Christmas is notoriously a time to indulge, but don’t let this be the green light to overindulge! You can still enjoy all the festivities of the season and get through the Christmas period without too much impact on your health and waistline.

Give the recipes below a try.

Chocolate Protein Truffles.

• 1/3 C almond meal (ground almonds)
• 1/3 C of cacao/cocoa powder
• 1/3 C protein powder
• 2 Tb of peanut butter
• ½ C figs
• 1/3 C of water
• 100g roasted sesame seeds
• 50g Dark choc mixed with
• 2 tsp. coconut oil for drizzling Place ingredients in a food processor and blend to smooth. Shape into small balls. Roll into sesame seeds. Melt dark choc and coconut oil in dish in microwave for approx. 30 seconds then stir to smooth. Drizzle over balls. Store in fridge or freezer

Chickens stuffing.

• 200g flaked almonds
• 150g ricotta cheese, left to drain overnight in a sieve, refrigerated
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
• 200g watercress leaves (or rocket), chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed to a paste with salt Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Toast the almonds on a baking tray until golden, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool then chop and add to the other stuffing ingredients. Mix well, season with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, then refrigerate

Natural Mint Sauce.

• bunch of mint (the standard bunch sold at the stores)
• ¼ cup boiling water
• ¼ cup white vinegar

Wash mint and tear off leaves and put in a mini blender and blend. Transfer leaves to a bowl and pour boiling water over mint leaves. Let them soak for 10 minutes Add the white vinegar Stir and place into an air tight jar in fridge until serving time. Shake before serving.

Christmas Pudding.

• 1½ whole oranges roughly chopped (include the skin)
• 300g pitted dates
• 200g pitted prunes
• ⅓ cup coconut oil
• 1¼ cups water
• 1½ cups dried currants
• 200g organic dried apricots, finely chopped +100g pitted prunes, roughly chopped +4 eggs, lightly beaten+
• 350g almond meal+
• 1 tsp vanilla bean powder or paste
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• ¼ tsp clove
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 190C.Grease muffin pans. Combine dates, prunes (200g), orange and water into a saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 10mins or until the water has evaporated and the dates have formed a thick paste (the oranges will still be intact, this is ok).

Stir through the coconut oil and set aside to cool. Place the cooled date mix into a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and add chopped apricots and prunes (100g), currants, almond meal, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg and the eggs and mix well. Pour the mixture into your prepared muffn tins. Place the muffin tins into a deep baking tray (I use a roasting tray), then pour in hot water until it reaches ½ to¾ of the way up the roasting tray.Cover the tray and pudding with a layer of baking paper and foil. Make sure it is completely sealed so no steam can escape. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Carefully remove the tray from the oven, but be careful there is very hot water in the tray! Remove the foil and paper away from yourself to ensure you don’t get burnt by the steam escaping. Loosen the edges of the pudding with a knife and turn onto a serving plate.Serve with custard.

Brandy Custard.

• 1 ½ cups milk (I used almond)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract +1 tablespoon coconut oil +2 free range eggs
• 2 free range egg yolks
• 4 teaspoons starch (tapioca, arrowroot or cornflour would work)
• 2 tablespoons brandy

Heat the milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract and coconut oil in the saucepan until boiling then remove from the heat. In the medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks with the starch until smooth. Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk as you go. You have to be careful not to curdle the eggs so go slow. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on a really low heat. Continue to stir until the mixture has thickened. Just before taking off the heat, stir through the brandy.

Hope you all enjoy these recipes, and have a Safe and Happy Christmas. Heather