Healthy holiday recipes do exist, yes!

I promise I won’t ruin Christmas with this post- these are actually tasty options you can bring to all of your fabulous holiday parties and impress your friends/acquaintances. They are also easy to transport- will give tips on that in a bit.

I made these! A Chocolate Covered Katie Recipe. Very tasty. They were gone within 18 hours.

As someone who eats exclusively vegan and who also runs in many circles of individuals, having some sort of food thing to offer at gatherings is something I really try to do. (Though sometimes it just ends up being Zimt. I really don’t have time to cook most weekdays. Nor weekends. How fun is that.). Bringing something to gatherings takes pressure off of you, who may be thinking:

“Great- yet another festive gathering where I will gorge myself of celery sticks and baby carrots.”

And pressure off the host:

“I think she’ll like the celery sticks and baby carrots? But didn’t she mention something about a cupcake she had the other day that was amazing? Was she vegan a few days ago? Are my tiny sized vegetables going to seem like a complete lack of effort now? Who would pick celery over a cupcake that’s lunacy. She’ll think I’m incompetent.”

So- how awkward would that be? Not that you would think that, but the point is, this can all be avoided with a little extra planning. And here are some tips:

1. Make ahead of time- It’s 6:45. Your Tacky Christmas Sweater party starts at 7. You technically should have left the house twenty minutes ago. You were perusing Pinterest, pinning lots of cute things with plans to leave your laptop open to your boards so that your special someone can be informed as to what to purchase for you for Christmas.

But now your late. You’re hungry. And you know you’ll just be eating garnishes.

This wouldn’t have been an issue had you made something ahead of time! And it may not have to be- if you are reading this before disaster strikes. No worries, though, because we have some very handy recipes for you below. You can even freeze some of them.

2. Communicate with the host- At this point, everybody knows I’m vegan. Some try to make extra vegan things(thanks again, Mom), such as cutting up more celery (heh.), but a lot of them are too busy with life in general and now they have this party that they told everybody about and their preoccupied with getting everything they are familiar with out there and don’t want to worry about what healthy food to make you. Stop stressing them out! When you get the invitation, thank them, and say you will be bringing a dish with you that you lovingly prepared ahead of time. You are excited for them to try it because it has saffron in it and you know that that is their favourite. Maybe show up a little bit early to help set up. (Oh right in a perfect world.). Also, to be extra wonderful- ask if they know if anyone who will be there has any food allergies. You want your dish to be enjoyed by all, because maybe, just maybe, someone will think of that with respect to you for the next party. But don’t hold your breath.

3. Have containers- bain of my existence! As someone who has taken the whole “plastic will destroy you from the inside out” thing to heart, I totally understand how, literally, painful it can be to cart around glass jars filled with whatever provisions you need for the day. So don’t do it. They are heavy, especially for smaller people like myself and possibly yourself. Get better storage- I am working on it and life has never been better. In fact, what you may consider doing is getting some of those biodegradable take out containers (you can probably even purchase them at restaurants that use them- just ask for a few extra empty ones if you are ordering something (in which case you probably don’t have to worry about prepping and carting food around all day so let’s make this a more realistic example by saying the grocery store.)). Yes- just get a few of those biodegradable containers to put your treats in. You can even re-use them. I have and am still around!

4. Plan transportation- maybe that means a bus schedule, but I would say try to carpool. It is likely cold out and no matter how great your container situation, you will still need to carry more than a cute little handbag around. Having a ride to your destination means you won’t have to juggle your dish and whatever else you are bringing on a lurchy bus, while trying to keep your balance. (And hold your nose away from whatever that smell is…). If you have a car- well, life is rather golden, isn’t it? I would only caution against turning up the heat too high, depending upon what you are bringing- it may melt. Wear an extra tacky Christmas sweater. Also, make sure your car is at least a little bit clean- clean enough to have a spot available for your dish to sit. And clean enough to feel ok about transporting food in it, which you may be feeding to loved ones. I just realized that you may have thought “Plan transportation” referred to having a DD. I drink smoothies and tea so I don’t have that concern, but yes, by all means plan a safe ride home. If we are hanging together (and there is only one of you- I have a Smart Car), I can be that DD.

5. Be nice- nobody wants to be preached at at a party, no matter their state of consciousness. If people ask you about your healthy lifestyle, tell them about it- in a very positive way. Don’t ruin Hanukkah. They will likely ask you about the dish you brought, as it was so delicious. Tell them about it- why is it so great for so many reasons? It is healthy- this is why. It is free of animal products- you can just briefly mention this because people do tend to get a little uppity about this topic. It is made with organic ingredients- you just find they taste really good to you in this recipe. Perhaps they will taste really good in other recipes? Why not try it out? At the same time, be sure not to bash anything else that was brought. As in, don’t belittle anybody’s attempts to participate - that’s not good. =) Because that really won’t get us an invite back and you may end up embarrassing your family as it was a family friend’s Hanukah party you were at.

Pfewf! Onto some recipes, please!

Savory

Zesty Citrus Butternut Squash Dip A tasty looking one from Kathy at Lunch Box Bunch

Bean Free Raw Hummus How many times have I made this dip? Do I have some in the fridge right now? Many and yes. Thanks so much to Sara at Crazy Raw Vegan for this gem.

Battered (pan) Fried Chickpeas Have you tried baked or fried chickpeas yet? If not, now is the perfect opportunity! This recipe is from Angela at Oh She Glows - and may be best made if you only have a short distance to travel as you want the chickpeas to stay hot. Or, if you can reheat them at your host’s house. Or… if you are the host. In any case, I would say line your biodegradable container you got at the grocery store with some eco friendly paper towel to keep them from getting soggy.

Cucumber Sandwiches Make cute little cucumber sandwiches- using the raw vegan cream cheese recipe from Eating Whole! Suggestions- use apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar and use coconut nectar or coconut sugar instead of the agave. Also, cucumber sandwiches are so tasty- invite me to the party to which you bring them!

Dairy Free, Vegan Brie This is so incredibly impressive. Dairy-free brie. I may actually make this one. I don’t make a lot of food, unless absolutely necessary, but this. Did you know I used to have cheese parties, as in, my friend and I in grade six would go eat massive amounts of cheese together after school? If I can do it, you can do it- bye bye dairy cheese. Anyway- excellent recipe from Joni at Just The Food. So happy to have found this site!

Sweet

We need a whole slew of cookie recipes. Let’s start with these from Chocolate Covered Katie:

The Best Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies - I am going to make these later this afternoon if I have time, which I likely won’t, but I can live vicariously through you. Use Zimt- you can replace the sugar with coconut sugar and- voila!- a cane sugar free treat!

Peanut Butter Gingerbread Chocolate Chunk Cookies - My favourite things. All in one little cookie. Life is so great.

Snowball Cookies that Melt In Your Mouth- well, sign me up! I wonder if you could use coconut oil instead of the buttery spread? But hey, it’s Christmas.

Foodie Underground offers up a traditional German Christmas Cookie! Childproof, so yours truly could even make them =) Pfeffernüsse - you don’t have to say it. Just make and eat.

Fettle Vegan is upping the classy factor. Dark Chocolate Rosemary Cookies- so fancy! I would like to make these cookies. She even recommends chopping up a chocolate bar for them… maybe a coconut sugar sweetened one?

Ready in ten minutes?! Yes please! Music to my ears! And how festive looking- so beautiful, like snowballs. Thank you, Gourmandelle for the easy treats! If you want to make them more complicated, you can soak the almonds first. It removes some of the digestion inhibiting enzymes. Raw Vegan Rafaello Truffles.

Four Ingredient Pumpkin Pie - can life get any better? Thank you infinitely, again, Kathy at Lunch Box Bunch for this contribution to humanity!

Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes brings us Pumpkin Pie Bars - I just found this blog and I really like it!

And how about these- Raw Gingersnap Cookies - go check out This Rawesome Vegan Life. Emily creates delicious raw cookies without all the nuts. Yum yum!

Alrighty- I would say that this is a good list to start with. I will be posting a completely delicious and easy recipe for one of my favourite foods- popcorn- in a few days. Stay tuned… =)

xo,

emma