of home-made pumpkin pie, cheesecake, and apple pie, plus coffee. There will be a bottle of wine that we will have a toast with, but no-one really drinks in our family, so mostly we will have Martinellis apple cider.

How does anyone else handle the drinking thing? My family pretty much all know that I was addicted (except for the kids), and I don't drink, but they like to have a little wine for a toast. It doesn't bother me at all. I don't get any urges or cravings because of it. I just have my Martinellis.

Juls

[Ann]

Juls

I'm coming to your house. I want the sweet potato recipe too, it sounds yummy.

George and I don't drink but we don't mind if others do. When I say I don't drink, I might have 3 or 4 glasses of wine a year, usually with Italian food, because I love it with Italian food. George doesn't drink because of his diabetes and not because he is an Alcoholic (which he isn't although he did like his cocktails many years ago). Mike doesn't drink and my nephew can take it or leave it. So I rarely serve wine. When I go to my brothers he usually has wine and I may have one glass, but it's not an issue with anyone.

I'm still looking for diet holiday recipes, but we are having one doozie of a thunderstorm and hail and wind, so I am on and off as each storm blows through.

Hugs
Ann

[Juls]

Everybody's welcome. I love cooking for a crowd. I will post that sweet potatoe recipe.

One of my problems is that I always end up having too much food. I worry that I won't have enough. LOL I'm trying to think of what size turkey to get. We're only ten, but everybody likes to take home left-overs, so I think a 20lb turkey should be o.k. what do you think?

I always like to have alot of fresh veggies too, and everybody enjoys them. Also, I am famous for my mashed potatoes. My husband does the pies, my son will make the cheesecake, my daughter will do the buscuits. We all pitch in to help. I really like that. I don't think that all the cooking should be done by the woman of the house. It's too much. I enjoy cooking for people, but I am not going to kill myself and be too exhausted to enjoy the day.

Let me know what recipes you find.

Juls

[Pony]

Well that's what I like to hear.....

I know it's pretty hard to make an all low-calorie type dinner for a large family. I just thought that maybe if some had something that was a fav. or something special they knew about we could all share it. And this is great!

I used to make a mashed sweet potatoes with glarlic and butter. It was really good. I lost the exact recipe so I have had to improvise since, but it seems to come out good.

the drinks: well if you like a kind of tropical flavor....I have made this drink from a Hawian blend friut juices (from frozen consentrate) and mix it with diet-7up or sprite (for the fizz) and maybe add a bit of cherry juice from a bottle of mar. cherries.

On the dessert end there is fat free jello pudding in different flavors.....I like chocolate. and then you can use lite whipped cream. In mixing cheesecake from the "Jello" brand you can use non-fat milk to mix it with which will cut down on the fat.

Just a few suggestions from my end.

[Pony]

Wow, thanks Ann. That shrimp one sounds great!!!!!

Also for the links......I'm going to check them out!

[Juls]

Ahhh, fat-free jello? LOL That shrimp sounds very tasty. I don't have a food processor though. Can I use my blender?

If you want Pony I can tell you how I make my low-fat mashed potatoes. Of course it is still full of carbs.

Juls

[Pony]

Sure Juls.....go ahead..........Inquiring minds want to know!

[Ann]

Paulie

Could you explain the "dry whipped topping mix?" LOL LOL.

Ah, I'm sorry. Actually, I wrote this recipe down in my "serious" cookbook. It sounds wonderful.

Could you sneak me the recipe to that Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake too? I KNOW that my great nephews would go wild over that and I will make it for when they come!!!

Hugs
Ann

[Pony]

YUM! It sounds good, let us know if it is as good as it sounds!

I thought you all forgot about this thread! lol

[Paulie]

LOL -

both cakes were delicious!!!!!! I will be making them for my side of the family for xmas eve.

Ann - I will get the to you later today. I am trying to figure out how to scan it with my new printer/scanner. Actually it scans but I don't know where the heck it scans too LOL!!!