Christmas Celebration

Christmas is a time of celebration, but it also tends to be a time of high-fat, high-calorie food. Make healthy entertaining and eating a big part of the family’s Christmas and year-end celebrations. Offer guests with healthy and nutritious food choices by planning the Christmas party menu and dishes carefully as well as buying and using fresh quality ingredients.

Healthy Christmas party tips

• Plan healthy Christmas party menu.
• Bring a nutritious dish to the festivities. Offer beforehand to provide a salad or vegetable side dish so you can be assured that there will be at least one healthy item at the meal.
• Fruit salads or platters – These are the healthiest desserts. Cut up water melon, rock melon, mango, strawberries, oranges, apples or any other fruits and mix them in a salad bowl or serve them on a plate.
• Serve lighter appetizers- Change your favorite recipes by substituting lower fat ingredients such as low-fat or fat-free yogurt and sour cream. Use fruits and vegetables with dips and spreads, instead of chips or crackers.
• Dippers – Savor the homemade, healthy dips using water crackers, organic corn chips and raw vegetable sticks such as celery, cucumber and carrot sticks.
• Low calorie: Eggnog, a notorious calorie culprit, packs about 343 calories into just a one-cup, alcohol-free serving. Substituting mostly egg whites or an egg substitute instead of whole eggs and fat-free milk instead of half-and-half can bring the festive drink back down to reasonable levels.
• Raw veggies – Crisp slices of jicama, combined with broccoli and cauliflower florets make a refreshing appetizer choice any time of year.
• Start well hydrated – drink plenty of water during the day and before the party to make sure you’re not thirsty when downing your first alcoholic drink. Try starting the party with a non-alcoholic drink such as water, mineral water, a diet soft drink or lime and soda to curb your thirst and slow down your alcohol intake.
• Offer non-alcoholic, low calorie drinks such as iced water, lime and diet soft drinks etc. Don’t start serving alcoholic drinks too early in the day. The earlier you start the more you will consume.
• As with your favorite foods, a little taste of the traditional Christmas beverages won't completely weaken a healthy diet. Balance these drinks with plenty of water.
• Don’t miss your usual exercise regime for a Christmas party ideas. This only doubles the impact – more calories consumed and fewer calories burnt.
• At the dinner table, eat more steamed vegetables and leaner cuts of meat, such as pork or beef tenderloin, instead of ham. In case of turkey, avoid the skin and choose white meat, which is leaner than dark meat.
• Turkey is by far the best choice for a healthy Christmas dinner, since goose and duck are much fattier. Roast your turkey on a rack so that it doesn't bathe in fat as it cooks.
• Make a gift basket creative. You can gift low calorie, low fat homemade cookies and other snacks, a lovely plant and garden tools.

Get Christmas celebration ideas, Christmas, recipes, tradition, gift ideas and more detail information to celebrate Christmas only hear at Food2GoodHealth .