A Healthier Holiday Recipe: Cod (or any Whitefish) with Guacamole Sauce #healthierholidays @morebirthdays

I’m posting today for the American Cancer Society and their December campaign on Facebook for Healthier Recipes for A World with More Birthdays. You can find some other awesome recipes and tips on the American Cancer Society page on Facebook – go like them.

From their page, “the American Cancer Society is encouraging people to create a world with more birthdays by staying well, finding a cure and fighting back against cancer.” Can’t see what’s not to like about that! Go do it.

And in the meantime, I’m sharing a holiday recipe that we make pretty often in our house. This isn’t actually for the holiday table. This is a before/after recipe.

After Thanksgiving this year, I’m not even kidding you guys, I felt bloated and gross for a week. Those mashed potatoes have serious sticking factor inside of your intestines! I’m trying really hard this month to eat right and light leading up to Christmas. This time of year can always be so hard.

One of the things we eat a lot of in our house is fish. My boys love it, it’s healthy and it’s easy. This is a favorite in our house. We’ve done it with Cod, Tilapia, Halibut, Fluke and more before. This one pictured was last week with a filet of Cod. I just love the combo of the hot fish with this light and healthy sauce to dip it in and my kids do too.

Cod with Guacamole Sauce

You will need:

-Fresh whitefish (Cod, etc.) Generally 1/2 lb per family member. We go with a pound and a half for our family of four.
-evoo

And for the sauce:

-2 medium sized Haas avocados, mashed up in a bowl
-3/4 of a cup of plain yogurt
– fresh lime and lemon
-fresh ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 350. Wash off the fish and put it in an oven safe baking dish. Put a bit of evoo on top, fresh ground pepper and squeeze half the lemon and half of the lime on top.

Put it in the oven and bake it for about 25 minutes. While it’s cooking, mix all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Once the fish is done, I generally put it under the broiler for another 5-8 minutes just to get the edges crunchy – we love our fish this way.

Serve with the sauce on the side for dipping & enjoy!

—- I’ll leave you with some educational tips from ACS on to help you with eating right::

· Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce your risk of many types of cancer. Here are ideas on how to eat healthy and get active.

· Did you know that eating lots of fruits and vegetables can help reduce your cancer risk? The American Cancer Society recommends eating at least 2½ cups of vegetables and fruits each day. Here are two resources filled with ideas for upping your fruit and vegetable consumption through the day.

· Choose whole grains instead of refined grain products. Here are some innovative ways to add more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains to your day while watching your refined carbohydrates, sugar, and fat intake.

· Limit how much processed meat and red meat you eat. Some studies have linked eating large amounts of processed meat to increased risk of colorectal and stomach cancers.

· Drink no more than 1 drink per day for women or 2 per day for men. Alcohol raises the risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box), esophagus, liver, breast, and the colon and rectum.

· Stock your kitchen with a variety of foods that you can throw together for healthy meals in a hurry. Keep these foods on hand for fast meals on busy nights.

· Did you know that being physically active can reduce your risk of several types of cancer, including breast, colon, endometrial, and prostate? The Society recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity each week (or a combination of these), preferably spread throughout the week. Here are some tips to help you fit exercise into your busy schedule.