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This past Thanksgiving holiday went by in a blur! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is so simple, yet filled with great meaning. One of the things that I am thankful for is for raw food.

Now the actual holiday of Thanksgiving is over and that means that we are going into the Christmas season. Again with Christmas there are, and will be, food challenges to overcome if you want to stay healthy. And most of us have an interest in raw food because we want to be healthy and do something good for our bodies.

Here are some tips you can use now as you prepare for the Christmas season. I am sharing these tips with you now so that you can plan for, practice and prepare some healthy raw dishes for your loved ones to enjoy this Christmas season.

Raw Turkey Alternative – Instead of the traditional turkey or ham, consider a raw and vegetarianism alternative. You may be starting a brand new and totally healthy tradition. Here is a an idea for a raw main dish.

Drink Your Smoothies – If you are having overnight guests, introduce them to a healthy and raw breakfast- GREEN SMOOTHIES! And if you are traveling over the holidays, you can make your smoothies a day or two in advance and just take them. This is easier than packing your heavy duty blender.

Make Raw Sides- In this blog post from my friend Mary Anne she shares her raw version of a popular holiday dish called ambrosia. The main ingredient is raw sweet potatoes. I bought some raw sweet potatoes to try this recipe (right now I am out of raisins and coconut). I am so grateful for this recipe since sweet potatoes are both easy to find and cheap in my area during this time of the year and they are so good for you. However the cooked ones make me gag! So I wanted to find a way to use then raw other than juicing them.

Go Nuts – Fill your candy dishes with nuts. Or start a traditional Christmas activity of sharing stories while cracking and eating whole nuts. Yes, nuts are high in fats---good fats. So enjoy eating your nuts without guilt.

Get Fruity – Years ago a fresh orange was a prized gift on Christmas day. Thankfully we have many fresh fruits available to us all year round. Make a huge fresh fruit salad with all your favorite fresh fruits. You can also add fresh vegetable juices and previously frozen fruits too.

Toast with Kombucha – While alcohol may be a part of many people's holiday, it really does not have many health benefits.(But I am sure that you already knew that!) For a healthy and fizzy drink that is loaded with goodness use kombucha. Make or buy kombucha for a tasty and totally different holiday beverage.

Make Some Raw Desserts – Desserts are a part of most celebrations. Get some recipes for some raw cookies, raw candies, or experiment with some dried fruits, coconut oil, cacao nibs and nuts to make some healthy and delicious raw alternatives to the high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, white flour, animal fat laden traditional desserts.

If you make the decision and the effort to make this Christmas season more healthy, you will be right on track for a more healthy New Year and your healthy lifestyle.

Eat Well!

Mary Jane

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