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Plans for holiday trimming shouldn't all be about home decor. Some trimming attention needs to go into holiday cooking. Foods make holidays festive. But some festive foods often include more fat than your health or your hips allow. If you need to trim fat from your diet to control your cholesterol count or your measurements, you can still keep food exciting. Try these trimming tips for replacing favorite, fat-dense holiday ingredients with lower-fat alternatives.

Instead Of	Use
1 cup of butter in baking	1 cup applesauce
8 ounces of cream cheese	8 ounces of yogurt cheese
1 cup crème fraiche	1 cup yogurt cheese made from lowfat or nonfat yogurt
1 cup heavy cream (in recipes, not for whipping)	2 teaspoons cornstarch or 1 tablespoon flour whisked into 1 cup nonfat milk
1 cup sour cream	1 cup lowfat cottage cheese + 2 tablespoons skim milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup fat for sautéeing	4 cups low fat stock, fruit juice or wine and sauté until liquid evaporates
1 egg	2 egg whites
1 cup oil or fat for basting	1 cup fruit juice or low fat stock