As it gets closer to Thanksgiving, many of you may be wondering how to cook that perfect turkey.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a great handout titled “Let’s Talk Turkey” that explains how to thaw a frozen turkey, how much turkey to allot per person, and how long to cook that famed turkey.

In summary, you should allot 1 pound of turkey per person, so you would need a 10 pound turkey to feed family of 10. Also, if you are like me and have that turkey in the freezer, you can thaw it one of three ways:
1. In the fridge: you will need 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds of turkey (so that 10 pound turkey will take 2 days to thaw)
2. In cold water: allow 30 minutes per pound
3. In the microwave (see your microwave instructions for proper thawing time).

How long to cook?

The general rule of thumb is roughly 15 minutes per pound. For that 10 pound turkey, it will take about 2 1/2 hours to cook (times may vary based on your oven). You will know when your turkey is done when the most internal part of the turkey is at a temperature of 165 degrees F.

Can you stuff that turkey before cooking it?

If possible, you should NOT cook that stuffing in the turkey because of high risk of bacteria from the turkey leaking into the stuffing. If you let the stuffing sit in the turkey before you cook the turkey, and if the stuffing is not cooked to the appropriate temperature (165 degrees F), then you could get food poisoning from the stuffing cooked within the turkey. If you decide to stuff the turkey, do this as a last step before you put the turkey in the oven to cook and make sure that both the stuffing and turkey are cooked at the appropriate temperatures before serving it.

Another key point is that you don’t want to keep your cooked turkey sitting out on the counter all day–put the leftovers in the fridge within 2 hours of serving them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

_{Smoked Turkey photo courtesy of Southernpixel}

So, you’re the main cook for Thanksgiving or Christmas and want to serve healthy foods without cutting the traditional foods from the menu? I have some options for you!!! How can you cut calories without cutting flavor?

1. Use frozen or fresh vegetables instead of canned (if you want to use canned vegetables, use the “no salt added” kind). Consider salads as an appetizer with low-calorie dressing.
2. Use butter spray instead of butter or margarine when preparing cooked vegetables. For example, “I Can’t Believe it’s not Butter” spray and “Parkay” spray are excellent substitutes. You’ll save calories and still get that yummy butter flavor!
3. Use herbs and spices to flavor the vegetables instead of a heaping scoop of butter.
4. Keep the skins on the potatoes.Use sweet potatoes if possible.
5. Add vegetables to your stuffing.
6. Use whole wheat bread for your stuffing instead of white bread.
7. Use whole wheat dinner rolls instead of white dinner rolls.
8. Use egg substitute or 2 egg whites (per 1 egg) when the recipe calls for eggs.
9. Use fat–free or low-fat items instead of full fat items (for example, fat free evaporated milk for fudge instead of regular).
10. Don’t stuff the turkey with the stuffing (the stuffing will absorb all of the fat and it places your guests at greater risk of food-borne illness if the stuffing doesn’t reach 165 F).
11. Use canned pineapples in light syrup instead of heavy syrup if you are making glazed ham.
12. Use tub margarine when possible when a recipe calls for butter or oleo.
13. Have fresh fruits and vegetables as hors d’oeuvres so your guests can snack on healthy foods while the main meal is cooking. They’ll thank you later.

These are just a few suggestions on how to make your holiday meal healthier. Please let me know if you have other tidbits that have worked for you, your family, or your friends on how to cook healthfully during the holidays! Thanks and happy cooking!

Let’s say that you’ve decided to give out healthy snacks this year for Halloween instead of the typical candy treat. What are some good options?

Unfortunately, it’s no longer proper to give out fresh fruit or homemade snacks, because the kids’ parents never know if it’s safe or coming from a reliable source. Another concern with handing out treats are the children with potential food allergies; it’s safest to not give out any foods that might contain peanuts (because many kids have severe peanut allergies), and there are many kids with allergies to gluten (so no products made with wheat). But, you are likely to know the kids who will traverse to your doorstep, so choose according to that population.

Here are some food ideas to put in your trick-or-treaters’ pumpkins:
1. Canned fruit. Although it’s not the lowest cost item to hand out (a 4-pack of canned fruit can cost ~$1.00), it is still a healthy and low calorie snack. Buy 4 oz containers of applesauce, fruit cocktail, peaches, pears…you get the picture.

2. 100 calorie snack packs. If you would like to give out a sweet treat that is relatively low in calories, you could give out the 100 calorie packs of cookies, crackers….Some examples are: Nabisco snacks, Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps, Pringles,

3. Sugar free bubble gum. Low in calorie and fun to chew.

4. Hot chocolate packets (or sugar free hot chocolate packets). What a yummy treat if that Halloween night is cool.

5. Sugar free Koolaid packets. Something sweet but low in calories.

6. Cheese and cracker packets, peanut butter and cracker packets. (most are usually ~200 calories but do provide some nutrition)

7. Rice krispie treats (although they aren’t very nutritious, they are only ~100 calories and come drizzled in chocolate for a sweet treat).

8. Pretzels.

9. Granola bars. Consider Quaker granola bars, Nature Valley, etc.

10. Individual servings of dried fruit (raisins for example).

11. Packets of oatmeal or single serve cereal.

Or, you could bypass snacks altogether and give out something totally different:
1. Stickers
2. Fun pencils, pens…
3. Small tablet and pencil for doodling
4. Small coloring books and crayons
5. Small cans of Play-Doh or other modeling clay.
Peruse your local dollar store for some ideas, as some of these alternatives to food may get expensive, depending on the number of kids you expect to knock on your door. Oh, and watch out for lead paint!

I hope that you and your family have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Hello, welcome to another installment of newer items out on the market, as tested at the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo in Philadelphia, PA.

Product Tested

Snack Factory’s Pretzel Crisps Original Flavor

Here is the Nutritional Value for Original Flavor

They claim to have the crunch of the outside of the pretzel, with only 110 cal/serving, no trans fat, and no saturated fat (original and garlic flavored are fat free)

Range of flavors

Original, Everything (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion and garlic), Garlic, Honey Mustard and Onion, and Buffalo Wing

Initial Thoughts

I thought they were good, but I like pretzels for their whole flavor (the pretzel crisp only tastes like the outside of the pretzel; and I like the inside part too!). However, I think they would be great to serve with chocolate, cheese, peanut butter, hummus, and other yummy spreads for a low calorie, and moderately low sodium treat (depending on the flavor). After all, the sodium content ranges from 170 mg/serving (everything flavor) to 540 mg/serving (buffalo wing flavor). An average limit on a 2000 calorie diet is about 2300 mg per day, so be careful about your intake!

Overall Rating

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being “gross, take it off the market” to 10 being “yum! Can I get stock in this company?”), I would give it an 8 out of 10. I would buy these for a party and dress them up with a dipping sauce. Also, they are a good, low calorie snack, but only the original and everything flavors would be appropriate for someone who needs a low sodium diet (someone with high blood pressure, renal disease, heart disease, for example).

In case you have been following my marathon series, you may have realized that after about 5 weeks of updating you on how our training was going, I stopped writing about it. It didn’t mean that I wasn’t continuing to run, it just meant that I got lazy about tracking my progress.

Yes, I admitted it! Even I, a registered dietitian, can get lazy!!!

And, yes, I also decided that I didn’t want to train to run 26.2 miles. I wanted to train to run shorter distances and run faster. So, after talking with my husband, who had also signed up with me, we decided to sell/transfer our marathon numbers to other dedicated runners, and admit our change in goal. It’s OK to change your goals, and there will be more info to come on this topic at a later date.

This doesn’t mean that I won’t run another marathon; I would like to build a healthy base of running solid miles, be more consistent in my running year-round, and build some muscle before the next marathon try. I would also like to have a few short-distance races under my belt before I tackle another long-distance race.

So, next weekend, October 28th, you will find my husband and me on the sidelines in Washington, DC, cheering on those two runners who bought our numbers (legally), and the 30,000 other runners who are marathoners!! We are proud of them all!!