When you eat healthy during the holidays your energy level remains high so you can keep up
with a multitude of tasks. The last thing you need is brain fog and lethargy due to a poor diet.
This post navigates the tempting delicacies with helpful holiday eating tips and recipes.
Use Fresh, Raw Ingredients
The trick to eating the right type of foods is to consume them as close to their harvest as
possible.When you eat foods closer to their original form, you will become full with smaller
portions because the food contains fiber. Therefore, the feeling of fullness stays with you for a
longer period too, so you don’t want to snack as much.
Make dishes using fresh, raw ingredients such as sautéed fresh green beans with garlic and
slivered almonds versus the typical green bean casserole. The fresh green beans are nutritious
and delicious. Fresh, raw foods are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and all the nutrients the
human body needs—the way God intended for you to eat.
In December, pecans are harvested in the south. I buy thirty pounds of cracked pecans and shell
them. I use them in many holiday recipes. They are a high protein snack. I freeze the pecans in
mason jars to use throughout the year. What type of nuts grow in your area and how can use
them?
Recently I brought a broccoli pomegranate salad to a Friendsgiving dinner. It contained fresh
broccoli, pomegranate, pecans, sunflower seeds, and yellow raisins. Everyone at the dinner raved
about the salad, and several people requested the recipe (see recipe below). Pinterest is an
excellent place to find many nutritious recipes. Check out some of my salad recipes inAll About Salads Cookbook.
Baking
When baking, use coconut or almond flour instead of wheat flour. Also, try using sugar
substitutes such as stevia and monk fruit sweetener. Both rank zero on the glycemic index and
have no calories! You can make desserts that are just as tasty as the usual sugar-laden ones.
Over Thanksgiving, my college-aged daughters made a delicious apple crisp using oats and
banana bread (recipes below) using coconut flour. One of my daughters is gluten sensitive and the other is lactose intolerant; yet we made delectable deserts out of wholesome, organic
ingredients. All of my cookbooks are gluten-free and provide dairy alternatives. Check out my holiday bundle sale for all four of my cookbooks here.
Holiday Parties
At holiday parties, avoid eating foods made with sugar and wheat. Instead, eat nuts, vegetables,
and fruits. Guacamole and hummus are healthy dips too. These foods are just as appetizing, and
they won’t contribute to brain fog.
Be sure to serve yourself smaller portions. Think of your stomach as the size of your fist. Put less
food on your plate than you think you will eat. Using a smaller plate may help.
As soon as you feel full, stop eating and wait a few minutes. Many times you won’t feel hungry
anymore since it takes a little while for your brain to recognize your stomach reached its
capacity. If you stop eating at the first sign you feel the sensation of fullness, in five minutes
your brain receptors catch up with the feeling in your stomach.
80/20 Percent Rule
Don’t make your expectations too high. Use the 80/20 rule: eat well 80 percent of the time, but
20% of the time splurge. Eating healthy during the holidays is not an all-or-nothing situation. If
you don’t eat healthy 100 percent of the time, don’t have the mindset that you failed. Instead,
give yourself grace as God does. Try to do well, but if you don’t eat correctly 20 percent of the
time, that’s okay. It’s probably better than the way you ate before.
Keep your energy up during the holidays by avoiding wheat and sugar which contribute to brain
fog and lethargy. Whip up delicious, healthy recipes using wheat and sugar substitutes. Also give
yourself grace, as God does, to splurge a little but try not to overdo it.
Holiday Recipes
Broccoli/Pomegranate Salad
1 head of chopped broccoli
1 fresh pomegranate
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup yellow raisins
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 package of maple bacon
Dressing
2/3 cup organic mayonnaise
1 small single-serving packet of stevia
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
Chop broccoli into bite-size pieces and add to a large salad bowl. Peel pomegranate and put seeds
in a salad bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Whisk dressing, pour over chopped ingredients, and stir.
Banana Nut Bread
6 eggs
½ cup honey
½ cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup coconut flour
2 mashed bananas
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Preheat oven 350°F. Grease a loaf pan. Blend wet ingredients with a mixer. In a separate bowl
mix dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet and blend with a large spoon. Add smashed
bananas and pecans. Pour batter in the prepared loaf pan, and bake for 50-55 minutes
Apple Crisp
6 chopped apples
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup honey
Topping
¼ cup baking stevia
½ cup melted butter
¾ cup organic oats
¾ cup coconut flour
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix the first five ingredients and place in a baking pan. Stir topping
ingredients and pour over apples. Bake for 60-75 minutes. Serve with almond or coconut milk
whipped cream or non-dairy vanilla ice cream.
