Low calorie turkey baste
The typical Thanksgiving dinner contains 3,000 calories, reports the American Council on Exercise. Very few people can afford a meal with that number of calories, especially those trying to lose weight. Celebrate your next Thanksgiving with a dinner that is festive and flavorful, but keeps calories under control.
Appetizers
Skip the standard vegetable tray that includes carrots and celery sticks with ranch dressing. Instead, make an elegant crudite platter with endive leaves, fennel and cauliflower. Serve with a dip made with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh rosemary and a can of white beans. For a sit-down dinner, serve a creamy soup made with chicken broth and butternut squash flavored with pumpkin pie spice. Eating soup before a meal can reduce your overall calorie intake by 20 percent, according to a study in the journal "Appetite," published in November 2007.
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Turkey
If you have a small gathering, cook just a turkey breast, which contains the leanest meat. Forgo preparations that call for bacon-wrapping or basting in butter. Instead, stuff fresh herbs and lemon slices under the skin and in the cavity. Baste the turkey breast with chicken or turkey stock to keep the meat moist. To save calories, remove the skin. Make a sauté of fresh wild mushrooms in olive oil and garlic to serve alongside your turkey, instead of gravy.
Sides
Marshmallow-covered sweet potatoes, creamy bean casseroles and stuffing add hundreds of calories to your Thanksgiving plate. For a low-calorie meal, serve baked sweet potato rounds spritzed with olive oil spray and sprinkled with salt and black pepper. Drizzle a bit of maple syrup over the top after they bake to bring out their natural sweetness. Make a classic stuffing, but use only a small amount of whole wheat bread, instead of nutritionally void white bread, and load it up with celery, carrots, fresh fennel, chopped apple and fresh sage and thyme sautéed in a small amount of olive oil. Moisten with low-sodium chicken broth. Serve two types of vegetables, at least. Try steamed green beans topped with a tablespoon or two of toasted almonds and roasted cauliflower. Make your own low-calorie cranberry sauce by boiling cranberries until they pop with fresh orange juice and a heat-tolerant artificial sweetener. When you take your plate, fill it with the vegetables and allow only small portions of the starchier dishes.
Dessert
Skip the pecan pie with more than 500 calories per slice and opt for pumpkin pie ,instead, for just about 300 calories per slice. Eat just the filling and save about 100 calories. Choose to top it with 2 tbsp. of whipped cream, instead of a scoop of ice cream, to take in just 16 calories versus 259 calories.
Read more:livestrong