Once you’ve made your own contribution healthier, it’s time to fill your plate in the healthiest way possible.  That doesn’t mean you have to give up the cheesy potato casserole, gravy, or creamed corn-just limit your portion sizes.  Take a smaller sample of any dish that involves cheese, a creamy sauce, or a lot of animal fat.  It’s usually the first few bites that taste the best anyway.  When you come across a healthier dish, such as green bean casserole, take a larger spoonful, so you can still fill your plate for fewer calories.  Turkey is generally a lean, low-calorie meat, so try to choose it over ham or beef if possible.  You know what’s healthy and what’s not, even though we are all often guilty of ignoring that little voice in the back of our heads.  This time, listen to it-if it’s good for you, take a larger portion…if it’s not, just take a sample.

After your plate is filled, sit down to enjoy your meal-but don’t just shovel it down.  Eat slowly.  Put your fork down between bites, and take time to socialize with the family and friends that you may only see once or twice a year.  When you eat more slowly, you give your body more time to realize it’s full, and you’ll be less likely to overeat.  Since the holidays are such a social time, this is easy to accomplish.

When it comes to dessert, try to choose something that involves fruit if at all possible.  Pumpkin pie is an excellent choice because pumpkin is relatively low in calories and very low in fat.  A sensible slice of pumpkin pie will run you about 200 calories-not bad for a dessert.  Even a pumpkin cheesecake is a better choice than the cherry or chocolate version.  If there’s nothing pumpkin available, try a fruit-based pie.  If you must have that creamy, chocolatey dessert-or if you just have to sample everything-take a much smaller portion.  Use a small dessert plate when you get your after-dinner sweets, so you won’t feel as tempted to fill up a larger plate with high-calorie treats.

The most important thing to remember-if you’re full, stop eating.  When you stuff yourself, you not only make yourself miserable, but also make yourself much more likely to put on a few holiday pounds.  If you’re able to stick to these strategies throughout your holiday meals, you just might find yourself having a much happier new year, without all that holiday weight gain.

For many Americans, the holidays are not just a time to celebrate family-they’re a time to eat lots and lots of foods.  And those foods aren’t always the healthiest either.  In fact, they’re probably some of the worst.  But that cheesy potato casserole and gravy and creamed corn are all so yummy!  Plus all of those decadent sweets just call our names from the dessert table!

Between November and December, most of us have several large holiday meals, and it’s easy to consume thousands of calories in a single sitting if many of the foods are high in fat and use a lot of creamy sauces and cheeses.  And, of course, desserts are usually very high in calories and fat.  When you pile up all of those 2,000-calorie meals, they can easily result in the scale weighing a few-or several-pounds heavier in January.  But there are ways to prevent holiday weight gain, if you employ a little willpower and the right strategies when it comes to filling your plate.

When trying to make your holiday meals healthier, the best place to start is with your own dish.  If you’re in charge of making something for your holiday gathering, make it something healthy (or at least, healthier).  Is there a certain dish you bring every year, and there’s no way you can get out of bringing it this year?  Use low-fat and low-sodium ingredients to help cut down on the calories and sodium in that favorite food tradition, or pump up the fruit or veggies if it involves one or both.  Low-sugar options are also available for many favorite desserts, which can help make them much lower in calories and better for the blood sugar.

If you aren’t bound to taking a special dish, find a healthy recipe online or in a recipe book.  Try to choose something with lots of fresh veggies and minimize the high-fat ingredients, and you’ll likely have a very low-calorie dish that will help make everyone’s meal a little slimmer.

Check back next week to find out healthy ways to fill your plate.

Halloween is just around the corner, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most expensive holidays on the calendar.  Costumes, candy, and decorations often bring premium prices at specialty outlets and even discount stores, and pretty soon you may be looking at a hefty investment for this one night of sweets-and-spooks-filled fun.

Costumes for the kids are often a large part of the Halloween cost, but it doesn’t have to be.  With a little creativity, you and your kids can design a one-of-a-kind costume together, and not only have a fun Halloween, but also a great family memory to go with it.

Poster board can be your friend when it comes to making a lot of costumes for smaller children-create a sandwich board with poster board and yarn, and they can be just about any object their imagination can dream up.  Make two giant pencils out of yellow, pink, and black poster board, tie them together with some yarn or shoestrings, and drape the strings over your child’s shoulders.  For just a few dollars and a few minutes of your time, you now have a Halloween costume.

Ghosts are always a popular and easy costume-just take a white sheet or a large piece of white fabric, cut eye and mouth holes, and drape it over your child’s head.  Mummy costumes are another super-easy and cheap option-simply dress your child up in a pair of long johns, then wrap him or her up loosely in some gauze from the drugstore.

Does your child love the Wizard of Oz?  Dressing up as Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, or the Cowardly Lion is easy!  For Dorothy, have your daughter wear a white shirt, a blue jumper dress, and a pair of red shoes.  Scarecrow looks great in a pair of overalls, with straw sticking out of shirt sleeves and pant legs, and some brown face paint.  All the Tin Man needs is some tinfoil wrapping and a silver funnel for a hat.  To create your own Lion costume, make a mane by tying strips of cloth to a longer strip of cloth or ribbon, then tie it around your child’s head and under his or her chin.  Have your child wear a brown sweat suit, then pin a fabric strip to the pants for a tail.

With the popularity of Harry Potter, dressing up as a witch or a wizard can be a popular request for kids.  But you don’t have to go out and buy an official Harry Potter character costume-you can make your own at home.  If you’re handy with a sewing machine, there are several sewing patterns available for wizards’ robes and hats.  But even if you don’t sew at all, you can still make your own wizarding costume out of black fabric and a piece of poster board.

To make your own wizard costume, first buy a yard or two of black fabric and cut it so it is the right length for your little witch or wizard when folded in half.  While it’s folded, cut a large half-circle in the center of the fold-this will be the neck hole.  Put your child’s head through the hole, drape the fabric over his or her shoulders, and tie a strip of fabric around the child’s waist.  Ta-da! You have a robe.  To make your own pointy hat, take a piece of black poster board, roll it up into a cone, securely tape the seam, even up the bottom, and put it on.  You can also decorate the hat with stickers, glitter, construction paper, or anything else you can think of.

There’s no limit to the amount of creativity you can put into designing a custom Halloween costume for your kids-the number of costumes you could come up with are endless!  Take a look around in your kids’ closet-or even your own-for old clothes that might be able to be modified to become a great Halloween disguise.  Use your imagination, and you can save a lot of dough this October.

Christmas decorations can be pricey, especially if you buy a lot of new decorations every year.  This might be the year to start exercising a little self control when it comes to those “must-have” knick-knacks.  Putting out less holiday decorations also helps cut stress because there is less to store at the end of the season.

Sit down and figure out which of your holiday decorations mean the most to you and your family.  Those will be on the “definitely use” list.  Then decide which decorations you might bring out, and which ones you definitely won’t.  Take a good, hard look at the “won’t” list — if you haven’t used it in a few years or just plain don’t like it, consider donating it to Goodwill or another charitable organization.

Consider the sentimental value of your decorations when deciding what to use.  If you have some Christmas decorations that have been passed down from generation to generation, make sure to display them prominently so your family can continue to enjoy them. A simple candelabra that belonged to your great-grandmother will likely mean much more than even the fanciest crystal one you could buy at a store.

If you’re missing some small detail, such as placemats or candle holders, ask yourself if you truly need it or if your guests will look for it. Most small items can easily be foregone and no guest will ever miss them. Plus, you will save yourself a significant amount of money.  Make your theme for this year’s party “use what I already have” and limit the amount of new goodies that you buy, no matter how enticing they might look.

Next week, we’ll feature the fourth and final part of this series: Tying up the Loose Ends.

Is the extended family gathering at your house for the holidays this year?  Are you feeling stressed just thinking about all of the time and money you’ll have to invest in creating the perfect Christmas celebration?  A little time management and budget control could be all you need.

Initially, you’ll want to sit down and make a list of all of the things you need for your holiday entertaining.  The first item you’ll probably need to tackle is the menu. Creating a menu in advance will allow you to buy non-perishable or frozen items ahead of time when you find them on sale, rather than waiting until the last minute and paying full price.  To save money on menu options, think simply.  Stick with the basics-meat, veggies, bread, and dessert.  Try not to buy too many processed and prepared foods, as these foods typically cost much more than making the item from scratch.  If you can, ask guests to bring something, such as drinks, plates, a dessert item, or a side dish.

The second thing you’ll want to do is make yourself a schedule so you know exactly what you need to get done and when. Remember to allow yourself sufficient time to complete a task, so the schedule doesn’t cause more stress than it alleviates.  If you break one large task (such as hosting a dinner party) in smaller chunks, it is much more manageable and less overwhelming.  Wash and fold your table linens, get the Christmas china ready, and decorate your home a few weeks in advance of the party so you aren’t trying to do all of that while you’re cooking or cleaning in the last day or two beforehand. If you have a hard time stopping once you’ve gotten started with something, set a kitchen timer for 15 or 20 minutes-once the timer goes off, give yourself permission to stop and save the rest for your 15 minute block the next day.

In a few days, we’ll explore Part Three of this series: Saving on Decorations.

Wake up to a tasty breakfast that’s been simmering all night long when you make this easy Apple Cinnamon Crock Pot Oatmeal.  I make this for my husband and I when fall’s chill starts to enter into the air, and it makes a very filling breakfast.

Apple Cinnamon Crock Pot Oatmeal

For four servings (use 3-4 qt Crock Pot):
2 apples, peeled & sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
4 cups water
pinch salt

For two servings (use 2 qt Crock Pot):
1 apple, peeled & sliced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups water
dash salt

You will probably want to use a Crock Pot liner for this one — the brown sugar makes it a little messy.

Slice the apples and place in the bottom of the Crock Pot. Add brown sugar and cinnamon over the apples, then stir until mixed. Pour the oats evenly over the apples. Add water and salt. Resist the urge to stir. It will mix itself when it is cooking.

Cook on low for 8-9 hours (overnight). You can turn it off when you get up in the morning and it will stay hot for a while, if you aren’t ready for breakfast yet when you first get up. This is also a good recipe for one of the new SmartPots with a built in timer that will switch to “Keep Warm” after 8 hours.

Stir well before serving, making sure to get the oats out of the bottom. If it looks too runny, let it sit for several minutes to allow it to thicken up.

With our economy in crisis, it’s no surprise that many families will be cutting back on Christmas spending this year.  Many Americans reduced their holiday expenditures last year, and will be trimming the budget even more this year.  This series of blog entries will help you create a holiday budget to better manage your Christmas spending.

Where should you start with your holiday budget? First, think of what types of items you typically spend money on each Christmas.  Gifts, food or entertaining, and decorations are likely the “big three” for most people.  Christmas cards and postage can take a bite out of the budget if you have a large address book, and gift wrapping can get pricey if you’ve got a lot of gifts to wrap.  Other families may need to include travel expenses or charitable donations.  Once you’ve got a good category list, decide how much you can afford to spend on each category.  I prefer to start with the biggest “spender”-gifts.

Once I’ve decided on a gift budget, I then have to divide that money amongst the people on my gift list.  This can be a daunting task, depending on the size of your family or how many friends or coworkers you choose to buy gifts for.  It can also be made much easier by agreeing mutually with some would-be gift recipients that you will save your gift money this year and just exchange Christmas cards and well wishes. Drawing names or participating in a Secret Santa exchange can also cut gift costs.  Once you have a narrowed down list of people you must buy a gift for, set an amount to spend on each person.  Lastly, stick to the budget. Take cash when you go shopping, and leave the credit cards at home, so you physically cannot spend more than what you have.

One of the best ways to save on Christmas gifts is to shop in advance.  While it might be a little too late to do much of that this year, keep this strategy in mind on December 26 when after-Christmas sales dominate the advertising landscape.  Aunt Mabel will probably be the same size next December as she is right now-so why not pay $5 for that sweater instead of $30? Stock up on books and toys for the younger set, especially at stores that don’t typically sell a lot of these items the rest of the year. When you find something on sale that would make a good gift, buy it now instead of waiting until the peak shopping season, when all of the prices are higher.

Check back soon for Part Two of this series on holiday budgeting: Saving on food and entertaining.

After a hot (or unusually cool, depending on where you are) summer, it’s August now and it’s time to start thinking about the holidays.   It’s strange how Christmas seems to get longer and longer each year, with stores putting out Christmas merchandise as early as June or July.  It seems Christmas runs concurrent with “back to school” in some stores.

Even though it may seem early, now is actually a great time to start your holiday shopping.  You can catch a lot of clearance sales this time of the year, making it the perfect time to buy a few Christmas gifts.  Tank tops and shorts probably won’t make a very good Christmas gift, but a good book, a craft kit, or a set of tools can be appreciated any time of the year!

We’ve got a lot of customers ordering personalized Christmas ornaments already, to prepare for the holiday season. Spreading out your holiday shopping over the course of a few months also makes it easier to pay for all of those gifts, rather than trying to gather up the cash all at once during November and December.  If you’re cutting back on your gift-giving this year, a personalized ornament is also a great choice, because it’s an inexpensive gift, yet it’s very personal and thoughtful because it celebrates something you love about that person.  What are some of your own gift-giving ideas for this year? Will your family be giving less gifts? More homemade gifts?

What better for Valentine’s Day than a luscious Italian dish?  Lasagna is often a family favorite, but it doesn’t get made very often because its preparation is so time consuming.  However, Valentine’s weekend seems like the perfect time for lasagna, and the perfect time to share this recipe.  Serve it with a side salad and some garlic bread for a well-rounded, filling meal.  (And if you’re counting calories to help fulfill your New Year’s Resolutions, worry not–cut it into 8 pieces and each serving will only have 338 calories and 11g of fat.)

Vegetable Lasagna

6 lasagna noodles
12 oz low fat cottage cheese (1%)
2 tsp dried parsley
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 1/2 cups shredded Kraft 2% Italian blend cheese
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
2 small zucchini and 2 small yellow summer squash, partially peeled, halved then quartered lengthwise and sliced
14 oz can petite diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1/2 tsp dry minced garlic
26 oz jar marinara sauce (your choice)
6 oz can tomato paste

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain, rinse well, and lay on waxed paper.

In a medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, grated Parmesan, dried parsley, and egg. Refrigerate until needed.

Heat olive oil in saute pan on medium heat. Saute zucchini, squash, mushrooms, tomatoes, and garlic in olive oil until tender. (Other vegetables can be substituted if desired. Onions, green peppers, cooked spinach, finely chopped broccoli, or diced eggplant would also work well.)

Meanwhile, combine spaghetti sauce and tomato paste in a bowl or saucepan, if you want to warm the sauce.

Preheat oven to 375. Layer ingredients as follows in 10×13″ glass baking dish:

Thin layer of marinara sauce (about 1/4 to 1/3 of jar) to coat bottom of pan
3 lasagna noodles
Half of cheese-egg mixture
Half of vegetable mixture
1 cup shredded cheese
Layer of marinara sauce (about 1/3 of jar)
3 lasagna noodles
Remainder of cheese-egg mixture
Remainder of vegetable mixture
1 cup shredded cheese
Remainder of marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Let lasagna sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Now that the holidays are finished, it’s easy to forget how busy we all were, for the past several months.  If you’re like us, with little kids, you turned your life over to the whims and the plans and the fantasies of grade-schoolers, who know exactly how each holiday is meant to be celebrated, and who insist that tradition is maintained perfectly-because if it isn’t, the repercussions can be lasting and painful.

As the dad in the family, I try to do my part.  Every year, when September hits, I look ahead, at the upcoming weeks and months, with every intention of actually being helpful to my family, pro-active in my involvement with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all of the activities that keep them running.  Unfortunately, like most (well-meaning) fathers, I usually wind up, in January, looking back with a tinge of guilt, having left most of the hardest work, once again, to my dedicated wife.  Mothers just seem to do it all better, and with fewer signs of stress than dads.

I have discovered, though, that there is a way that I–and all dads–can make up a little bit for our lack of involvement in the day-to-day holiday madness.  After the New Year, the January doldrums set in, and there’s little to plan.  Until Valentine’s Day.

Last year, I re-made Valentine’s Day into “Santa’s Helper Day” (actually, because of work, I celebrated the weekend before, but this year, Valentine’s Day conveniently fell on a Saturday).  The day was dedicated to my wife, from breakfast–served in bed–until bedtime.  The kids and I treated her to everything.  We took her wherever she wanted to go.  It was our way of thanking the busiest member of the family for everything she did for us, from September to January.  It’s the least I could do.  We fathers ought to show our gratitude more often and more openly, shouldn’t we?