Healthy Holiday Recipes
By: Tina Shively
Updated: February 23, 2012
The chefs at the cooking school at TOPS supermarkets show News 8's Tina Shively how to make a slimmed down version of egg nog, gingerbread bars and cranberry salsa.
Cranberry Salsa
1 12 oz. bag cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 small clove garlic
1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
juice of 2 limes
1/4 to 1/2 c. sugar (adjust to taste)
pinch of salt
1 c. cilantro (stems okay)
11/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Place cranberries and garlic in food processor and pulse a few times. Add onions, pepper, lime juice, sugar, salt and cilantro and pulse. Add oil and pulse to desired texture.
Makes about 2 cups.
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Egg Nog
1/2 c. Egg Substitute
3 tbsp. TOPS granulated sugar
13 oz. fat free condensed milk
3/4 c. TOPS skim milk
1 tsp. TOPS vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. rum extract
Nutmeg
Whip the egg substitute and sugar together. Combine milk, condensed milk, vanilla and rum extract. Chill 2-3 hours. Sprinkle top with ground nutmeg.
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Gingerbread Bars
Cooking Spray
6 tbsp. margarine at room temperature
2 large egg whites
1 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 c. molasses
1/4 c. dry milk, nonfat or skim
3/4 tsp. groung ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar (or brown sugar substitute)
1 1/4 c. white all purpose flour
3/4 tsp low sodium baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 c. walnuts, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, at medium speed, beat the margarine until creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat at high speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg whites, then add the molasses, and beat until no lumps remain.
In a separate bowl, sift together all remaining ingredients except for the nuts. Stir the sifted ingredients into the margarine mixture and blend well. Stir in the nuts (the dough will be sticky). Place the dough in the center of the prepared pan, and using a spatula or clean wet hands, spread the dough evenly to the edges of the pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, then let cool for 5 minutes. Cut into 30 bars.
They use the NuVal system.
TOPS website says NuVal is "a widely recognized food scoring system that makes it easy for you to quickly see the nutritional value of items with a single, simple score from 1 to 100 so you can make well-informed choices."
The higher the NuVal score, the better the nutrition.
Click here for more on NuVal.
Cranberry Salsa
1 12 oz. bag cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 small clove garlic
1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
juice of 2 limes
1/4 to 1/2 c. sugar (adjust to taste)
pinch of salt
1 c. cilantro (stems okay)
11/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Place cranberries and garlic in food processor and pulse a few times. Add onions, pepper, lime juice, sugar, salt and cilantro and pulse. Add oil and pulse to desired texture.
Makes about 2 cups.
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Egg Nog
1/2 c. Egg Substitute
3 tbsp. TOPS granulated sugar
13 oz. fat free condensed milk
3/4 c. TOPS skim milk
1 tsp. TOPS vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. rum extract
Nutmeg
Whip the egg substitute and sugar together. Combine milk, condensed milk, vanilla and rum extract. Chill 2-3 hours. Sprinkle top with ground nutmeg.
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Gingerbread Bars
Cooking Spray
6 tbsp. margarine at room temperature
2 large egg whites
1 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 c. molasses
1/4 c. dry milk, nonfat or skim
3/4 tsp. groung ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar (or brown sugar substitute)
1 1/4 c. white all purpose flour
3/4 tsp low sodium baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 c. walnuts, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, at medium speed, beat the margarine until creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat at high speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg whites, then add the molasses, and beat until no lumps remain.
In a separate bowl, sift together all remaining ingredients except for the nuts. Stir the sifted ingredients into the margarine mixture and blend well. Stir in the nuts (the dough will be sticky). Place the dough in the center of the prepared pan, and using a spatula or clean wet hands, spread the dough evenly to the edges of the pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, then let cool for 5 minutes. Cut into 30 bars.
