10 anti-holiday recipes that prove the season can be tasty and healthy
Balance out heavy holiday eating with some lighter—but still delicious—fare.
Lighten your calorie load with some delicious, nutritious food between big holiday meals.
The holiday season has arrived with its cozy vibe, joyous celebrations and inevitable indulgences. From Thanksgiving feasts to Christmas cookie exchanges to Aunt Eva’s irresistible jelly donuts—not to mention leftover Halloween candy still lingering—fall and winter can feel like a non-stop gorge fest.
Total resistance is fairly futile—let’s be real—so it’s helpful to arm yourself with ways to mitigate the effects of eating-all-the-things around the holidays. Serving smaller amounts of rich, celebratory foods and focusing on slowly savoring the taste is one way. Another is to counteract those holiday calorie-bomb meals with some lighter fare in between.
Contrary to popular belief, eating “light” doesn’t have to be tasteless, boring or unsatisfying. And contrary to common practice, meals don’t have to fill an entire plate—especially when we’re trying to balance out heavy holiday eating.
It is possible to enjoy the bounties of the season while maintaining a healthy balance. Whether you prefer to eat low-carb or plant-based or gluten-free or everything under the sun, we’ve got you covered with these 10 easy, low-calorie meals from across the dietary spectrum.
Each of these recipes has less than 600 calories (most a lot less) per serving and can be made in less than 30 minutes. And Albertsons has made it easy to find O Organics® ingredients you can put right in your shopping cart to make prepping these meals even simpler.
Enjoy!
Not quite green eggs and ham, but closeAlbertsons
Breakfast Skillet of Greens, Eggs & Ham
273 calories | 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 (5 oz) pkg baby spinach
2 eggs
1 clove garlic
4 slices prosciutto
1/2 medium yellow onion
1 medium zucchini squash
1/8 cup butter, unsalted
1 pinch crushed red pepper
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
Get your cauliflower power on.Albertsons
Creamy Cauliflower Salad with Ham, Celery & Dill
345 calories | 20 minutes
1/2 medium head cauliflower
1 stick celery
1/4 small bunch fresh dill
8 oz. ham steak, boneless
1/2 shallot
1/4 tspblack pepper
1/4 tsp curry powder
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
1/8 tsp paprika
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
Plant-based food fan? This combo looks yums. Albertsons
Grilled Chili Tofu Skewers with Ranch Cabbage, Apple & Cucumber Slaw
568 calories | 20 minutes
1 avocado
1/2 English cucumber
1 (12 oz.) package extra firm tofu
1 Granny Smith apple
3 Tbsp (45 ml) Ranch dressing
1/2 (14 oz bag) shredded cabbage (coleslaw mix)
2 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
Sometimes you just gotta frittata.Albertsons
Bell Pepper, Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata with Parmesan
513 calories | 25 minutes
6 eggs
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
2 oz Parmesan cheese
1 red bell pepper
1/2 medium red onion
8 sundried tomatoes, oil-packed
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
Caprese, if you please.Albertsons
Balsamic Grilled Chicken with Classic Caprese Salad
509 calories | 25 minutes
3/4 lb chicken breasts, boneless skinless
1/2 small pkg fresh basil
1/2 (8 oz pkg) fresh mozzarella cheese
1 clove garlic
3 tomatoes
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 3/4 pinches black pepper
1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
These mushrooms look positively poppable.Albertsons
Warm Goat Cheese, Parmesan & Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms
187 calories | 35 minutes
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1/2 (4 oz) log goat cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 sundried tomatoes, oil-packed
1 1/4 pinches crushed red pepper
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
2 pinches salt
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
Move over, avocado toast. English muffin pizzas have arrived.Albertsons
English Muffin Pizzas with Basil Pesto, Goat Cheese & Tomatoes
327 calories | 10 minutes
3 Tbsp (45 ml) basil pesto
2 English muffins
1/2 (4 oz) log goat cheese
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
3/4 pinch black pepper
2 pinches salt
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
This pita pocket packs a colorful punch.Albertsons
Warm Pita Pocket with Turkey, Cheddar, Roasted Red Peppers & Parsley
313 calories | 20 minutes
1/4 (8 oz) block cheddar cheese
1/2 bunch Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
4 oz oven roasted turkey breast, sliced
1/2 (12 oz) jar roasted red bell peppers
1 whole grain pita
3/4 pinch black pepper
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp mayonnaise
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
Did we say, "Move over, avocado toast?" What we meant was "Throw some prosciutto on it!" Albertsons
Avocado Toast with Crispy Prosciutto
283 calories | 10 minutes
1 avocado
2 slices prosciutto
2 slices whole grain bread
1 5/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
Vegetarian chili with a fall twistAlbertsons
Black Bean & Pumpkin Chili with Cheddar
444 calories | 30 minutes
2 (15 oz can) black beans
1/2 (8 oz ) block cheddar cheese
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
2 green bell peppers
1 small bunch green onions (scallions)
1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin purée
1 medium yellow onion
1/2 tsp black pepper
5 7/8 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp virgin coconut oil
Find full instructions and shopping list here.
For more delicious and nutritious recipes, visit albertsons.com/recipes.
After she asked for a mental health day, a screenshot of her boss' response went viral
This is what leadership should look like. 💯
Madalyn shared with her colleagues about her own mental health.
Madalyn Parker wanted to take a couple days off work. She didn't have the flu, nor did she have plans to be on a beach somewhere, sipping mojitos under a palm tree.
Parker, a web developer from Michigan, wanted a few days away from work to focus on her mental health.
Parker lives with depression. And, she says, staying on top of her mental health is absolutely crucial.
"The bottom line is that mental health is health," she says over email. "My depression stops me from being productive at my job the same way a broken hand would slow me down since I wouldn't be able to type very well."
Madalyn Parker was honest with her colleagues about her situation.
Photo courtesy Madalyn Parker.
She sent an email to her colleagues, telling them the honest reason why she was taking the time off.
"Hopefully," she wrote to them, "I'll be back next week refreshed and back to 100%."
Soon after the message was sent, the CEO of Parker's company wrote back:
"Hey Madalyn,
I just wanted to personally thank you for sending emails like this. Every time you do, I use it as a reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health — I can't believe this is not standard practice at all organizations. You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work."
\u201cWhen the CEO responds to your out of the office email about taking sick leave for mental health and reaffirms your decision. \ud83d\udcaf\u201d— madalyn (@madalyn) 1498854569
Moved by her CEO's response, Parker posted the email exchange to Twitter.
The tweet, published on June 30, 2017, has since gone viral, amassing 45,000 likes and 16,000 retweets.
"It's nice to see some warm, fuzzy feelings pass around the internet for once," Parker says of the response to her tweet. "I've been absolutely blown away by the magnitude though. I didn't expect so much attention!"
Even more impressive than the tweet's reach, however, were the heartfelt responses it got.
"Thanks for giving me hope that I can find a job as I am," wrote one person, who opened up about living with panic attacks. "That is bloody incredible," chimed in another. "What a fantastic CEO you have."
Some users, however, questioned why there needs to be a difference between vacation time and sick days; after all, one asked, aren't vacations intended to improve our mental well-being?
That ignores an important distinction, Parker said — both in how we perceive sick days and vacation days and in how that time away from work is actually being spent.
"I took an entire month off to do partial hospitalization last summer and that was sick leave," she wrote back. "I still felt like I could use vacation time because I didn't use it and it's a separate concept."
Many users were astounded that a CEO would be that understanding of an employee's mental health needs.
They were even more surprised that the CEO thanked her for sharing her personal experience with caring for her mental health.
After all, there's still a great amount of stigma associated with mental illness in the workplace, which keeps many of us from speaking up to our colleagues when we need help or need a break to focus on ourselves. We fear being seen as "weak" or less committed to our work. We might even fear losing our job.
Ben Congleton, the CEO of Parker's company, Olark, even joined the conversation himself.
In a blog post on Medium, Congleton wrote about the need for more business leaders to prioritize paid sick leave, fight to curb the stigma surrounding mental illness in the workplace, and see their employees as people first.
"It's 2017. We are in a knowledge economy. Our jobs require us to execute at peak mental performance," Congleton wrote. "When an athlete is injured, they sit on the bench and recover. Let's get rid of the idea that somehow the brain is different."
This article originally appeared on 07.11.17
- Here's a great way to commit to wellness in 2022. ›
- Sammie's Buddy Bench project spreads kindness and helps the planet - Upworthy ›
- Your child's mental health diagnosis is not parental failure - Upworthy ›
- Winnie the Pooh and friends all have mental health disorders - Upworthy ›
- Kevin Smith discusses his mental health crisis - Upworthy ›
- 'WhiteFlag' a free peer support app for mental health - Upworthy ›
- Video gives tips on dating someone with bipolar disorder - Upworthy ›
From musical babies to big-hearted basketball players, here are 10 things that made us smile this week.
Few things are as heartwarming as humans helping one another, whether it's something practical, like assisting with a flat tire, or something more existential, like offering a kind word when someone's feeling down.
This week's list of things that made us smile has several examples of the latter—times where someone's support or words of encouragement made a difference. It's a good reminder that we're truly all in this together and that a connection between human hearts is really the most smile-worthy thing there is.
Hope you enjoy this week's collection!
1. A shared journal between a mom and her child is a touching reminder of a mother's love
Swipe through to see their back and forths. So beautiful.
2. This kiddo knows exactly how to be there for another person in the simplest of ways
Do you need space? Do you want me to be near you? That's how it's done. Just the willingness to sit with someone in their dark moments is so big sometimes.
3. Comedian gets Gen X giggling with song about life in the 90s
A hilarious trip down memory lane. Read the full story here.
4. Jon Batiste demonstrates his musical genre bending abilities with some Beethoven blues
Music is just so darn fun.
5. Speaking of musical abilities, check out this baby piano prodigy
Baby in diapers making triads and resolving chords like he was born for it. See more of Gavrill's musical abilities here.
6. Guy's grandma tells him not to open his gift til he gets home, which makes for an interesting airport experience
@brett.gaffney Airport Security said this is the second one they have seen today! #brettgaffneyforever #holidaytravel
Hahahaha. Way to go, granny. Good gift, though! Read the full story here.
7. If a friend is someone you can laugh with, these two are gonna be besties
Ah, the simple things in life.
8. Dad walks in on couple doing a TikTok challenge and his reaction is everything
@matildedaniele29 @Matilde Morra #fyp #fypシ #boyfriend #couplegoals #omg #funny #couple #trending #new #foryoupage
When no reaction is the best reaction. Never has so much been said with such little expression. Read the full story here.
9. New York Knicks star invited his high school basketball coach to live with him after his wife of 31 years died
Mitchell Robinson's got a heart of gold. (He has 19 dogs, too.)
10. Find a friend who will joyfully pull you around in the snow like this doggo
😊
That's what friends are for, right?
Hope you found some smiles in this week's list! If you'd like to receive posts like this one in your inbox, sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.
Kids in 1966 shared their predictions for the year 2000 and it's fascinating to see now
In many ways, the future turned out much brighter than these youngsters expected it to.
Thankfully, this girl's prediction was way off.
The idea of predicting the future has been the subject of countless books, movies and televisions shows (and is basically the basis of all gambling). Outside of a few uncanny instances, no one can tell exactly what the future holds, especially for the world at large. But people sure love to predict it anyway.
The BBC shared a video compilation of kids in 1966 sharing what they imagine the year 2000 would be like, and their predictions are fascinating. After five or six kids share, it becomes clear what some of the most pressing concerns of the 1960s were. Some kids thought we'd have bombed ourselves into oblivion. Others believed we'd be so overpopulated we would be packed like sardines and wouldn't be able to build houses anymore.
Not all of the predictions were so dark. Some kids had some hilarious predictions about cabbage pills and robots. Others thought we'd have better cures for diseases and less segregation among the races, which we have.
Watch what these young folks envisioned nearly 40 years into their future—now more than 20 years into our past:
Thankfully, the year 2000 wasn't as dire as many of these kids imagined it would be. In fact, hearing these predictions might even make us feel pretty good about how humanity has fared in the past 60 years.
How about the kid predicting the future of automation? Or the kid who said people would be regarded more as statistics than people? Or the one who predicted animals being kept in buildings instead of grazing so they could produce more?
And hey, props to the kids who didn't predict an overpopulated nuclear hellscape. It can be hard to see negative news and not think the world is on a downward spiral. But if nothing else, seeing that these kids' doom and gloom predictions didn't come true is pretty heartening and a good sign that our own future may not be as dark as it sometimes appears.
A dog dressed for business is breaking other dogs out of their fences to go on adventures
The people in the neighborhood do not appreciate his impromptu playdates
A dog in a tie has been breaking out dogs for adventures
What on earth could be better than a dog in a collar and tie? A dog that dresses for business as he sets out to free all the dogs in the neighborhood who look like they may want to help him run a muck–that's what. Recently Ailea, a TikTok user uploaded a video talking about a dog in her neighborhood trying to start a cult with the other dogs.
Ailea has two dogs of her own which is how she came to notice the dapper dog. But it wasn't until she was attempting to get an explanation from the furry dog boss that she realized he had a neighborhood operation going on.
"I see that he's wearing a tie. Very distinguished. So I'm like, cool. I'm going to go out front and I'm going to talk to this dog, have a rational conversation with this dog in a tie," Ailea says. "Maybe find out where he lives, help him find his way home, you know that sort of thing."
That's when the story takes a bit of a turn. As she's attempting to reason with the dog so she can get his address or human's number, an angry woman stops her car to give the dog a piece of her mind. The woman yells at the dog to go home after questioning what he was doing. When Ailea asked the woman if it was her dog, she revealed the well dressed dog's not so secret, secret.
"No, but he keeps coming to my house and opening the gate and letting my dogs out to roam the neighborhood with him," the woman explains to Ailea. "He does this to everybody's dog. He just lets them out and lets them roam the neighborhood with him."
Fair warning, the neighbor's confrontation with the dog does have adult language included but it's not until the second video that you get the see the well-dressed canine up close.
@akitathehun I’ll buy whatever this well dressed dog is selling. #mlm #cult #dog #travelingsalesman #takemymoney
Ailea doesn't have an issue with her own dogs getting out because she keeps her gate locked, other neighbors are not so lucky. But how could anyone be angry at a dog in a tie just looking for buddies to burn off some energy with? Hopefully whoever the dapper pup belongs to reminds him that he has to ask permission before going on playdates in the future.
Woman shares how much her 'Angel Tree' gifts meant to her as a child in touching video
Some acts of kindness are unforgettable.
A woman shares how much her 'angle Tree" gifts meant to her as a kid
Every year, the Salvation Army Angel Tree helps provide a little bit of Christmas magic to thousands of children across the country who might otherwise miss out.
The way it works is simple: children and senior adults are assigned donors, aka “Angels” in the community, whom they share a personal Christmas wish list with. The angels then purchase those items, which are distributed semi-anonymously.
As a child with incarcerated parents, I was an Angel Tree kid, and I can still remember the feeling I got opening up the exact art set my heart yearned for. It was the feeling of truly being seen.
Getting my Angel Tree present was about more than just accumulating stuff—it reminded me that there were adults I could count on (even if I didn’t actually know them) and it allowed me to simply be a kid again for a moment, during a time when that often seemed impossible.
It’s these types of priceless memories the Angels provide, with little to no awareness of how deeply their generosity impacted the lives of those they gave to.
Recently, a woman named Ahsley ( with the TikTok handle @maybashleymarie) recounted her own life-changing experience as a former Angel Tree kid, and the video is going viral.
“When I was about 16, I lived in a homeless shelter with my parents,” she said in the clip. “And I remember when everybody came around and asked us what we wanted to put on our list for the angel tree, I was writing this out. And I thought about it really hard because there was stuff that I wanted, but there was also stuff that I really needed. Because as a kid in a shelter, you basically have the clothes that are on your back and that's it.”
But being in survival mode didn’t stop the teenager from wanting teenagery things, and so she put hoop earrings, black Converse sneakers, black eye liner, jeans, and a Playboy Bunny blanket on her list.
Not only did her Angel deliver, she “went above and beyond.” Ashley received not just one pair of hoop earrings, but 24 pairs in various shapes and sizes, enough black eyeliner to last her for years, skinny jeans with the tag still in place so Ashley could get her proper size, and bona fide name brand Converse sneakers, though she would have been completely content with generic.
Plus, much to her surprise, Ashley got that Playboy Bunny blanket—her favorite item on the list.
“I did not think at all, not one bit that that lady was going to actually give me a Playboy Bunny blanket, but when I opened that light pink blanket that said Playboy all across it, I was so excited. I was so happy. I still have that blanket to this day.”
Recently there has been a trend among influencers to go out to make Angel Tree donations, which inspired Ashley to make her video in the first place.
“I have to say, I am so thankful for all of these influencers and all these people with real money to be able to go out and actually buy gifts for these kids because you have absolutely no idea, no idea the difference that it makes in their lives and how that'll be lifetime memories for them,” she concluded.
The touching video received 3.2 million views, with several people sharing how much Ashley’s story moved them—even making them want to become Angels themselves.
“Seeing the other side of the angel tree just made me ball my eyes out, and now I must go do one,” one person wrote.
Other fellow Angel Tree kids, chimed in with their own experiences. One shared, “I was an angel tree kid when my parents were in rehab. It really does make a kid’s whole world.”
Another wrote, “I asked for the last book in the Lemony Snicket series and they bought me the whole series…hardback.”
If you’re curious about participating in the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, you can find out more info at SalvationArmyUSA.org
More than 20 high school students lift car to rescue mom and toddler after she was hit
A U.S. Airman helped to pull the mom out.
20 high school students lift car to rescue mom and toddler
Some people are in the right place at the right time when tragedy strikes. A mother and her 2-year-old are both lucky to be alive after being struck by a car that was blinded by the sun. Bridgette Ponson was walking across the parking lot of Layton Christian Academy in Utah when the accident occurred.
Students rushed to the car realizing that Ponson and her two small children were stuck beneath it. While the 3-year-old managed to free themselves to crawl from under the car, the mom was trapped on top of her younger child unable to move. Help arrived nearly instantly in the form of more than 20 high school students, an United States Airman.
The school's surveillance cameras caught the entire heart-stopping rescue on video as the teens struggled to lift the car. Eventually, the high schoolers were able to lift the car high enough for senior airman Dominique Childress to help pull the mom and toddler to safety.
Childress was there picking up his kids when he was asked to help by his child's teacher. He explains to KSL News, “Mom was holding him, and once we were holding the car high enough, she was able (to) get up and kind of hold the car on her back as we were lifting.”
Childress went on to tell KSL that the baby's face was purple and he was unconscious but the airman was able to find a pulse. The teens worked in unison to lift the car off of the trapped mom and child, not knowing it was someone from the school's administration office. Their only focus was saving the family. Theo Roach, one of the students that helped lift the car said the reality of the situation didn't click in until afterward.
“It was a relief because I didn’t understand fully. I didn’t grasp the realness of the situation until I saw the kid breathing,” Roach told the outlet.
But it was thanks to their quick acting that Ponson and her child were spared. The youngest child was life flighted to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City but has since been released with minor injuries. Ponson is still hospitalized and has received multiple surgeries.
The school set up a GoFundMe for the family to help with medical bills and income since both Ponson and her husband will be out of work while everyone recovers.
You can watch the entire interview, including the heroic rescue below.