Quick and Easy Healthy Holiday Recipes - Four Directions Wellness

Quick and Easy Healthy Holiday Recipes

‘Tis the season to be merry and bright! You’ll see family, friends, colleagues, and clients throughout this holiday season. And, you’re going to be surrounded by all sorts of goodies and treats to delight your taste buds.

The problem comes on January 1st when the clock strikes midnight. Your New Year’s resolution to lose that extra few pounds will kick in and you’re not going to like reading the measurement on your bathroom scale. But, it doesn’t have to be that way! You can make some healthy holiday recipes and eat them too!

Here are several healthy holiday recipes that are good for you, your kids and your family or work gathering, in that order. Your waist, hips, wherever you see weight appear first, it will thank you!

Healthy Winter Holiday Drinks | Health Holiday Recipes

The holidays are filled with beverages and foods that attack your systems on all fronts, including foods that are high in sugars, encourage overconsumption while being high-calorie, and are dehydrating because of their salt concentration.

Below are 12 healthy holiday cocktails to treat yourself to when you’re making Christmas dinner or you’re getting ready to greet a horde of family members. The secret here is that you can mix any of these beverages as mocktails (simply don’t add the alcohol if you don’t want to). If you do make the drink, and it includes sugar, you can substitute as the article notes for stevia, agave nectar, or another all-natural sweetener in its place.

As with any cocktail, make sure to drink at least eight ounces of water for every drink that you imbibe. This will help offset the dehydrating qualities of the beverages. Actually, this is probably a good rule of thumb for all non-alcoholic drinks you have in life as well.

And, you can share these drinks with your kids as mocktails and spice them up for your adult friends when they come over.

Cookies for the Kids! | Healthy Holiday Recipes

As we’ve written about before, it’s important to establish family traditions. These are the moments that your children will remember of you for a lifetime. And, these are what will help them develop healthy eating habits, too. So, why not make a family tradition of baking healthy holiday recipes from when the kids are young?

This holiday treat is a great healthy Christmas cookie that contains ingredients that are good for you, but doesn’t skimp on taste! They are “gluten-, dairy- and refined sugar-free” cookies, while managing to contain “whole carbs, good protein and healthy fats” as well. As Liezl Jayne Strydom, the YouTuber who put together this video/recipe, it’s her and sister’s tradition. The recipe has become healthier as the years go by.

This goes to show that you can start with something like this healthy Christmas cookie and modify it over time to make it to your family’s unique taste.

Healthy Holiday Dessert | Healthy Holiday Recipes

The holidays center on heavy meals and decadent desserts. It’s a time of celebration and plenty after all. In keeping with that, the next recipe is a winter fruit salad dessert and doesn’t fall short on flavor. You can make big batches, and it’s easy to make this last-minute for any holiday gathering.

https://therecipecritic.com/2017/01/best-winter-fruit-salad/

As the blogger, Alyssa, notes, “The Best Winter Fruit Salad is filled with clementines, kiwi, pears, apples, and pomegranate. It gets tossed in a delicious honey lime poppyseed dressing and you won’t be able to get enough!” Experiment with different dressings that your family and friends will enjoy, but the honey lime poppyseed dressing is healthy and remarkably delicious!

What healthy holiday recipes do you have? Share them in the comments and let us know! We’d love to hear how you celebrate the holiday season in healthy style.