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Healthy Holiday Cooking Tips From NBC's "Biggest Loser"

Turkey

• Use a rack to roast the turkey so the fat drips away from the bird
• If you're roasting a whole turkey, bake the stuffing in a casserole outside the bird. Stuffing baked inside the bird absorbs fat from the turkey.
• Include as many chopped vegetables as possible in the stuffing and use a nonstick pan to minimize the amount of oil required to cook them.
• If you're using broth for stuffing or gravy, be sure to choose fat-free.
• Use a fat separator to skim off all fat before making your gravy. This tool is easy to find in most stores. It looks like a liquid measuring cup, but the spout comes from the bottom of the cup so the fat stays behind as you pour the liquid (fat-free) from the bottom.

Miscellaneous

• Season vegetables with fresh herbs and low sodium seasonings, and skip the butter.
• Skip the dinner rolls. If that's not an option for your family, buy whole-grain rolls.
• Cut down on saturated fat in creamy sauces and dressings by mixing in nonfat or low-fat plain yogurt.
• Mash potatoes with chicken broth and canned, evaporated, skimmed milk instead of butter.
• Use low-fat canned cream soup in the traditional green bean casserole.

Pumpkin Pie or Sweet Potato Pie

• Use cooked mashed sweet potato to substitute for pumpkin in your favorite pumpkin pie recipe if you favor sweet potato over pumpkin.
• Make pumpkin (or sweet potato) pies with canned, evaporated, skimmed milk. Much of the water has been "evaporated" so the remaining milk is more concentrated, making it rich and creamy with lower calories and fat than regular evaporated milk.
• Try to use half the amount of sugar requested in the recipe, substitute brown sugar for white sugar and if you have access, try using agave nectar as your sweetener (available at health food stores). Unlike sugar, it's loaded with antioxidants and is natural rather than artificial or chemically processed.
• Substitute most or all of the whole eggs with egg whites.
• Eat just the filling of the finished pie and skip the high-fat crust. Or, if no one else minds, bake the filling in a springform pan without any crust at all.

Do make a plan. The best way to avoid overindulgences is going into the holiday season with a plan - know where you're going, what temptations lie ahead and know how you're going to deal with them. Decide in advance whether you'll splurge for a day, stick to a strict diet plan or enjoy only small portions of your favorite foods. If you trust yourself to take one bite of something and stop, you can sample a selection of desserts. If you can't stop at one bite, pick the most appealing dessert option and stick with it.