What are Tooth-friendly Recipes and How Can They Make Your Holiday Better?
What are some of your favorite memories of the holidays? That time everyone wore ugly holiday sweaters to the family gathering? The one my daughter wore with tinsel and blinking lights was pretty creative. Or maybe it’s memories of Grandpa snoring in the easy chair next to the Christmas tree while everyone else is watching the Elf movie, while the smells of yummy food are drifting in from the kitchen?
I have many memories over the years of friends and family gathered to share the delicious food around the family table. But many of those traditional recipes we cook and eat are not considered tooth-friendly recipes or healthy either.
Sugar is in so many things we eat and cook. It’s hard to leave sugar out of holiday cooking. We want to share a few hacks and recipes to make the holidays healthier and happier.
Sugar is Hiding in Everything!
Depending on how you, your parents, or other family members grew up, many traditional holiday recipes that were handed down include dishes that are full of sugar.
There are a lot of canned vegetable dishes included during the holidays. Many of the canned vegies, such as peas, yams, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, and sweet corn, have sugar added to them. These days, sugar seems to be hiding in everything! When it comes to canned vegies, some home cooks will still add sugar even when the canned version is sugar-free.
I remember watching my grandmother cook when I was a child. She added sugar to almost everything she cooked, including peas. I mean, peas can be pretty bland to begin with, but I can think of many other things to add to peas (gravy, cheese, butter are just a couple of options) that would have made them taste good and been sugar-free.
Sweet Potato Casserole Covered in Marshmallows
How many of you grew up eating sweet potato or yam casserole covered in brown sugar and marshmallows at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners? This seems to be one of the staples of many holiday meals. While it might taste great, it is definitely not one of the healthiest tooth-friendly recipes.
Canned Cranberry Sauce is a Hidden Sugar Overload
Another staple side dish on many tables during the holidays: canned cranberry sauce (chunky or smooth). Did you know that just ¼ cup of canned cranberry sauce has all of the daily sugar allowance for adults: 22-23 grams of sugar! How many of you only eat ¼ cup of cranberry sauce with your Thanksgiving or other holiday meals?
Even if you are one of those people who doesn’t like cranberry sauce, there are plenty of other sugar-filled foods to choose from during the holidays. Can anyone say dessert! It’s no wonder we all fall into a food coma after these meals.
So, how can we make some of the overly sugary holiday recipes healthier?
Lower Sugar Alternatives
Most tooth-friendly recipes can be made with no sugar or less sugar. Or you can cook with alternative sugar substitutes. Other types of sweeteners to choose from; honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar.
Two Ideas for Tooth-friendly Recipes
There are many different ways to make yummy traditional holiday recipes with less sugar. In place of the sweet potato sugar marshmallow dish, try this sweet potato bake.
New Sweet Potato Casserole
Rinse off fresh sweet potatoes or yams with water, poke a few holes in the skin, then bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. To test for doneness, poke each sweet potato with a sharp knife. If it goes in easily, they are done.
- Mash into a casserole dish with or without skins.
- Mix in butter (to taste), sprinkle with cinnamon, a pinch or two of salt and pepper, and half a cup of orange juice.
- If you want to make it extra fancy, add some orange zest, stir in ½ a cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, pistachios (or any nut of choice), and a handful of craisins or cranberries.
- This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.
- Warm before eating.
- No sugar is needed. Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, hence the name. But if you absolutely have to add something sweet to this, drizzle some maple syrup over it lightly and mix it in.
Homemade Cranberry Sauce (to replace commercial canned cranberry sauce)
- 12 oz or 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, rinsed and sorted
- 1 orange with peel, rinsed, cut up into wedges
- 1 apple, rinsed and wedged
- ¾ cup sugar (optional; substitute honey or maple syrup)
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)
Use a food processor to pulse all ingredients together until you have a smaller, chunky consistency. Chill. Tastes best if made at least 1 day ahead of time, so all the flavors have time to meld together into a sweet tart creation.
How to keep Carl the Cavity Away During the Holidays
Remember Carl the Cavity, our cute little cavity guy who we wrote about a few months ago? Now, don’t get me wrong, Carl may seem fun, but do you really want him building cavities in your teeth? To keep him away, cut down on sugar by making tooth-friendly recipes. Oh, and don’t forget to rinse, brush, and floss those pearly whites on a daily basis.
If you have a dental emergency, give us a call today at Mid Cities Dental.
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