A dried fruit and nut tray should be on your list of holiday goodies.  At Christmas time we like to offer up some tasty treats that seem uniquely matched to the holiday season.  I’m talking about the treats that are part of the between meal munching, or treats that are found on the snack table at a holiday party.  There are tons of basic foods that should be included but that don’t scream “holidays” …  chips and dip, cheese and veggie trays, little hors doeuvers … and a few more of your personal favorites.  The snack goodie that only shows up over the Christmas holiday season for me, it is a beautifully arranged dried fruit and nut tray!  This is a holiday tradition that makes a nice addition to whatever else we might be grazing on.

I am no great cook, and I am super busy, so hours spent doing wonderful holiday baking just doesn’t fit into my schedule.  I’ll do the pecan pie because my recipe is so much healthier, and it doesn’t take much work to create it.  I’ll definitely cook the big Christmas dinner for the family.  But, when it comes to all the wonderful baked goodies, I’m not your go-to-gal!  A Dried Fruit and Nut Tray suits me just fine …. healthy, nutritious, colorful, festive … and … no cooking!!

The size of the tray and the variety of fruits and nuts is super flexible so it fits just about any occasion.  My favorite dried fruits are apricots, figs, dates, pears, mangos, apples and a few dried cranberries for color.  The nut options are great too  … pistachios (in the shell), roasted almonds, roasted cashews, salted mixed nuts, walnuts, pecans and maybe a few pine nuts sprinkled around.  You don’t need to use them all, just pick a few different fruits and 3 or 4 nut options, arrange them nicely on a holiday tray, and you are good!

There are many health benefits for each variety of dried fruit.  Collectively, they all:
●  are rich in fiber which is good for intestinal health and healthy cholesterol
●  are mineral dense which supports healthy function throughout the body
●  are full of antioxidants to help support immune function and cellular health.

There are many health benefits for each variety of nut.  Collectively, they all:
●  are high in protein and we know that is good for muscle health and is also is a major factor in cellular function everywhere in the body
●  contain predominately unsaturated fats which are really great for supporting healthy cholesterol.
●  are rich in plant sterols also for healthy cholesterol

Another nice way to include dried fruits and nuts is in a small cookie or candy box (with compartments for 4 or 6 items) as a simple “from the kitchen” gift item.  It is easy to create, and tied with a colorful ribbon, or even a piece of twine with a sprig of greenery, and you have a healthy, thoughtful and appreciated little gift.  This is also a great idea for an “extra” little gift, just in case the neighbors come over with a batch of their Christmas cookies or a bottle of wine.  Everyone will feel appreciated, and you’ll be prepared!  Healthy Holiday Cheer!!  Nice!

Additional Resource:

Candy Boxes with Compartment Inserts 

We’re happy to announce the arrival of the Blogger Holiday Recipe E-Book featuring delicious dishes made with select Wild Oats products. You’ll find scrumptious traditional and untraditional dishes to add to your festivities! We’ll be posting a link to it in a next few days with a chance to win! Make sure to check out the Blogger Holiday Recipe E-Book launching soon!

My father makes macaroni and cheese (or me if I’m hosting) from scratch for the Christmas holiday meal, using the recipe from Cook’s Illustrated The New Best Recipe cookbook.

The New Best Recipe is one our family’s all-time favorite cookbooks because, being the science geeks that we are, we love that the authors explain in great detail the process they go through to test each recipe, and how the “best” recipe is selected from all the different variations attempted.

In fact, I received this cookbook as a Christmas gift from my father after we all fell in love with their macaroni and cheese recipe the year before. I use the cookbook also to prepare other holiday meals too- the turkey recipe is stellar. Sometimes, because the mac and cheese is so good, we serve it on New Years Eve too!

“Best” according to them does not mean the healthiest recipe though! And, if you have family members, like we do, that have medical conditions that require diet restrictions, it’s polite to accommodate their health needs as to not exclude them from the holiday meal celebration. Therefore, we make my own healthier variation of this mac and cheese that still tastes great!

4 best homemade mac and cheese make-over tips:

1. Use as many organic ingredients as possible, especially the dairy ingredients. This may even make it taste better because I find that organic products have more flavor in general.

2. Use whole grain bread for the bread crumb topping and whole grain pasta instead of white pasta. This bumps up the fiber content and gives the dish an earthy body.

3. Add veggies like peas or broccoli (the cookbook contains a variation with peas and ham).

4. Use 2% milk and reduced fat cheese instead of whole milk and whole fat cheese. Don’t cut back on the quantities of the milk and cheese though because this will change the dish entirely and will have negative effects on the outcome.

The young children (and adults alike!) in my family look forward to eating this mac and cheese every Christmas and usually don’t want to eat anything else all night, so it’s important to add a little bit of green. I do this by adding the peas or broccoli.

With these healthier changes, this is a better “best” recipe in my book!

Happy holidays!

Do you have a holiday dish make-over recipe? Please share your healthy variations to your family’s favorite meals by commenting on this post.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been amused by the number of organizations and companies that are promoting products and practices as beyond organic. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve looked into many of those operations. And, quite honestly, they aren’t.

Different than organic? Yes. Focusing on important items that aren’t fully addressed by the organic standards? In some instances, yes. But I didn’t find one single product or program that could claim to meet all of the criteria of organic agriculture, plus something extra.

Organic isn’t perfect. But it is difficult. The farmers who roll up their sleeves and do the hard work of producing crops and livestock under the organic regulations day-in and day-out deserve a lot of credit for bringing to the market great tasting, nutritious food grown with respect for nature.

Other producers may focus on important aspects like local production and direct marketing. Those are important. But they aren’t beyond.

Here are some more of the Mighty Micronutrients your body requires to keep all systems in harmony and you at the top of your game, physically, mentally and emotionally (yes, the benefits you get from these can also serve to elevate your mood and general sense of well-being, just as not getting enough can put you into a funk).

Vitamin K

Where it’s found: Cabbage, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, watercress, green beans and peas, whole wheat, oats.  (Vitamin K2 is also found in natto, a fermented food made from soybeans, and other fermented commodities.)

Why it’s mighty: This fat-soluble, often “forgotten vitamin,” as I noted a few months ago, helps protect your heart, benefits your brain and helps regulate blood-sugar levels.

But it’s especially important for bone health, research from Japan having shown that vitamin K can both reverse bone loss and increase bone density (and is a far safer way of doing that than the osteoporosis drugs advertised on TV). It also is essential to the clotting of blood and may help prevent hardening of the arteries and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, Vitamin K offers protection against various cancers (and is used in some anti-cancer therapies), and K2, which is found in natto, has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Vitamin B12

Where it’s found: Meat, poultry, eggs, shellfish and milk.

Why it’s mighty: Vitamin B12 helps support the central nervous system and assists in red blood-cell production, Because strict vegetarians are not likely to get enough from dietary sources, they may need to take a B12 supplement (or better yet, a B complex supplement that provides other B vitamins as well, including B1, or thiamin, and B2, or riboflavin, which needs to be replenished daily.) B12 deficiencies can result in symptoms ranging from numbness and tingling of the limbs to dementia.

Phosphorous

Where it’s found: Dairy products, poultry, beef, fish (salmon, halibut) and eggs.

Why it’s mighty:  Phosphorous is an essential component of our bones and teeth and plays a vital role in our ability to store energy. Its functions also include helping red blood cells to deliver oxygen, regulating our heartbeat, helping our muscles and kidneys to work properly, and storing and transmitting genetic information.

Selenium

Where it’s found: Brazil nuts, pasta, canned tuna,cod, eggs, bread and meat.

Why it’s mighty: Needed by the body only in very small amounts, selenium produces antioxidant enzymes that help to prevent damage from free radicals and are also believed to support immune systems and thyroid functions. Studies have also indicated selenium may reduce the risk of prostate, lung, colorectal and skin cancer, as well as rheumatoid arthritis, and may offer protection against cognitive decline in the elderly.

It’s obvious that the food we eat can do a lot more than just fill us up.

And that cliché “you are what you eat” is truer than you ever imagined.