Fall is here, and with the holidays just around the corner, it’s tempting to become ensnared in a web of unhealthy food choices.  Of course, my motto is that anything is okay in moderation, but when serving up piping hot apple pie, sticky cinnamon buns bathed in vanilla ice cream, and sugary, whole-milk pumpkin lattes on a regular basis, it’s just asking for trouble.

To avoid a snowball effect starting in Halloween and lasting until my New Year’s Resolutions (which work soooo well), here are a few items I’ll be sampling instead as part of my “fall feast.”  Bon Appetit!

• Passionate about pumpkins?  Try an easy-to-make (and easy on the calories) pumpkin mousse!  Blogger Kelly Gould swears by this pumpkin mousse recipe at “This Mama Cooks.”

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  Coffee lovers can celebrate the season with a new spicy flavor.  Try a Torani sugar-free syrup in “gingerbread” or “pumpkin pie,” or get coffee that’s flavored in the beans themselves so there’s no extra calories (I love Dunkin Donuts Cinnamon coffee).

• Squash “comfort food” cravings with this hearty fall soup recipe, courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine. With butternut squash, apples and nutmeg seasoning, it will fill you up, warm you up and satisfy all-around.

Cover image – Chris Dickson; Inside images: Pumpkins and Squash – Deborah Waller; Coffee – Agata Urbaniak