How to Pick Healthier Easter Foods
Like Thanksgiving and Christmas, Easter gives us the chance to celebrate with friends and family—usually around a big meal topped off with a special dessert.
You can lighten up your Easter foods without sacrificing flavor and boost your nutrition if you make some smart picks.
Leg of Lamb vs. Spiral Ham
Winner: Leg of lamb. When it comes to calories, fat, and saturated fat, there’s very little difference between these two Easter foods. A serving of lamb (3.5 ounces) has 123 calories while the same amount of spiral ham has 109.
Both have 4 grams of fat. The ham has one gram of saturated fat, the lamb has 1.6 grams.
You get more iron, niacin, vitamin B12, and zinc from the lamb, but what really gives it the edge is no sodium. The ham provides 895 milligrams—40 percent of the maximum amount you should have in a day.
Green Beans vs. Asparagus
Winner: Asparagus. A cup of asparagus (equal to about eight medium-sized spears) is packed with folate, vitamin A, vitamin K, and iron (believe it or not, more than the lamb). The two Easter foods have about the same fiber count.
To preserve the nutrients, color, and texture, cook asparagus until it's just tender—you’ll see it turn bright green, and if you pick up a spear, it should bend just slightly.
Rice Pilaf vs. Roasted Red Potatoes
Winner: Roasted red potatoes. Not only do the potatoes have fewer calories—154 for a medium potato compared with 352 for a cup of pilaf—but they also have three times the fiber and supply vitamin C, iron, potassium, and niacin.
Toss them in olive oil before roasting, and instead of sprinkling with salt, season them with fresh chives or rosemary.
Lindt Gold Milk Chocolate Bunny vs. Lindt Gold White Chocolate Bunny
Winner: Milk Chocolate. First thing to know: The Nutrition Facts label on both the milk chocolate and white chocolate bunnies says each contains 2½ servings. Granted, they’re 3½ ounces each, but one would think that a single bunny is a single serving.
If that fact escaped you when you perused the nutritional info, you might eat the whole thing without realizing you’re getting 2½ times the calories, fat, saturated fat, and sugar listed.
That said, the advantage goes to the milk chocolate rabbit. One "serving" has 270 calories, 13 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, and 24 grams of sugar.
The white bunny has about the same calorie and sugar content, but will cost you 6 more grams of total fat and 3 more grams of saturated.
But remember: Unless you're willing to consume 675 calories, 32.5 grams of fat, 20 grams of saturated fat, and 60 grams—15 teaspoons—of sugar, split the bunny with a friend.
Raspberry Danish vs. Waffle
Winner: Waffle. For Easter brunch, a waffle and a raspberry danish are about the same size (both about 2 1/2 ounces), the danish has 263 calories to the waffle's 218, and about 13 grams of fat to the waffle's 10 1/2.
This assumes, however, that you don't add syrup to your waffle. Just a tablespoon of maple syrup adds 52 calories and 12 grams of sugars, putting it about on par with the danish.
As an alternative, try eating your waffle with fresh fruit, such a strawberries or blueberries, instead of syrup. You'll add fewer sugars, plus you'll be adding all the fiber and nutrients that fruits provide.
To make a healthier waffle, try this recipe:
Whole-Wheat Waffles With Wheat Germ
2 cups white whole-wheat flour
¼ cup toasted wheat germ
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon canola oil
Directions
1. Mix the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. When ready to prepare, place dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, and oil.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix with just a few strokes until the batter is evenly moistened.
4. Heat a nonstick electric waffle maker. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Scoop batter onto griddle (about ¼ cup per waffle depending on size of waffle maker). Let waffle cook until the indicator light on the waffle maker turns on.
Makes about 14 waffles, depending on size of waffle maker.
Nutrition Information: One waffle contains 120 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 5 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 2 sugars, and 10 g sodium.
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