Pama Mitchell / For The Sunday Challenger SIMPLE BUT DELICIOUS: Healthy desserts like this pumpkin pudding are sweet but not fattening.

Healthy Holidays: Don't Skip Dessert-Just Lighten Up!

Candy canes, gingerbread men, pumpkin pies, Aunt Minnie's special candies, and cookies, cookies and more cookies. It must be Christmas time!

There are no readily available statistics to back this up, but it wouldn't be surprising if those sweet treats account for at least four out of the five pounds the average person supposedly gains over the holidays. For some reason, our December brains tend to signal that it's really okay to eat another piece of fudge, a couple more cookies, or dessert three times a day.

But in the interest of enjoying healthy holidays, why not whip up one or more of these lighter indulgences? Nobody will feel deprived if a meal ends with a dish of creamy pumpkin pudding, tasty cheesecake morsels or a slice of moist, chocolate cake; each of these recipes is chock-full of healthful ingredients, so there's no need to feel a shred of guilt.

Healthy Holiday Tip #4: Remember to stay as active as possible throughout this challenging season. Don't skip your workouts. Or, if you're not a regular exerciser, find other ways to burn off not only scads of calories but also mountains of stress. Avoid escalators and elevators-take the stairs. Park far from the store entrance. Take a walk to the end of your street and back when you go out to pick up the newspaper. It all helps.
 

Mary Ann Barnes, M.D., assistant director of the family practice center at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Edgewood, has offered to comment on the health aspects of the recipes included in the Healthy Holidays column.

"The easy Pumpkin Pudding: Pumpkin is a great source of beta-carotene, which functions as an anti-oxidant, prevents blindness and is important for immune system functioning. It also has lots of omega-3 fatty acids to help protect your heart and lower cholesterol levels. Use fat-free milk and get all the benefit of the protein and calcium without adding the risk to your heart of 'bad fats.'"

Cheesecake Treasures: "Egg substitutes can give you all the benefit of the great protein, riboflavin and niacin in eggs without the adverse effects of the high cholesterol load of the egg yolks. The yolks, however, do have a lot of nutritional benefit. They contain all the egg's rich source of vitamins A, D, and E, and most of the minerals in the egg (zinc, phosphorus, manganese, iron, calcium, iodine and copper). The decision to use whole egg versus egg substitute should consider all this information and your unique medical concerns."

Glazed Chocolate Cake: "Sweet potatoes and carrots are a great source beta-carotene and fiber, making this cake not only yummy, but also good for you! Canola oil has more mono-unsaturated fat than vegetable oil, making it a healthier choice. Go for the non-fat buttermilk, because milk fat has too much saturated fat to be really healthy."

Easy Pumpkin Pudding
Serves 4
For a quick, easy holiday-themed dessert, it's hard to beat this pumpkin pudding. After a big meal, this little taste of something sweet is satisfyingly not over-the-top.

Ingredients:
One-half cup brown sugar
One-half teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves)
1 cup milk (or one-half cup milk and one-half cup fat free half-and-half)
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix
Fat-free whipped topping (optional)

Instructions:
Mix sugar, spice and milk in a medium mixing bowl. Add pumpkin and pudding mix and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Transfer to one large serving bowl or four individual serving dishes and chill for 2 hours. Top with a spoonful of fat-free whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, if desired.

Cheesecake Treasures
Serves 12

Love cheesecake but hate the calories and fat? Here's a lighter version that you make in single servings. Eat just one and it's only about 150 calories and very little fat.

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
3 T finely crushed vanilla wafers or graham crackers
12 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, softened
Three-quarters cup sugar
1 T flour
1 and one-half tsp vanilla
1 4-ounce carton egg substitute (about one-half cup)
1 and one-half tsp minced lemon or orange peel
Three-quarters to 1 cup peeled, sliced kiwi fruit, quartered strawberries, whole raspberries, halved grapes and/or pineapple chunks.

Instructions:
Spray the bottom and sides of twelve 2 and one-half or 2 and three-quarters-inch muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle with crushed wafers or crackers. Set aside.
Beat cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar, flour, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Add egg product, beating on low speed just until combined. Do not overbeat. Stir in lemon peel or orange peel.

Divide cream cheese mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Bake in a 325 degree oven about 20 minutes or until set. Cool cheesecakes in pan on a wire rack about 30 minutes or until firm. Loosen the cheesecake edges from the muffin cups; carefully remove cheesecakes. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Just before serving, arrange fresh fruit on top of each cheesecake. If desired, garnish with mint leaves.

Source: Better Homes & Gardens

Glazed Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake
Serves 12

The combination of sweet potatoes and buttermilk in this cake make it really moist. Use a good quality cocoa powder to insure a rich, chocolaty taste.

Ingredients:
CAKE:
1 pound sweet potatoes, baked until tender, peeled and mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
One-half cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
One-half teaspoon baking soda
One-half teaspoon cinnamon
One-half teaspoon salt
One-quarter teaspoon nutmeg
One-eighth teaspoon allspice
One-third cup granulated sugar
One-third cup firmly packed brown sugar
One-third cup vegetable oil, such as canola
3 egg whites
1 large carrot, shredded
Two-thirds cup lowfat or nonfat buttermilk
One-half cup carrot juice

GLAZE:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 T orange juice
2 tsp grated orange zest

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; generously spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, and next six ingredients (baking powder through allspice); set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the mashed sweet potatoes, both sugars and the vegetable oil until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg whites until well combined, and then fold in the carrot.

In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk and carrot juice. Alternately fold the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture into the sweet potato mixture, stirring well when complete.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack in the pan, and then remove to a serving plate.

FOR THE GLAZE: In a medium bowl, stir together the glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

Source: The Simply Healthy Lowfat Cookbook, University of California at Berkeley