Fall’s Figure Foes

Most of the items in MSNBC’s list of the “Eight Most Fattening Foods of Fall” aren’t at all surprising (I wouldn’t have expected to see turducken just because it’s not exactly commonplace, though with the duck and sausage stuffing, it sure sounds fatty), but it’s good to have a kick in the pants every now and then to remind one not to overindulge.

Some of the usual suspects here can be made healthier, though. For that Starbucks drink, how about ordering it with nonfat milk (instead of getting the default whole or 2%) and asking for a smaller size than the giant venti? No one needs a venti-sized anything when it comes to hopped-up-on-caffeine coffee drinks, frankly.

As for mashed potatoes, you can make them without butter and cream! Cut back on those calorie-laden flavor enhancers to save a ton of calories. I prefer to be able to taste potato and seasonings rather than butter in my mashers.

Let’s look now at the apple pie. Most of the bad stuff in any fruit pie is in the crust. You need a lot of fat to make a flaky pastry like that, and in pie crusts (especially those you buy pre-made) bakers often employ those nasty trans fats in shortening — not that the saturated fats in butter or lard are much better. And most of the time — let’s be honest — the pie crust doesn’t taste very good. It’s soggy on the bottom, or flavorless, or burnt . . . the list of potential problems is long. I say skip the crust (it’s a thankless task working with crust anyway) and just serve the filling, maybe with a little oatmeal and brown sugar streusel on the top. Still indulgent, but less so than before.

You can make stuffing a bit lighter if you don’t cook it inside the bird. Cooked in its own dish or on the stovetop with some fat-free broth, it doesn’t absorb all the greasy drippings. I know, it certainly tastes a lot better with the drippings, but keep in mind as well that stuffing a bird pretty much always leads to either underdone (and bacteria-infested) stuffing or overcooked meat.

(Link via FitFare)