Top 5 Healthy Christmas Recipes

As a massive foodie I love Christmas! I'm a huge believer in balance but even over the Christmas period I like to remain a bit healthier - because I absolutely love this lifestyle, love the food I eat, it makes me feel so much better than eating refined, sugary foods and the flavours of healthy plant-based foods tend to be so much more delicious and wonderful. It can be tricky to stick to a healthy diet over the festive period - with selection boxes everywhere you go, candied everything, mouth-watering desserts and an array of canapés but these top 5 healthy Christmas recipes are bound to keep your sweet-cravings at bay, your tummy satisfied and your tastebuds tantalised.
 *Remember though, there's no harm in the odd Cadburys celebration chocolate or M&S Mince Pie!*

--- I also thought this would be a great time to tell you that I've started a health blog! Dedicated to delicious plant-based recipes, tips & tricks to stay feeling happy and healthy, exercise advice and lots of other things like that! Head on over to Www.NourishingAmelia.com to check it out!----


1. Mince Pies by Madeleine Shaw
I love a good mince pie, and this is my first Christmas being dairy and gluten free so I was a little worried about how I'd cope without my warm mince pie! I found this recipe from Madeleine on a blog and it's perfect. Sweet, delicate, wonderful perfect and you won't feel sluggish or guilty after eating this Christmas treat. Note - if you don't have time to make your own filling Meridian do a brilliant pre-made vegan and refined sugar free mince pie filling.

Oreo Chocolate Cookies!

I love baking cakes, so I thought I'd branch out and make some cookies!

I saw a recipe for chocolate cookies on Tanya Burr's blog and thought they looked amazing! But I made little changes to make them more my own. Firstly I used less caster sugar than Tanya said, I used 250g rather than the suggested 300g and even then the cookies were incredibly sweet….so I'd recommend using a little less. People are far too obsessed with sugar!
I also used more than a 'little dash' of milk because I wanted to make sure they weren't dry.
Lastly instead of Daim bars I used an Oreo chocolate bar broken up, along with the plain chocolate and a bit of white chocolate too.

The recipe creates enough mixture for 10 large cookies. They're very yummy and I do want to make them again, but with less sugar and perhaps less cocoa powder so they're not so sickly sweet!

Goodbye Coffee, Hello Pukka!

I've always been a healthy person, but within the last year I've really started to think about what I'm eating and drinking, both for health reasons and just to feel generally better. 

I'm by no means someone who cuts out carbs, ALL sugar, counts calories, etc but I do watch what I'm eating. I don't like having much sugar, e.g. fizzy drinks, sweets, cakes, I make sure I have healthy snacks throughout the day instead of crisps or the like. 

But I realised a few months ago I was drinking coffee everyday, I wanted a healthier alternative…that's where Pukka comes in. 

Pukka is a brand that have created organic, herbal teas that are delicious and rich in health benefits.

If you'd said to be a year or two ago that I'd be drinking herbal teas everyday I wouldn't believe you, I never liked the thought of them, I imagined they'd taste bland or unexciting - I was wrong.

Every morning I have the Pukka cleanse tea, which is organic nettle, fennel and peppermint. It says this one purifies your skin and I have found my skin looks brighter since drinking it! Plus, it tastes amazing.

In the evenings I have either the Mint Green tea which is organic whole leaf tea with sweet spearmint, or Three Mint which is organic peppermint, spearmint and field mint, which is meant to refresh and soothe digestion. The latter is my personal favourite, as a lover of mint flavour it's perfect!

Pukka do a whole range of teas, with flavours such as cinnamon, cardamon and ginger, cinnamon and sweet vanilla, lemon, ginger and honey, peppermint and liquorice, rose, vanilla and camomile and many more amazing flavours, there's something for everyone!

If you're looking for a healthier hot drink, or just to try something new I can't recommend these enough.
You can see the whole range of Pukka teas here!