Low fat thanksgiving

So, you want to have your Thanksgiving dinner but, thanks to the sage advice of your friendly neighborhood physician*, you have to have it in its low fat version. You fear that the meal will be bland and flavorless, and that will be a punishment not only to you but to all of the guests at your table. Admit it, you are thinking about, just for this one special occasion, disregarding your doctors advice and having a one meal splurge-a-thon. Don’t do it. I repeat, don’t do it. It’s a slippery slope at best and a potential heart attack at worst. So, don’t do it, we can work together to find a way to have a flavorful, and low fat, holiday.

Guideline 1: No dark meat! (That’s a hard and fast one, no

exceptions or mixing) I don’t care how much you love it, don’t eat it.

Guideline 2: Learn to love your substitutes. You can get low fat milk (we call it skim) or use soy milk, you can find low fat egg substitutes (or just use whites at a rate of 2 egg whites for each egg- you would normally use) You can even get faux butters, just get a no trans-fatty acids version.

Guideline 3: Take a pass on the gravy and the holidays or other egg/ cream based sauces for your foods. I know they taste rich and creamy, but to you they are a golden poison. Use a reduced, low fat stock or just eat it with a spice rub. See, that was not so bad after all. It will even taste good. The trick is to use non-fattening flavors to make your low fat choices taste good. PS- be sure to follow the advice of your MD on hand. If at any point you are not sure about a food or menu, then consult a registered or licensed dietitian. They can give you the best advice.

* I promise not to give you the same lecture that he/she did. While it was an important piece of advice, and I hope you took some notes while you were being talked to, you should only have to get it once, and who wants to be lectured by a chef. Well, I will not lecture too much, just when it really emphasizes a point that is super important. I do, however retain the right to give colorful euphemisms about the food.