Christmas with a healthy twist…

December 20, 2012 |

Are you looking forward to Christmas with mixed emotions?

Maybe you are looking forward to eating the BEST celebratory food of the calendar year, while simultaneously fearing the tight stomach pain in the late avo (from over eating or eating foods that don’t agree with you).

Making Christmas FUN is about having great food, low stress and for some religious connection.

In our house Christmas is a low stress affair with the emphasis on fun and activities. This is what we will be doing this Christmas…

We will be starting with a very slow start, some present opening and spoiling my kids with their favorite foods.

Breakfast:

Special Treat – Pancakes, fresh fruit and fruit sauce with ice cream

Then I will take them to the beach for some shell collecting (my way of getting them to walk along the beach so I can exercise), no doubt some wave catching and seeing some friends on the way home.

Lunch:

Once again emphasis on low stress, low fuss and great food so lots of fresh produce that is easily prepared. This year we will have prawns, oysters and cold turkey.

WE love salads so I will mix up two very easy ones.

Salads:

1. Massive green salad with grated beetroot, grated carrots and fresh corn (striped of the kernels) added to the salad for colour
2. Finely chopped organic silver beet or spinach , with roasted sunflower seeds, olive oil and tamara sauce and squeeze of one lime.

Dessert: Mixed berries (with contreau on the adults serves)

Nibbles: Avocado dip with vegetable sticks.

After lunch we will be swimming, walking the dog and relaxing at our local watering hole. Then more relaxing.

Dinner:

Very low effort – left overs from lunch and pudding with ice cream as a special special treat or berries

Come night time we will be winding down even more by watching a video as a family.

Other healthiesh/easy options WITH WOW VALUE that I have prepared in the past:

– Prawn rice rolls
– Chicken, ham and corn soup
– Chicken and fish kebabs
– Fruit Salad
– Miini pavlovas with raspberries and small dollop of real double thick cream.
– Berrie mix with icing sugar, neat or with vodka or contreau.

Some really good ways to embrace Christmas Day and not fear it are:

Exercise over the day. Go for 2-3 walks. Go with family members and see it as a great opportunity to catch up. A short bush walk, an ocean swim, start an annual something that involves exercise.

Drink lots of water. Regardless of what you get up to make sure you drink at least 2 litter of water. If you don’t like water squirt a lemon into it, or mint, or pineapple pieces.

Fill up on salads, good proteins and then have treats.

Have smaller portions of treats and go back from seconds if you are still hungry.