Holiday Dishes Perfect For Your Gut

I want you to feel your best and have energy to keep up with all the kids or grandkids over the holiday season. For most of you, there will be the traditional holiday foods but what if you brought a healthier dish for all to share?

A healthier you from the inside out starts with eating more plants. What if you could make one simple change at a time? Wouldn’t that be great? Then you wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed! Making small changes is key and just by making one healthier side dish is a great way to start. So here are some ideas!

1. Make a salad with your holiday meal. Base could be power greens and top with broccoli sprouts, cherry tomatoes, sliced almonds, cucumbers, goat cheese or leave out if DF, blueberries and/or sliced strawberries and top with Balsamic Vinaigrette Garlic Expressions dressing (found at Publix, HT, and Whole Foods). 

2. Start your day with a smoothie. Here are some ideas that even kids love. Frozen banana or frozen cherries, handful frozen spinach, handful of blueberries, and unsweetened almond milk.

Extra bonus points if you add in hemp, chia, or ground flax.

We also love a frozen banana, handful spinach, tbsp ground flax, scoop of natural creamy peanut butter, and our chocolate plant based and gluten free protein/superfood powder. If you use frozen fruits/veggies your smoothie will come out creamier. 

3. Think about sides that don’t have a cream sauce to them. This could be fresh green beans, tossed in olive oil and seasoned with garlic salt or powder, pepper, and sauteed with shallots on the stove. We also love Festive Brussel Sprouts like these HERE. 

4. Roasting potatoes like THESE are so yummy and the kids love them, especially picky eaters because they are not messy and the perfect finger food. 

5. Over the holidays we are always grazing. I think it’s part of the fun of the holiday. A fun and healthy way to do this is to set up a “graze tray”. I like to use a cupcake pan and fill it with different snacks. I also love these silicon cupcake liners you can put on a plate.

Some ideas to include could be: hummus, salsa, ranch dressing, chocolate or vanilla bean hummus, GF pretzels, plantain chips, celery, cucumbers, radish chips, carrot chips, jicama sticks, raisins, cauliflower or broccoli florets, Skinny Pop popcorn, whole food concentrate gummys,

This is often a hit for kids as it allows them to find something they enjoy on the tray. If you have a picky eater this is a great way to lay out new foods without pressure.

If holiday mealtimes are stressful for your picky eater then have this in the center of the table or allow them to pick some items from this to put on their plate.

I love these recipes and ideas because they are perfect for your gut and allow you to enjoy the holiday season without all the bloat and sleepy eyes from all the other heavy, traditional food.

Reach out to me via email at speakeatlearnllc@gmail.com for more information on the whole food concentrates or plant based powder.