A happy and healthy Rosh Hashanah

Friday marks the first night of New Year celebrations for our Jewish readers’and the beginning of serious over-eating season for my family. See, we celebrate the High Holidays (and birthdays and anniversaries and 20-percent-off sales) by getting together and consuming an abundance of traditional foods. It’s fun and I wouldn’t trade my cousin Stephen’s deep-fried gefilte fish for the world (that’s traditional fish patties loaded with salt and then deep fried with onions and served with horseradish. Admittedly, it’s an acquired taste). But this year, the whole family has resolved to eat a healthier diet. But can it be done on Rosh Hashanah, when sugary raisin bread and sweet noodle pudding abound? A little cruise around some favourite recipe sites proves that with a little creativity, it can.

Take this Apple Honey Sorbet from allrecipes.com. It uses the traditional apples and honey that we eat on the holiday to make a dessert with only 188 calories per serving. As it turns out, there’s a long list of healthy reasons to eat antioxidant-rich apples‘they even help you control your weight and improve your heart health. And for the main course, our healthy Golden-Roasted Chicken recipe is low on fat and packed with vitamin B.

I still expect to dig into my mom’s gravey-drenched brisket this year (we just couldn’t ring in the New Year without it), but it helps to know that making  a few healthier choices can help us keep our resolution through the holiday season.

Do you carry on with your healthy diet during holidays or do you indulge during celebrations?