Diet Strategies for the Holidays #diet #holidays

The holiday season is coming up and along with that comes a lot of socializing, eating, and drinking. My husband's family is already planning our Thanksgiving meal, which will include turkey, ham, lamb, all the trimmings, plus all sort of desserts. One Thanksgiving, one of my sons counted the calories one could consume at such a celebration, and it was around 1,500 calories.


My friend, Maria Ciocon, and I were discussing a plan to keep from gaining weight over the holidays. Here are my suggestions:

Avoid drinking sodas and alcoholic drinks because they're loaded with calories;

Be careful of rich appetizers, trimmings, and desserts. I'm talking about chips and dip, mashed potatoes, gravy, butter, pies, cakes, bread and other carbs, and so on;

Think about what you pop into your mouth! Do you really want more dressing with gravy? Do you really want another slice of pie? Have that slice of pumpkin pie, but not two, and avoid eating it with whipped cream.

By all means eat at these gatherings, but do so sensibly.

Don't think you're "dieting" because you'll feel deprived; think instead that you're choosing to be "healthy" and taking care of yourself.  You'll feel better and lighter if you choose salads, vegetables, lean turkey meat, instead of piling your plate high with mashed potatoes, gravy, and other buttery creamy food.

Don't castigate yourself if you do eat too much. Just make up for it by eating salads and taking more walks in the days after.

At these gatherings, focus not so much in indulging in food and drink, but in talking to your loved ones.

Weigh yourself regularly so that you can correct yourself right away in case you gain a pound or two. It's easier to get rid of 1 or 2 pounds rather than 5 or more.

Here are some tips I picked up in the internet:

Healthy eating for the holidays

Top 10 Holiday Diet Tips of all time

Tags: #holiday, #diet, health, Thanksgiving, food

This is all for now,
Cecilia

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It's a week before Thanksgiving!

Here's what the Westside Pavilion looks like now, before the mad Christmas rush. On Black Friday the place will be hopping with shoppers looking for bargains.

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Diet Strategies for the Holidays

Tags: holidays, Thanksgiving, shopping, family

This is all for now,
Cecilia

POTATO SALAD AND HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

Last night I made homemade potato salad and remembered that my mother used to make mayonnaise. Usually this was done when my parents had a big party and Mama made potato salad. in the 1950s in the Philippines, jarred mayonnaise wasn't easily available. As I write this I find this hard to believe since we are so used to just unscrewing a jar of Best Foods or Kraft mayonnaise. It's possible that jarred mayonnaise was available but that my mother just wanted to do it homemade. In any case, I remember that egg yolks were used, and Wesson Oil. My mother always used Wesson oil. She added some vinegar to the eggs yolks and Wesson Oil and lemoncito, and the mixture had to be whisked until it solidified.

I found some recipes for homemade Mayonnaise on the net and it includes adding dry mustard. We didn't have dry mustard in the Philippines so my mother used egg yolks, Wesson Oil, vinegar and lemoncito. Her potato salad was always good.

For a long while I wasn't making homemade potato salad because of the hassle of boiling the potatoes and eggs, peeling, cutting, and mixing in relish, onions, mayonnaise, horse radish, etc. I was buying potato salad that was already made from markets. I always had leftovers.

A few months ago, I had some potatoes that had to be used and I made potato salad. The homemade potato salad was so much better than the store-bought version. My family ate the whole thing. Ever since, I've decided that this dish can be a nice addition to a buffet meal.

I don't have a written recipe for potato salad, but basically I boil potatoes (I've just been using baking potatoes). I also boil eggs. I peel the potatoes and cut them up - big chunks are fine. I do the same with the eggs. I chop up onions. I add relish; I add a bit of horse radish for zing. I add dollops of mayonnaise and mix. If I have plain yogurt, I'll use it, and minimize the mayonnaise - this to minimize the calories. If I have the liquid of sweet pickles (vinegar and sugar), I'll add that. I find that if I leave this in the refrigerator overnight, it'll dry up, so I'll give it another small dollop of mayonnaise before serving.

You can see, dear Readers, that my mind is still filled with food as I prepare for Easter.

ROASTING BONELESS LEG OF LAMB FOR THANKSGIVING

My sister-in-law Kim is making the turkey; I've got 2 legs of lamb (boneless) roasting. They each weigh approx. 4.65 lbs. I bought these at Costco last week and froze them; they're from Australia (and suddenly I have a vision of two 3-legged sheep hobbling about in Australia).

I took them out of the freezer last night - rock solid. I left them on the kitchen sink and by the morning they were thawed. I planned on roasting at 325 degrees for around 2 1/2 hours - less, if it looks done. The meat continues to cook, you see, after you pull it out.

I cut off the wrapper but left the stretchy string that holds the meat together so each roast holds its shape. I crushed an entire garlic with around 20 cloves. I inserted garlic through the stretchy string to the inside parts of the roast. I rubbed some salt on the roast - not too much because salt is drying. Then I rubbed black pepper as well. I cut some fresh rosemary sprigs and rubbed the meat with rosemary. I scrunched this rosemary and inserted inside the meat. I placed the two roasts on a roasting pan.

I used to have a thermometer, which never worked. I don't have one. So I'm keeping track of time - in around 2 hours, I'll check the meat. I'm going to pull this out when pink.

The string will be cut and discarded. The rosemary sprig will also be discarded; but I have fresh ones to use as decoration around the serving platter. The meat will be cut and served with mint jelly and all the other Thanksgiving trimmings: mashed potatoes, gravy, etc.

The garlic tones down the gamey quality of lamb, and so does the sweet mint jelly. The rosemary also cuts the gaminess and throws off a lovely scent.

Once the meat is removed from the enamel pan, I will use the pan drippings for the gravy. But first, if the drippings are very fatty, I will pour off the excess fat, being careful not to pour away the brown drippings, which is the good stuff. I will place the pan over low heat, pour in Shirah or whatever red wine is around - around a cup? - and then I will mix some Mochiko rice flour in a cup of water, stir until mixed. I will pour this mixture into the drippings with wine, and stir, scrape, until the gravy thickens. If needed I'll add salt and pepper to the gravy.

I didn't do it this time, but one can include with the meat, some potatoes so that the whole thing roasts together - the meat and pan-fried potatoes.

Lamb meat is dark with a rich, heavy flavor which goes well with red wine.

Bon A Petit!

from Chef Cecilia