So tomorrow, I am going to be spending a FULL week at Fitness Ridge in St. George, UT. I am excitedly terrified, if that is even a thing (which I think it is because that is what I am feeling)! Emily went a few months ago (see her post here) and after her hearing about her amazing experience I just HAD to sign up! I chose the week before Thanksgiving for a reason—so I would be motivated to keep in check for Thanksgiving Day (my biggest weakness)! After a week of working out for 8+ hours, I won’t want it to all be for nothing! I am 100% on board for keeping Thanksgiving light this year (and who knows, maybe it will be a thing we do every year)! When I talked to Emily about her experience, she mentioned how GREAT the food was at Fitness Ridge—that it was healthy, and low-calorie, but filling! She said her whole time there, she never felt hungry because she was eating the RIGHT things that gave her energy throughout the day. So this got me thinking… does Fitness Ridge do a Thanksgiving dinner? The answer is YES. I talked to the executive chef at Fitness Ridge, Sam Baker, and he walked me through everything he will be making for Thanksgiving dinner at Fitness Ridge this year. Check out this low calorie Thanksgiving dinner menu: Roasted Turkey with Lemon Rosemary Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Purple Sweet Potato Puree, Gluten Free Stuffing, Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus AND Pumpkin Crème Brûlée. Doesn’t that sound delicious? Can you believe that ALL of this is only 530 calories?! (Compare this to the average 3,000+ calories on a typical Thanksgiving day plate. See the breakdown here) As soon as I heard this menu, I immediately knew I wanted to make it for Thanksgiving, but I wanted to do one better for you guys and make it all BEFORE hand and give you all the recipes so you could make it too! Chef Sam graciously shared all of these recipes with me and is allowing me to share them with you here on Favorite Family Recipes. So do me a favor and drop him a line or leave him a comment here thanking him for sharing! Let me just tell you, this Thanksgiving dinner was absolutely delicious and surprisingly filling! I actually felt good after eating it (meaning I didn’t want to lay down on the couch and die from being overstuffed). I was full, but I felt like I could still go out in the back yard and play flag-football! Even hours after eating it, I still wasn’t hungry. Just because meals are low-calorie doesn’t mean they aren’t filling. We all completely had our fill but without the Thanksgiving guilt. Win-win!
Healthy and Low Calorie Thanksgiving Menu Ideas
Of course, if you wanted to just do one or two of these things, that is fine too! It’s all up to you in how you want to lighten up your Thanksgiving dinner! Whatever you want to do! I loved it all, every course and side-dish was perfection. Ok.. so on to the main event… Herb Roasted Turkey Breast with Rosemary Gravy = 117 Calories Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes = 61 calories Gluten-Free Stuffing = 82 Calories Low-Sugar Cranberry Sauce = 27 caloriesPurple Sweet Potato Puree (recipe below) = 117 CaloriesPurple Sweet Potato Puree – Serves 4 (serving size ½ cup)2 cups Okinawan (purple) sweet potato, medium diced¼ cup Greek yogurt2 tablespoons butter, unsaltedSalt and Pepper to taste Peel the sweet potatoes, dice into medium size pieces and steam until soft. Using a mixer add sweet potato, butter, and yogurt then mix. Add salt and pepper. Mix until smooth. Serve hot. Roasted Asparagus (recipe below) = 24 CaloriesRoasted Asparagus – Serves 416 asparagus spears – Depending on how big they are maybe 5 or 61 tsp grapeseed oil1 T lemon juice, fresh squeezedSalt and Pepper to taste Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Foil a sheet pan, spray with non stick spray, In mixing bowl add all the ingredients and mix well. Then layer out the asparagus so they are not on top of each other. Roast for 15-20 minutes until al dente or not over cooked. Pumpkin Crème Brûlée (recipe below) = 97 CaloriesPumpkin Crème Brulee – Serves 71 ¼ cup Greek yogurt¼ cup pumpkin puree1 teaspoon vanilla¼ teaspoon cinnamon1 package Mori Nu vanilla pudding mix3 Tablespoons water½ teaspoon dehydrated cane sugar In a mixing bowl add the first 6 ingredients thoroughly. Then split between 3oz ramekins. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Add ½ teaspoon cane sugar to each ramekin. Then torch the sugar to caramelize. For even more ideas to lighten up your Thanksgiving Dinner, give these a try:Roasted Parsnips and Carrots = approximately 50 calories per ½ c. servingIf you make this Pumpkin Pie WITHOUT THE CRUST and bake the filling in individual 3oz. ramekins it is approximately 134 Calories per serving (serves 10)Have fun with your low-calorie Thanksgiving Dinner! If you are looking for even MORE Thanksgiving day recipes (maybe some that are not so “low-calorie”). Check out ALL of our Thanksgiving recipes HERE (or below)! And if you need Thanksgiving LEFTOVER ideas, click HERE (or below)!Happy Thanksgiving from Favorite Family Recipes! *Photo credit for “not this” photo from Flickr
