• The holidays are upon us and so is the junk food.  Oh joy! Gingerbread cookies, Christmas pudding, candy canes, Channukah gelt, latkes, and so on.  Since it would be too challenging to say no to all of these delicious goodies all of the time, I have a plan.  Every morning, I will take the extra time (about 15 minutes) to prepare and place a platter of these items on the kitchen table so that whenever my children or I are looking for food to graze upon, there is something healthy ready to eat immediately.

    Here is what will be on my table:

    • A large pitcher of water with lemon (or diluted green tea for me)
    • A plate with a variety of cut up veggies (ex. bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, tomato, celery, jicama)
    • A bowl of protein (Garbanzo beans, nuts or cheese)
    • A thermos filled with warm herbal tea
    • Fruit at the center of the table ready to go to when the afternoon sweet tooth kicks in

    When I have done this in the past, I ate less junk because I wasn’t as hungry since I had already spent the day grazing, grabbing a drink or a veggie stick.  Plus, I didn’t gain the ten pounds of holiday joy.

    Good luck and happy holidays!