How To Make Your Mardi Gras Food Menu Healthy
It is time to bring in more creativity to the traditional Mardi Gras food menu. You can add more colors and lower your fat levels in the Mardi Gras food menu to make it healthier. Make use of the hues and shades of Mardi Gras like green, gold and purple part of your diet. These hues symbolize faith, power and justice and are also representative of the rich nutrients present in them. These are few tips that you can make use of while preparing healthy Mardi Gras foods.
- Use healthy sources of fat like vegetable oils and fish.
- Cut down the amount of butter and margarine used as well as the quantity of Mardi Gras foods that use these ingredients.
- Use saturated fats only under unavoidable conditions.
- Choose olive oil over butter and margarine.
- Use lean cuts of meat.
- Wherever milk, cheese and yogurt are used, opt for the reduced fat or skimmed versions. If possible use tofu or soy cheese instead of cottage cheese.
- You can use all types of fruits. Use it as frozen, dried and fresh. Fruits are rich sources of minerals and vitamins and fiber, while they contain very low levels of fats.
- Use green vegetables to reap the benefits of folate and lutein for enjoying a healthy vision.
- Use gold-tinged veggies like carrots and cayenne pepper to reap the beta carotene benefits.
- The purple and red veggies contain anthocyanins, which can help in the prevention of various age-related cognitive disorders, while the flavonoids have the potential for keeping the blood vessels healthy.
- Choose whole grains cereals to make use of the fiber advantages.
- Instead of grilling, bake the meat in a wire rack. This helps in draining off the excess fat present in the meat.
- Dump sugar based confectionaries and instead, opt for dried fruits like apples, banana, raisins, apricots and currant. These dried fruits last longer and are a great treat t the sweet tooth. For dessert, ditch the super rich and sugary traditional King Cake or else make a non-sugary variant.
- Bake your doughnuts instead if deep frying.
- Go creative with your desserts. Break the tradition and offer fresh fruit platter or fruit kabobs.
- Opt for the sugar free variants.
These tips can help you preparing a Mardi Gras food menu and yet keep your Mardi Gras fun, exciting and most importantly delicious. Give these tips a try and make this celebration a stress free and marvelous one.
Tips
1. Always keep water on the table. This will reduce your calorie intake.
2. Serve in smaller plates with smaller portions.
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