Eastern students should not let a lack of cooking skills discourage them from whipping up a healthy recipe.

Healthy Holiday Cooking 101 is a two-week series of cooking classes that feature traditional holiday recipes with modified ingredients, making them leaner and healthier.

The class will be taught today from 4 to 6 p.m. by Michael Kelly, nutrition educator from the Health Education Resource Center, as well as Nov. 14 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Last year, the cooking seminar took place in the spring over a four-week period, so they decided to make it shorter this year and focus on holiday cooking, Kelly said.

“We will be doing a big family-style meal so the students can take things home with them to share with their friends and family,” Kelly said.

Catherine Bocke, the public relations coordinator for the Health Education Resource Center, said last year they did not get the outcome they hoped for in the spring, so doing a two-week holiday cooking class might attract more students.

Through the holiday cooking class, students will gain knowledge about how to substitute common ingredients to make recipes healthier, Kelly said.

“The students will also get to take home a recipe book and a list of healthy substitutions so they can share the recipes with their friends and families,” Bocke said.

Students will be making dishes like green bean casserole and mashed potatoes, and the goal is to teach them that the traditional holiday foods can still be enjoyable by being modified with healthy substitutes, Kelly said.

Sara Namken, a family and consumer sciences professor, is a registered dietitian and said the holidays are also a time when students put on weight because they often indulge in holiday meals.

“On average, I would say students gain about zero to five pounds over Thanksgiving and Christmas break,” Namken said.

Namken said she recommends making a plate of food and eating it in a separate room away from where the food is being served.

“If you don’t have easy access to the spread of food, you won’t be as likely to get second helpings,” Namken said.

Namken also recommends using smaller serving plates during the holidays because people often fill their plates and feel obligated to finish everything on it.

“You can still enjoy all of the traditional foods, just eat smaller portions and don’t overindulge,” Namken said.

Kelly said to start off with a salad before eating the main course. “Eating a salad first will help fill you up and prevent you from over-eating during the main course and desserts,” Kelly said.

There will also be dietitians at the cooking class to answer any nutritional or health-related questions students may have, Kelly said.

Namken also recommends compiling a colorful plate with an array of vegetables, which makes it easier to stay away from starch-filled and fatty foods.

Namken said some healthy substitutions she has taught her own family to use are replacing eggs for Egg Beaters and using applesauce instead of oil in baked goods.

Small substitutions can make a big difference when cooking a holiday meal, and there is no difference in taste or appearance, Namken said.

“Part of the problem with holiday weight gain is that students finally get to go home and have people cook for them,” Namken said.

Namken said students will have to make the conscious decision not to eat everything they are being served, and limit themselves.

“Especially (during) Christmas Break because the stress of school is off the students’ shoulders, they feel like they can reward themselves with food when they go home,” Namken said.

Bocke said when students go home for break they tend to lose self control because there is not much access to food around here.

“They don’t get home-cooked meals here, students are limited to dining hall food, ramen noodles and processed food in their dorms,” Kelly said.

At home, students indulge as much as they can because they know that when they come back to school their eating habits will be mediocre again, Kelly said.

“When students go home their parents will also spoil them and maybe make them their favorite meal or desert,” Kelly said.

Pre-holiday break, make sure to get a gym buddy and balance the food being eaten with a moderate amount of exercise, Kelly said.

“That way you won’t feel guilty eating the foods you want to,” Kelly said.

Emily Pellegrine can be reached at 581-7942 or elpellegrine@eiu.edu.