Christmas & Holiday Festive Favourites and Where to Find Them
Christmas and the holiday season is about giving and sharing – getting together and sharing good food with your family and friends. So I’d like to share my festive foodie favourites with you here.
My attitude towards festive food has definitely become more moderate these days; it’s about enjoying good quality food and knowing when I’ve had enough, so I don’t get that horrible stuffed feeling that comes from over eating.
The best thing is that I’m not depriving myself of anything – we have dips and crackers and cheeses and chocolates.
We also have turkey and ham, roast veggies, Yorkshire Puddings and gravy.
We have Christmas pudding and custard and trifle. We have shortbread and of course, champagne!
The difference being that some of these are now made with recipes that are a bit healthier than the traditional ones. And most importantly, we eat them in smaller amounts.
Stopping when you’re full is the key to enjoying food all the time, including Christmas and the holidays.
Knowing what can be made healthier and still taste good helps a lot too. Like my mother’s trifle – it’s absolutely amazing and so rich and indulgent, I wouldn’t dare try to change it.
My sister now makes it and she does an amazing job. I just have a smaller portion these days and I really enjoy the decadence of it because it is truly a once-a-year treat!
I like to make shortbread as a Christmas indulgence; home made shortbread is soooo good! I’ve tried using alternative sweeteners instead of traditional white sugar and Stevia was the most successful.
However, we really didn’t like the ‘aftertaste.’ So our shortbread is still made using the same simple, traditional recipe. We enjoy it once a year and we share it with family and friends.
Below you’ll find links to a few of my favourite Christmassy recipes that I think are a good alternative for the not-so-healthy traditional versions.
Jamie Oliver:
I’m not going to specify any links here. If you know anything about me, you know that I’m a massive Jamie fan, especially his Christmas food. Just browse his website, his video’s and his cookbooks and you’ll find recipes for wonderful hams, roast meats, home made gravies, Yorkshire puddings and whatever else Christmassy that you fancy!
Greatist:
Remember that making your own food is always best when you can and the festive season is no different. It’s easier than ever to do a little bit of Google searching and find amazing free recipes.
Think about things like seed crackers, dips and vegetable chips: all easy to make and they taste so much better than any you buy.
Make your own puddings, cakes, biscuits, etc if you enjoy holiday baking. Use real, good quality ingredients and you’ll avoid the artificial additives of the commercial versions.
And that brings me back to moderation – don’t overeat and you’ll be fine!
Last but not least, here’s a couple of my own indulgent seasonal recipes too!
My CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES recipe isn’t just for Valentines Day, they’re perfect for Christmas too.
And these CHRISTMAS CROSTINI are always a big hit to get the ball rolling on Christmas Day, as well as being a delish healthy party appetiser.
Make your own party dips with this recipe: QUICK & EASY PARTY DIPS. And make these simple FLAXSEED CRACKERS to go with them.
The Little Strawberry Tarts recipe below combines a pastry case recipe from Wholefood Simply and the filling is adapted from a recipe I found in the Woolworths Christmas magazine a couple of years ago.
Get the pastry case recipe here: Little Lemon Tarts This recipe makes three tart cases and the filling recipe is below.
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LITTLE STRAWBERRY TARTS RECIPE
Ingredients
- 50 g softened cream cheese
- 1 tbsp honey or rice malt syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 175 g mascarpone cheese
- 1 punnet strawberries, hulled and halved
- 2 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam for the glaze
Instructions
- Make the pastry cases according to the directions and set aside to cool while you make the filling.
- Beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl with a hand mixer until smooth.
- Add the honey and vanilla and continue to mix on medium speed until well combined and creamy.
- Stir in the mascarpone and spread pastry cases with the filling.
- Arrange strawberries on top.
- Warm the jam in a small saucepan and brush it over the strawberries.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
Notes
Nutrition per Serve
NUTRITION NOTE
Nutrition information should be used as a guide only
The key to a healthy festive season is to enjoy a few indulgences without going overboard. You just have to decide for yourself what you’ll compromise on – there’s no point copying anyone else or trying to follow a plan because “it’s the right thing to do” – that’s a surefire recipe for disaster.
Be honest with yourself about what you really can’t or won’t compromise on and work backwards from there.
Merry Christmas! xx
The photo below is my hubby Jayson and I with our beautiful Scottie girl Missie, when we lived in England in the early 2000’s.
