The holiday season brings parties with high-fat and indulgent foods that can expand your waistline and throw you off your heart-healthy diet. Dips, desserts and fatty meats are the usual suspects for unhealthful party fare, but you can set a good example for your friends and family while sticking to your diet by serving low-fat party foods.
Kebabs
Kebabs are attractive way to serve finger foods to your guests while offering a healthful array of lean meats, fruits and vegetables to keep the fat content low. By marinating lean cuts of beef and chicken in a low-fat teriyaki sauce, and sliding healthy ingredients like peppers, onions and pineapple on the skewer, you'll have a party food with only 3 grams of fat and around 100 calories.
Fruit and Dip
When your party guests are looking for the sweet treat along your buffet table, surprise them by using fruit and dip as a way to satisfy their sweet tooth without going overboard on sugary confections. Cutting up a variety of local and exotic fruits like kiwi, passion fruit, mango, strawberries, raspberries and anything else in season offers variety. Low-fat strawberry yogurt mixed with equal part low-fat whipped cream helps to end a meal at around 4 grams of fat per serving.
Topped Mushrooms
Mushroom h'ors d'oeuvres are popular at parties, but they are often stuffed with fatty cheeses and butter. Keep things simple and fat-free by removing the stems from mushrooms and filling the upside-down caps with a mixture of low-fat Swiss cheese, onion, olive oil, finely grated carrot and spinach leaves. They will account for only 2.4 grams of fat, notes MotherNature.com.
Pepper Bites
The American Heart Association suggests serving pepper bites to your guests for a low-calorie, low-fat snack that is highly fulfilling. Cut a variety of bright bell peppers into bite-sized chunks, discarding the ribs and the seeds. Top each pepper with a mixture of low-fat cream cheese mixed with lemon pepper and fresh lemon juice. Pipe the filling onto the pepper bites and top with a couple of almond slices for decoration. The dish only has 1.5 grams of fat, making it ideal for people who are concerned about their weight.
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