What was on the menu for the 50 English colonists and 90 Wampanoag American Indian men at the first Thanksgiving dinner on record (the first official Thanksgiving didn’t happen until two centuries later)? Since it was harvest time in October 1621 in the Plimoth (Plymouth) Colony, in what is now Massachusetts, for the celebration:

• the Wampanoag killed five deer
• the colonists shot wild fowl — maybe some geese, ducks, or turkeys
• some form of Indian corn was served and probably some squash, carrots, and peas
• the feast was likely supplemented with fish, lobster, clams, nuts, wheat flour, and pumpkin.

Calories In Today’s Thanksgiving And Hanukkah Foods

Most extra holiday calories don’t come from the “day of” holiday meal but from unrelenting nibbling over the holiday season – and the nibbling isn’t on the same type of food served at the first Thanksgiving dinner.

Guessing at calories can really fool you — being informed can help you to make good choices, food swaps, and trades. A “know before you go” strategy is a big help for making well thought out choices – which will leave room for some of your favorite holiday treats.

Here’s a sampling of the calories in some traditional Thanksgiving and Hanukkah foods. The calories are for an average serving and are estimates.  Recipes all vary, these are ballpark numbers.

Appetizers:

Mixed nuts, 1oz:  170 calories

Candied pecans, 1oz: 139 calories

Cheese ball, 1oz: 110 calories

Selection of raw vegetables, 8 ounces:  75 calories

Sour cream and onion dip, 2 tablespoons: 60 calories

Deviled egg, ½ of an egg: 59 calories

Stuffed mushrooms, 6 small:  386 calories

Shrimp with cocktail sauce, 3 shrimp:  30 calories

Jell-O mold salad, ½ cup: 103 calories

Pigs in blankets, one homemade: 46 calories

Triscuit, 6 crackers:  120 calories

Main Course:

Turkey, 3.5 ounce serving (about the size and thickness of a new deck of cards):

• Breast with skin: 194 calories
• Breast without skin:  161 calories
• Wing with skin: 238 calories
• Leg with skin:  213 calories
• Dark meat with skin:  232 calories
• Dark meat without skin:  192 calories
• Skin only:  482 calories; 44g fat

Smithfield ham, center slice, 4 ounces:  180 calories

Prime Rib roast:  8oz:  450 calories

Roasted Brussels sprouts with olive oil, 10 half sprouts:  80 calories

Dinner roll, 1 small: 87

Butter, 1 pat: 36

Cheesy corn bread, 2″ X 2″: 96

Turkey, white meat, 4 ounces: 180

Turkey, dark meat, 4 ounces: 323

Turkey gravy, 1/4 cup: 50

Stuffing, 1/2 cup: 190

Mashed potatoes, 1 cup: 190

Candied Yams, 1/2 cup:  210

Sweet potato casserole, 3/4 cup: 624

Honey glazed carrots, 1/2 cup: 45

Green beans almandine, 1/2 cup: 220

Green bean casserole, 1/2 cup: 75

Peas and pearl onions, 1/2 cup: 40

Jellied Cranberry Sauce, 1/4 cup: 110

Cranberry relish, 1/2 cup: 76

Dessert:


Pumpkin pie, 1/8 of a 9″ pie: 316

Apple pie, 1/8 of a 9″ pie: 411

Pecan pie, 1/8 of a 9″ pie: 503

Vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup: 145

Chocolate cream pie, 1 large slice: 535

Baked apple, 1 apple: 182

Tea, brewed, 8 ounces: 2

Coffee, black: 10 ounces: 5

Coffee with cream and sugar, 10 ounces: 120

Coffee with Baileys Irish Cream and sugar, 10 ounces: 186

Calories In Typical Hanukkah Foods

Applesauce, sweetened, ½ cup:  95

Applesauce (unsweetened), ½ cup:  50

Fried potato latke, 2oz:  200

Fried, cheese-filled blintz, 1 medium:  340

Baked jelly-filled sufganiyot, 2 inches:  115

Fried jelly-filled sufganiyot, 2 inches:  300

Almond Mandelbrot, ¼ inch slice:  45

Rugelach, 1 cookie:  100

The post How Many Calories Are In Typical Thanksgiving And Hanukkah Foods? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.