Healthy Kitchen Hacks #53

* Bundt Pan Stuffing * Lower Sugar Cranberry Sauce * Kefir or Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes *

[Disclosure: The farmers and producers of frozen red raspberries are former clients of mine, but I have had a ‘crush’ on red raspberries since I picked them off my dad’s bushes as a kid. I was not paid for this post.]

Happy everyone-jammed-into-grandma’s-small-kitchen holiday! Happy Thanksgiving. (:

Whether you are cooking in your own home, or in a relative’s, or a friend’s, here are a few ideas for getting your assigned kitchen duty done quicker and/or healthier…so you can get out of the kitchen to enjoy a cocktail, or a game of Turkey Bowl with the kids.

1. A Better Way to Bake Stuffing
via Melissa @Melissa’s Southern Style Kitchen

Never serve dry stuffing again. Baking stuffing in a bundt pan keeps it super moist. Then, just slice and serve – making it neater and more manageable for guests to serve themselves from the buffet table. A plated ring of stuffing is also easier to pass at the table (especially for kids) than a heavy stoneware casserole dish.

Here’s how I lightened/adapted Melissa’s brilliant Bundt Pan Herbed Cornbread Dressing recipe:

• Cut the butter from 1/2 cup to 1 tablespoon
• Sauteed 2 stalks of celery and a chopped apple along with the onion
• Used 8 cups of whole grain bread instead of 8 cups of cornbread
• Subbed 1 cup plain Greek yogurt for the can of condensed creamed celery soup

2.Lower the Sugar on Canned Cranberry Sauce
via @Red Razz

Jazz up jellied or whole-berry canned cranberry sauce with a bag of Frozen Red Raspberry Crush. A bag of frozen raspberries is just that: Red raspberries. No sugar. So adding a partially thawed, crushed (with a rolling pin) bag of raspberries cuts (dilutes) the total amount of added sugar in a can of cranberry sauce in half.

1 (12 oz) bag of red raspberries + 1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce = Cran-raspberry sauce with HALF the added sugar

I used more Raspberry Crush to top whole grain frozen waffles and ice cream. For the kids, of course. Breakfast for dessert. Or dessert for breakfast.

3. Surprise Ingredient Makes Mashed Potatoes Extra Creamy
via Dianna @Chard in Charge

Deanna and I often stir buttermilk into our mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes; the thick creaminess comes from buttermilk cultures, not fat. So we loved Dianna’s idea for using milk kefir in sweet potatoes. Similar to buttermilk in taste and creaminess, kefir also has millions more beneficial bacteria cultures than buttermilk.

I always have kefir on hand as I still make my own to help bolster my kids’ immunity. Here are my easy 2-step kefir instructions. (No it’s really not as crazy as it sounds; it’s really so easy.)

And for even more quick tricks, check out these Thanksgiving Healthy Kitchen Hacks – including my fave kitchen cleaning trick.  The surprise ingredient to make Mashed Potatoes extra creamy + 4 more #HealthyKitchenHacks via @TspCurry Click To Tweet

Would you try any of these hacks? Do you have any healthy kitchen or healthy living shortcuts to share? Shoot us an email (or share in comments below and we’ll try them out.)