Healthy Holiday Meals: 3 Delicious Recipes For a Festive and Healthy Winter
The holidays are a time to indulge, but too much indulgence can leave us feeling bloated, tired and not our best selves. These delicious and healthy holiday meals are a treat for the senses, but are also surprisingly healthy and bursting with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals to support your health and your immunity. Indulge in these festive recipes with zero guilt, and all of the flavor.
BREAKFAST: White Peppermint Smoothie
It’s never too early for ice cream, and this holiday-inspired breakfast shake will give your favorite milkshake a run for its money.
A burst of festive peppermint and coconut gives this smoothie a sinfully indulgent flavor, but it is actually low on the glycemic index and very high in healthy fats (including omega-3 fats and polyunsaturated fats) that will leave you glowing and your immune system strong. It’s the perfect way to start a full day of healthy holiday meals.
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup frozen cauliflower
1 banana, frozen
1 scoop of your favorite vanilla-flavored, plant-based protein powder
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy. Enjoy!
LUNCH: Sweet Potato Casserole
This casserole tastes (and smells) like a festive holiday pie, but this warm and cozy lunch is anything but unhealthy.
Sweet potatoes provide more than a day’s worth of vitamin A (in the form of beta carotene), which boosts your immune system and has potent anti-aging, energy-boosting benefits. Toasted nuts provide immune system-activating trace minerals and healthy fats. And festive cinnamon spice helps your body to better moderate its blood sugar levels.
CASSEROLE
5 or 6 medium-sized sweet potatoes
1/3 coconut sugar (coconut sugar’s glycemic index is nearly half that of regular sugar)
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
CASSEROLE TOPPING
1 cup raw pecans, chopped
1/2 cup coconut sugar
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 tsp cinnamon
Cook the sweet potatoes by boiling them until soft. Let the potatoes cool, then peel them and cut them into ½-inch-thick pieces.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is preheating, use some coconut oil to grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Combine the sweet potatoes with the rest of the casserole ingredients. Stir vigorously, breaking and mashing up the sweet potatoes as you do so. Pour into your baking dish.
In another mixing bowl, mix the topping ingredients together. Sprinkle across the sweet potato mixture.
Place the dish in your oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the casserole’s toppings start to turn a golden brown.
DINNER: Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
This is the perfect way to use up the leftover turkey from your holiday feast. This quick and easy dinner dish reduces food waste and maximizes flavor. It’s also very, very high in numerous minerals and compounds that help your body to better respond to illness (there’s a reason soup is the go-to home remedy for moms around the world!). When it comes to healthy holiday meals, we guarantee you won’t have any leftovers from this dish!
Your leftover turkey (including the carcass!)
10 cups of salt-free vegetable stock
7 medium-sized carrots, sliced
5 stalks of celery, diced
2 yellow or white onions, diced
1 14.5-oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp salt
4 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried garlic powder
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
1/2 pound of quinoa noodles (can also use brown rice noodles or a similar healthy, whole-grain noodle)
In a big stockpot, place your turkey and pour in the soup stock and half of the carrots, celery and onion. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let it cook for 30-60 minutes. This not only gets all the flavor, juices and meat out of the turkey bones, but it also releases collagen and other minerals in the turkey (you’re essentially making your own version of healthy, immunity-enhancing bone broth!).
Allow the soup to cool. Remove everything but the broth (including the vegetables). If you used a turkey carcass, pick off all the meat.
Add the other half of the raw veggies back to the pot, as well as the tomatoes, turkey meat (no bones) and the salt and seasoning. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the noodles and cook according to the noodles’ packaged instructions. Enjoy!
Note: The first round of vegetables was to add flavor (and nutrients) to the broth. Use them later as a quick and easy side dish.
More Ways to Support Your Health
Your diet is just one piece in your immune system’s wellness puzzle. Thymic proteins are another piece. It is the job of these thymic proteins to train the body’s immune system to effectively seek and identify diseased cells. Unfortunately, your levels of thymic proteins fall as you get older. BioPro-Plus 500 offers a full dose of thymic proteins to help restore your body’s natural levels. Maximize your health by combining the above meals with healthy supplements!
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