Use the recipes and food safety tips below to eat healthy and safe while enjoying your holiday meals.
Homemade vs. Store Bought Cranberry Sauce
Buying cranberry sauce at the grocery store can come with extra unnecessary ingredients, such as high fructose corn syrup. Thankfully, buying cranberry sauce at the store is not the only option. The Expanded Food and Nutrition Program has the perfect Simple Cranberry Sauce recipe to make for the upcoming holidays!
Basic recipe alterations can make for more healthful holiday meals
Holiday meals can be healthier and taste just as good by using some basic recipe substitutions or alterations. Reducing sugar, salt and fat content are the most effective means of making holiday meals healthier. If a recipe calls for a cup of sugar, use two-thirds of a cup. If it calls for a half-cup of oil, shortening or other fat, use one-third cup.
Safely Thawing a Turkey
There are several ways of thawing a turkey for your Thanksgiving meal. Thawing in the refrigerator, in cold water, and in the microwave are the methods suggested most by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The slow thawing of frozen foods allows for minimum growth of bacteria, which can cause foodborne illness.
Additional Resources
Click to view Cooking Ham infographic
Click to view Turkey Time infographic
Slow Cooker Herb Turkey Breast
Don’t want to cook a whole turkey? Try this Slow Cooker Herb Turkey Breast recipe instead. Be sure to check out these Thanksgiving meal and full menu ideas from Dinner Tonight.
Need the perfect gift?
Buy your special someone a copy of the Dinner Tonight cookbook or the meal planning and menu pad.
Guiltless Apple Pie
This homemade pie has fewer calories, total fat, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars compared to a similar slice of a store-bought pie.
Don’t like apple pie? How about a slice of pumpkin or pecan pie?
What to do with turkey leftovers?
Many of us will have plenty of turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving Day. Don’t let those leftovers sit in the fridge and go to waste. Make something fabulous! Plan ahead and make some of these delicious dishes with leftovers.
Get Active for the Holidays and Turkey Trot Across Texas!
Need a reason to get moving? Create a Walk Across Texas team with family members and compete against each other to see who can walk across the state of Texas first!
Walk Across Texas is an eight-week program designed to help Texans establish the habit of regular physical activity using a fun and motivating team approach. Each team may include up to 8 team members, all working together towards the goal of 832 miles!
Ready to take on the challenge?
Go to: https://walkacrosstexas.org