Not just A blog about properties of goji berries

properties of goji berriesMaking Healthier Thanksgiving, Christmas and Holiday Desserts

They say there's always room for dessert and unfortunately this is very true. Even if you've eaten more turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing than you can handle, once you see that chocolate cake coming to the table, it seems like your stomach opens up an extra slot to make more room. Thanksgiving is full of all types of food and desserts are no exception. There are ingredients you can use to up the healthiness of of your desserts.

Sugar is a main component of most desserts. There's not much you can do to replace sugar but you can use brown sugar or honey in place of white sugar in your recipes. These 2 substitutes still contain a lot of sugar but they also have a small amount of extra nutrients (keyword, small) . You shouldn't start eating honey or brown sugar by the cup full since they both are basically sugar, but they will slightly improve your desserts.

Flour is also used in almost every dessert. Most recipes call for white flour but an easy alternative is to use whole wheat flour. It contains more vitamins and minerals but most importantly, it contains a lot more fiber which will keep you from eating as much. If you're not comfortable replacing all of the white flour with whole wheat flour, split it up and use 50% of one kind and 50% of the other.

Some recipes, especially the ones for pie crusts call for either lard or shortening. Lard is taken fat from an animal and contains a high amount of saturated fat. Shortening is made from vegetable oil but is high in trans fat. If possible, try using vegetable spreads which have a consistency of butter or margarine but is healthier than either, including lard and shortening.

Instead of substituting ingredients, you can also add some to improve the health of your desserts. The main way of doing this is to add fruits. You can top a cake with strawberries, peaches or cherries. When making pies, try using fresh or frozen fruit and avoid the canned variety if possible.

For extra crunchiness, you can add bran which is the outer layer of grain stripped away when making white flours. It's filled with vitamins, minerals and fiber. Another healthy ingredient you can experiment with is oatmeal. You can make cookies and muffins that are healthier and taste great.

Desserts are made from years of recipe development. Starting to replace ingredients after awhile of proven taste can make you feel uneasy about how your guests will accept your new creation. You can alleviate this uneasiness by testing your recipe beforehand. Remember that even a few healthy ingredients can make a difference. Make small changes and eventually you'll have your own healthy holiday recipes.

The Holidays are a time to spend with the family and eat a lot of food. The eating and lack of exercise can contribute to unwanted weight gain during the holidays. The Guide to a Healthy Holiday has articles, FAQs, tips and tools to help you eat healthy, exercise and enjoy the holidays.

Straight Health was started in July 2006 to spread accurate and easy to understand information about health, diets, exercise and nutrition. At StraightHealth.com you can read articles and tips, use the tools and gain a further understand about the world of health.

Healthy Cakes - How to Adapt Recipes and Enjoy Healthy Cakes

Eating cakes as part of a healthy diet isn't a problem, but it�s virtually impossible unless you make your own cakes. That way, you know exactly what's in them and can enjoy them, knowing there are no unhealthy fats or additives lurking. There's nothing unhealthy about a cake made with wholewheat flour, organic butter, free-range eggs - as long as you don't eat the lot at one sitting! The taste and texture will be far superior to anything you can buy at the supermarket.

*Home-made cakes generally contain far less sugar than commercial cakes. Inspect the labels of bought cakes, and you'll find all sorts of food additives that you'd probably rather not eat, especially the spectacularly unhealthy trans fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils, present in many manufactured cakes, which have a proven link to the development of coronary heart disease.

*Home-made cakes are good value for money. Bought cakes are often very meanly sized. A home-made cake usually goes a lot further.

*Be selective about the recipes you use, and go for healthy cake recipes. Save the chocolate fudge cakes, or cakes with thick frostings for special occasions. Look for recipes that use fruit, nuts or carrots. It�s a good way of getting extra fruit and veg into your diet.

*Use good, wholesome ingredients for truly healthy cake recipes. Choose organic when you can for ingredients such as sugar, flour, oats, fruits including candied and dried fruits, milk, eggs, butter.

*Use wholewheat flour instead of some, or all, of the flour in your recipe.

*Beware soft margarines sold specifically for cake making. These are often made with hydrogenated vegetable oils, and will render your lovely home-made cake as unhealthy as a greasy take-away muffin. Softened organic butter works fine in most recipes, or use a soft spread made from healthy olive or sunflower oils.

*Replace some of the sugar in recipes with fruit puree. Use apples, prunes or apricots. Stew in a little water until tender, blend, and use to replace an equal volume of sugar in your recipe.

*You can also replace some of the fat in the same way. Try replacing half the fat and half the sugar in a recipe with pureed apple. It's very successful, and adds moistness and a subtle fruity flavour.

*Cake making is very satisfying, and if you choose simple healthy cake recipes, it's also very quick. Making a large cake takes about 10-15 mins to get the mixture together, plus baking time. Not long, for something that's so much pleasanter to eat, and so much better for you than manufactured cake.

*Cakes made from healthy cake recipes have a habit of disappearing. Before offering them, cut them into squares, or mark them out into slices, depending on the shape.

This article is by http://www.healthy-eating-made-easy.com

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