How to Make Your

Holidays Healthier

 

Everyone always asks for ideas and/or recipes to help them get through the holidays with more healthy fare.  I hesitate to send out a long list of healthy recipes for several reasons.  One, because there are so many wonderfully healthy recipes that it is very difficult to discern what people would call holiday fare - and I hate to limit myself.  And two, because everyone's idea of holiday meals are so different it's very difficult to make suggestions which fit everyone's family table.  Is holiday eating turkey and all the fixings, ham with gooey side dishes, homemade lasagna and bruschetta or perogis and sausages?  Every family has it's own cultural background and traditions and trying to change them completely during the holiday season just doesn't seem - well, "holidayish".  Eating healthy in my house during the holidays has several different aspects. Click here for 4 tips. Also, check out the holiday recipes below.

 

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I am often asked, "What is your favorite appliance in your kitchen"? I have to answer, without question, that it's my Vita-Mix. I hesitated when I first bought my Vita-Mix several years ago because it's not a cheap addition. That thought was soon forgotten once I got to "play" with it. I made so many dishes my first couple days that we started to run out of room to store them... from soups to hummus to ice cream to smoothies to grinding my own flour. The list seems endless! And it will make the perfect gift - for yourself or someone you love - this Christmas season. Vita-Mix is currently offering free shipping too. When you figure it has a 7 year "like new" warranty, it ends up costing less than 18¢ per day!  Try it now, risk free for 30 days, and get free shipping. Make someone's Christmas special this year! Go to www.vitamix.com for a demo and videos. Enjoy!!!

 

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I am always on the lookout for new and interesting recipes with a holiday theme - and I found one that the whole family loved right away.  My husband didn't think that he would - but he did.  My kids can't get enough of it and we almost never have any leftovers.  It is an awesome cranberry-nut cornbread loaf that is delightful.  The original recipe was not very healthy, but we changed it all around and it's festive as well as healthy now.  If you can't find fresh cranberries, frozen ones should work fine.

 

 

Cranberry - Nut Cornbread

 

Ingredients:  

• 1½ C whole wheat flour
• ¾ C yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup sugar, or equivalent sweetener
• 1 T baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• Egg replacer for 1 egg
• 1 C soy milk
• ¼ C apple sauce
• 1/3 C chopped pecans
•  1 C chopped fresh cranberries

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly coat the bottom and ½ inch up the sides of a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan or two 7 ½ x 3 ½ x 2 inch loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture and set aside.
4. In a medium bowl combine the egg replacer, milk and applesauce.  Add all at once to the flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened.  Fold in the nuts and cranberries.  Spoon batter into prepared pan(s).
5. Bake 55 to 60 minutes for the large pan or 45 to 50 minutes for the smaller pans or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack.  (We never get the bread completely cool before we begin devouring it!)

 Some other great recipes for the holidays:

 

Broccoli Casserole

 

Green Bean Casserole

 

Carmelized Brussels Sprouts

 

Three Sisters Stew

 

No Crust Pumpkin Pie

 

Warm Sauteed Pears