Eat, Drink and Be Healthy!

It’s that time of year again, when you will start to over-indulge and then regret it two weeks later, when your clothes are feeling a little tighter than normal.

Over the Christmas period, around 175 million mince pies are bought (this does not account for the home-made ones), and if they were stacked on top of each other they would reach approximately 3,262 miles  - around 600 times higher than Everest!

On average people consume 6000-7000 calories, more than three times the recommended daily allowance, on Christmas Day alone, and gain around 2kg (5 lbs) over the Christmas period.  But you don’t have to be one of them.

Christmas is also a time for stress levels to rise and this can be very bad for blood sugar balance, tempting you to eat all the things you know you shouldn’t.

There are a number of ways you can remain healthy over the holiday period without missing out on a good time and some great food.

Shopping

·      Never shop when you are hungry.
·      Always take a list and stick to it.
·      Do not over-buy – the shops will be open again in a few days, you are not going to run out of anything – don’t panic!

     Snacks

·       Stock up on unsalted nuts and seeds (pumpkin, sunflower etc) instead of salted nuts.
·      Serve vegetable crudités with dips rather than heavy pastry-based canapés.

     Drinks

·      Make some great tasting non-alcoholic cocktails for a change – i.e. Virgin Marys, and for a treat (and extra zinc) add a raw oyster.
·      Drink wine spritzers instead of wine (half wine, half soda water)
·      Alternate alcoholic drinks with a glass of water to help reduce your alcohol intake (and stop you feeling so dehydrated the next day).
·      The benefits of red wine diminish after two glasses, so don’t kid yourself!
Christmas Lunch
·      Turkey – plan for size – nobody wants to be eating turkey for the next 2 weeks!  Turkey is rich in great protein and full of B vitamins, but remove the skin to cut down on fat.
·      Stuffing – make a nut-based rather than sausage-meat based stuffing – chestnuts are full of potassium and low in fat so a great base for a tasty stuffing.
·      Roast potatoes – cut your potatoes into larger chunks to absorb less fat, or use half sweet potatoes, which are full of antioxidants.  Swapping roast for baked potatoes would be even healthier.
·      Vegetables – include lots of veggies with lunch, preferably steamed ones to help fill everyone up with some great vitamins and fibre.
·      Christmas Pudding – very high in sugar so swap the brandy butter for some natural yoghurt instead.
·      Make you own mince-pies using filo pastry instead of shortcrust, and substitute some of the mincemeat with some dried cherries or cranberries and flaked almonds – see recipe below.

Just remember that your digestive system does not change just because it’s the festive season, so give it a helping hand by; eating a good breakfast each day,  keeping your blood sugar balanced by eating little and often, eating good protein at each meal and snack, and not over-doing the stimulants (alcohol, coffee etc).
And if you need a good pick-me-up on boxing day, a great way to start the day is with a good breakfast and a vegetable juice that will help to support your liver -ready to face another day!

Filo Mincepies

Makes 12

300g mincemeat

25g dried cherries

25g dried apricots, diced

50g flaked almonds

6 sheets filo pastry

30g unsalted butter

 1 tbsp olive oil

icing sugar for dusting

1.     Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas Mark 6.

2.     Mix together the mincemeat, cherries, chopped apricots and flaked almonds.

3.     Lay the 6 sheets of filo pastry on top of each other and cut into 8 squares.
Melt the butter and mix with the olive oil.

4.     Lay one square of pastry on the work surface and brush with a small amount of butter and oil.  Place another on top, at an angle and brush with butter.  Repeat until you have 4 squares on top of each other at different angles.  Gently press the square into the hole of a 12-hole bun tin.  Repeat with the remaining pastry squares – at this point you will have 12 spare.

5.     Spoon the mincement mixture into the pastry cases. 

6.     Brush the remaining squares of filo with the remaining butter and oil and scrunch each one and place on the top of the mincepies.

7.     Bake for 15-16 minutes, until golden. 

8.     Leave to cool on a cooling rack.  Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Edible Christmas Gift Ideas

It's getting to the time now, when I start to realise that I have no idea what to give friends as a small gift for Christmas.  I hate shopping at the best of times, and fighting my way through the rushing crowds of London is definitely not my idea of a fun day out, especially when it's so cold too.
So, what better way to spend the cold days than to be at home making wonderful food stuffs for friends instead.  This was all a bit of a revelation to me as, having been cooking for a living for years, I had never really got into the whole preserves thing, until now!  I've also found that people are so delighted to receive something that you have taken lots of time and care over, and obviously if you know what they love you can tailor the gift totally to their taste.
There are also so many options - jams, pickles, herb vinegars or oils, fruit liqueurs, chocolate truffles (always a favourite!) or even great cakes (one of which I will give a recipe for in the next blog).
The recipe here is for a Panforte di Siena, and for once I have used a recipe developed by somebody else - when it comes to all things Italian I figured Antonio Carluccio would know better than me!







Panforte di Siena
(Taken from 'Italia" by Antonio Carluccio, published by Quadrille Publishing Antonio Carluccio's Italia)


240g figs or pitted dates
50g honey
100g soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon, cardamom, cloves,
       nutmeg and black pepper
250g candied fruit, such as cherries, lemon and orange rind
50g blanched almonds
50g pine nuts
50g shelled hazelnuts, toasted
3-4 tbsp plain flour, sifted
50ml Vin Santo
icing sugar to dust

Heat the oven to 150C/Gas mark 2.  Line a shallow 25cm round cake tin, or 20cm square tin, with rice paper.
Mince the figs or dates and put them in a pan with enough water just to cover.  Add the honey, brown sugar and all the spices.  Cook gently for about 10 minutes, then tip into a bowl.  The mixture should be sticky but not wet.
Add the candied fruit and nuts and mix well, then add the flour and Vin Santo and mix to a sticky mass.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin.  sprinkle generously with icing sugar and serve cut into wedges.

If you like this you will also love his Salame di Noci - Chocolate and Walnut Salami with Candied Fruits (also in 'Italia').