Now that November is here, you’re likely thinking about planning holiday meals. Food is a wonderful celebration of life, friendships and family. But holiday celebrations don’t have to include unhealthy meals. To help you celebrate and give thanks for life, we've made over the traditional Thanksgiving meal so you can thoroughly enjoy every bite and still feel confident that you’re making healthy choices.
We bet your family won’t notice the small substitutions in these traditional Thanksgiving dishes, yet you’ll be amazed at what big differences they make in cutting out calories and fat! Take a look at the nutrition comparison chart and you’ll see that we've managed to cut the calories by nearly one-third, and the fat content is just 11% of the traditional version!
Scroll down to the healthy recipes below and start planning your celebration and giving thanks for your good health.
Recipes
Roasted Turkey
Choose either a fresh or frozen turkey that is not pre-basted, which can add considerably more fat calories. Stuff with dressing recipe below. Bake according to the label directions for a stuffed turkey. To keep your turkey moist, cover tightly after turkey browns (about 1/2 hour), and baste frequently with the drippings that are released from the turkey.
Before serving, remove the skin and discard. Enjoy 3 ounces of either white or dark meat, or a combination of the two. Our nutrition values are for a mixture of dark and white meat without the skin:
- 127 calories
- 25 grams protein
- 2.2 grams fat (17% of calories)
- 0.74 grams fat
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Traditional |
Luscious, Lean & Legal! |
| Appetizer |
2 ounces cheese and 8 crackers
Calories: 294
Fat: 21.4 g
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Minted Fruit kabob
Calories: 35
Fat: 0.2 grams
|
| Roasted Turkey |
3 ounces white and dark meat with skin
Calories: 254
Fat: 19.8 g
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3 ounces white and dark meat without skin
Calories: 128
Fat: 2.2 grams
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| Mashed Potatoes And Gravy |
Traditional version (mashed with butter and milk)
Potatoes: Calories: 204
Fat: 12.3 g
Gravy: Calories: 129
Fat: 13 grams
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Cream cheese whipped potatoes and gravy
Potatoes: Calories: 136
Fat: 1.5 grams
Gravy: Calories: 15
Fat: 0 grams
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| Stuffing |
Cornbread stuffing
Calories: 358
Fat: 17.6 g
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Herb and Apple Stuffing
Calories: 107
Fat: 1.6 grams
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| Glazed Sweet Potatoes |
With butter and brown sugar
Calories: 369
Fat: 23.0 g
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Sweet Potatoes in a Butter & Orange-Brown Sugar Glaze
Calories: 172
Fat: 4.5 grams
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| Green Beans |
With cream of mushroom soup and french fried onions
Calories: 240
Fat: 15.6 g
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With lemon Dijon sauce
Calories: 43
Fat: 0.5 grams
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| Pumpkin Pie |
Traditional recipe from the back of a can of pumpkin pie
Calories: 299
Fat: 13 grams
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Kris' Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Topping
Calories: 146
Fat: 2.4 grams
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Total Calories: 2,147
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Total Calories: 772
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Total Fat: 135.7
|
Total Fat: 12.9
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Even More Holiday Recipes
If you are hankering to try some new and somewhat non-traditional dishes this Thanksgiving, give the following tasty recipes a try:
Additional Nutrition Information
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Reviewed: 11/11