Nutrition, Nourish Health Food Pharmacy

Surprisingly Easy Ways to Stay Healthy Throughout the Festive Season

Posted on by Linda
15
Dec

This time of year, there are many opportunities to over indulge. Surprisingly it can be simple to make healthy food choices over Christmas.

Australia specialises in hot summer Christmas days! This invites us to make the most of amazing seafood and abundant fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season. Think:

  • Fresh mango (YUM!)
  • Fresh cherries
  • Juicy stone fruits such as apricots, peaches and nectarines
  • Tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce are all in season and are hydrating additions to the festive table

To keep meal prepping easy over Christmas, try taking a Paleo approach to eating – balance out meals with protein, healthy fats and large servings of vegetables or salad. This is a great way to keep things simple, easy and healthy! See below for a few simple meal ideas.

Simple Paleo Meal Ideas.

  • Cold King Prawn salad with Mango & sweet chilli sauce dressing & shredded iceberg lettuce
  • Cold meats – preservative free honey glazed leg ham is an easy crowd pleaser served with large fresh salads
  • Turkey – high protein served with hearty fresh salad & cranberry sauce
  • Oysters Natural fresh & healthy, high in Zinc, protein, B12, selenium, Vitamin D, enjoy abundantly!
  • Baked snapper with roasted vegetables
  • Traditional roast turkey with vegetables & cranberry sauce
  • Cold roast turkey works well the day after for protein, balanced out with a fresh leafy green salad

Partying Out Tips

Food & Snacking

  • Before heading out in the evening for a Christmas do, make sure you have had something to eat prior. Heading out on an empty stomach or feeling hungry will lead you to overindulging. Don’t be the one following the hors d oeuvres tray around the room or taking up too much space at the buffet table!
  • Snacks: keep it light with the crisps, opt for nuts, olives or homemade finger foods such as Blinis. Try these Buckwheat & Spelt Chrain Blinis or Smoked Salmon Blinis for something different.
  • Fruit platter filled with watermelon & cherries – kids love fruit!

Alcohol

  • The festive is season is no excuse for binge drinking, stick to moderation!
  • Supply sparkling mineral water with lemon slices and fresh mint to have a refreshing hydrating non-alcoholic beverage at hand, especially as it’s shaping up to be a hot Christmas
  • Nominate yourself to be the designated driver – your friends and/or family will appreciate it and it gets you off the hook to avoid pressure to drink

To kick you off on the right foot, we thought we would inspire you with a healthy Christmas dessert recipe. Enjoy

Pomegranate & Pistachio Coconut N’ice-Cream

Ingredients

  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • 400ml organic full fat coconut milk
  • 400ml organic full fat coconut cream
  • 3 egg yolks, whisked
  • Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
  • A pinch of Himalayan salt
  • 1 cup pistachios, shelled, toasted & roughly chopped + extra to top
  • ½ cup pomegranate seeds + extra to top

Method

  1. Heat sugar, coconut milk & cream, egg yolks & vanilla seeds on a low heat, stirring continuously until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, allow the mixture to cool before tipping it into a small non-stick loaf tin & place in the freezer.
  2. After the mixture has been in the freezer for 2 hours, stir in the pistachios & pomegranate seeds. Stir the mixture hourly for 3-4 hours to prevent crystallisation & for a smooth, creamy finish. Freeze overnight.
  3. Take out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Scoop into individual serves or tip it all onto a serving board & top with reserved pomegranate seeds & pistachio nuts. (Optional: drizzle with a little pomegranate molasses).

Credit: recipe from BioConcepts

This blog post was written by Jody Lang, Nutritionist at Nourish Health.

Jody Lang
Nutritionist

Linda