For the most part, alcohol is just junk food: loads of empty calories with little nutritional value. But it’s the holidays! What better time is there to loosen your control a bit and indulge in some cheer with friends and family?

However, we can lessen the health damage of alcohol by either choosing alcohol with health benefits and/or pairing it with healthy mixes.

Warning: food & bevvies which contain hefty health benefits may not necessarily be low in calories, e.g. nuts are equally high in nutrients and calories. The following healthy holiday drink recipes will most definitely put your reduced calorie diet on pause.

Based on a WebMD post, Hot and Healthy Holiday Drinks, here are a couple of warm cups of delicious alcoholic beverages to try when ringing in the New Year:

Steph’s Holiday Hot Apple Cider

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 cups PC fresh pressed apple cider
2 cups cranberry juice
1 fat orange slice
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 oz. dark rum(about 58 calories)

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Holiday meals are generally pretty healthy, considering they are usually fresh and home-cooked with lots of love. Most of the excess calories come from overeating and all the fixings: gravy, stuffing, potatoes, fatty ham, and of course, the yummy desserts!

Since overindulging is ok once in awhile, your special holiday meal is the perfect time to do so. But maybe we can help reduce some of the damage by choosing healthy alternatives to the more traditional holiday fare? This post might give you a few ideas to try this holiday season, or inspire your own creative healthy alternatives!

The Protein Main

For vegetarians: while there are some to-die-for veggie lasagnas and veggie casseroles out there, they are usually high in carbs (the pasta) and loaded with fatty cheeses. Try this recipe from my Naturopathic Doc (ND): Read the rest of this entry »

It’s incredibly easy to place your health on the back burner for the holiday season. Enormous amounts of goodies and food fly at you from every direction to tempt you into submission - and what the hell, we tend to think, it’s the holidays!

But it’s SO easy to gain the weight and sludge up your body functioning within only a couple of weeks, leaving you lethargic come the New Year and often too tired to tackle the challenge of getting back on track. This is why I get all giddy when I find a recipe for tasty, healthy treats. Not only can you indulge worry-free with these yummies, but you can feel good about sharing them with friends and family.

I found this delicious brownie recipe when watching the Racheal Ray Show a couple of years ago and my peeps went balistic over it (as long as you don’t tell the guys what’s in it - they seem to have a huge diversion to healthy food). It’s so popular that I’ve had requests for it (and to share the recipe) every year since!

Try these high in fiber Hannah Keeley’s Black Bean Brownies for yourself - I dare you to tell me that traditional brownies taste better!

Winter is awesome. Not every day, mind you; tonight on my way home, for instance, when the harsh Arctic winds whipped my face and stung my skin. But then again, it makes coming home that much sweeter. Add a steamin’ cup of hot chocolate, and we got pure heaven!

This recipe is from the Witches’ Almanac, issue 28, Spring 2009 to Spring 2010. I love chocolate and spice but haven’t tried anything like this before. When I do end up trying it, I’ll come back and leave my opinion in the comments. I hope you do, too!

Spicy Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

6 cups of milk
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
15 whole cardamons, crushed
12 whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks, halved
3/4 tsp whole coriander seeds
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation

In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, sugar and spices. Bring to a simmer but do not boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for 20 minutes. Add cocoa and vanilla. Return to heat and bring to a simmer, whisking until blended and foamy. Strain into an 8-cup measuring cup; discard spices. Pour into 6 mugs.

Here is another excellent `Local, Seasonal and Organic Food’ article from our Local Food Guru, Denise Lambert. Enjoy!

It’s nearly winter, and the only local food available right now is hothouse apples, brussels sprouts and carrots.

And nothing is better on a cold day than a big bowl of thick, creamy soup. Steph’s note: except maybe hot chocolate… stay tuned for an upcoming yummy, spicy hot chocolate recipe!

So, I thought I would share my secret to perfect creamy soup without using any cream! (And it’s easy to freeze.)

Since carrots are seasonal, I’ll use carrots as the example.

Denise’s yummy foolproof and almost fat free Ginger Carrot Soup

BASE INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
2 chopped Onions
Half a head of Garlic (or to taste)
Chicken or Vegetable Stock (enough to cover ingredients, 4 cups or so)
2 Apples
1 Potato

FLAVOUR
Fresh Ginger. This is also to taste. I use a root half the size of my hand.
4 cups chopped Carrots (or frozen works too)

TIP
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This smoothie was so good I had to have it TWICE this week. The vibrant, royal blue of this breakfast drink was actually hypnotizing. A few commuters nervously glanced my way yesterday morning when they caught me smiling and giggling into my stainless steel coffee mug.

King Kong’s Smoothie

Ingredients

1 med banana, fresh and peeled
1 cup frozen blueberries
½ cup yogurt, plain
1 cup soy beverage, vanilla
1 scoop Ruth’s Hemp protein powder with sprouted flax & maca
1 tbsp wheat bran

Preparation

Blend until smooth-ie. Enjoy this thick ambrosia!

Nutritional Information

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This breakfast protein drink will curl your tongue in impossible angles. The sweet nutty protein of the Brazilian nuts gives this tropical based smoothie the substance we need for a winter diet. Not to mention that it totally tickles the taste factor.

Brazilian Mango Banana Smoothie

Ingredients

1 medium banana, peeled
½ cup fresh mango, peeled and sliced
¼ Brazil nuts
1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
1 cup vanilla soy beverage
½ cup plain yogurt
1 serving Ruth’s hemp protein powder

Preparation

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

Nutritional Information

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The last few days here in Ontario were absolutely beautiful – it was like springtime! Today the temperature drops back down to normal temperatures and winter will be knocking at our doors once again.

To help prepare, I’ve tried this elimination diet friendly, allergen-free, vegetarian and vegan recipe full of protein and great taste. This time I chose the cashew butter rather than the almond spread, and used beef broth this time. Next time I’m going to mix it up a bit and would prefer it to be a little spicier.

It was a hit with the hubby and the crew at work. I’ve shared this recipe with several people already. But why believe me and my folks?

Check it out for yourself:

Warming Chickpea Stew

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable stock or water
1-2 onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 med sized yams, diced
2 cups additional vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, carrot…)
2 cups green kale, chopped
1 cup chickpea, cooked
½ cup brown rice, cooked
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ cup cashew or almond butter
2 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¼ cup tamari
1/8 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions: Read the rest of this entry »

Even though it’s turned a bit chilly these last few weeks, I still enjoy my morning protein smoothies after a good workout in the morning. Because the colder weather is drawing near, I want to bulk up a bit. So for this one I doubled my protein with almond spread. Did it ever add a little somethin’, somethin’ to it!

Try it and tell me you love it:

Banana Berry Almondy Smoothie

Prep time: 2 minutes
Blend time: 1.5 minutes
Ready in: 3.5 minutes
Serves: 1 or about 20 oz

Ingredients

1 medium banana, peeled
¾ cup Europe’s Best Berry Mix, frozen
1 tbsp PC’s Just Almonds almond butter
1 serving Ruth’s Hemp Protein Powder
½ cup yogurt, plain
1 cup vanilla soy beverage

Preparation

Toss ingredients into a blender, blend until smooth and enjoy.

Nutritional Information

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Happy Gobble Gobble Day, Canadian Live Lighter Readers! It’s a blessedly beautiful weekend up here in Canada, thanks to the Powers That Be. I hope you’ve all enjoyed lots of sun and good, soulful, loving food with friends and family. If you’re like me, then you celebrated LARGE and had all sorts of yummy foods not included in your healthy living plan.

This post will be very helpful to anyone who’s indulged too much this weekend. To recap on some of the substances that put a strain on our systems, Dr. Elson M Haas reminds us in “Staying Healthy through the Seasons” to:

Be careful with fried foods, processed and chemical foods, and drugs of all kinds, especially alcohol, or too much caffeine, as all these can be pollutants with which the liver must deal.”

But of course, “everything in moderation, including moderation.” I think this is why we have holidays: they are the perfect time, considering they are usually very social, to go a little crazy and stress your system a bit. “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” right? And I stressed my system wonderfully this weekend!

For these celebratory times, Dr. Haas has thoughtfully included a cleansing “Liver Flush” tonic recipe in his book. He suggests drinking it first thing in the morning. It’s very strong but surprisingly creamy and tasty, and I’ve tried (and liked!) both versions:

Liver Flush

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