December Things: Healthy Holiday Recipes! (2024)

byChristine |Life| 12.01.23

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How is it already December? These past few months have just flown by, and here we are: it’s the holidays! Christmas is around the corner and it’s time for all the cozy holiday recipes. From soft gingerbread cookies to cozy mashed potato bowls, this list truly has it all. And I’m also sharing a bit of news for our JOL community, so be sure to read to the bottom! Happy holidays, friend!

December Things: Healthy Holiday Recipes! (1)

Table of Contents

  • Instagram Exclusive Recipe
  • Healthy Holiday Recipes
  • Gift Ideas for 2023
  • Life Lately
  • Big News (Something’s Coming Soon!)

Instagram Exclusive Recipe

This month’s Instagram exclusive recipe is my Holiday Chocolate Date Bark! It’s so easy to make and the perfect little sweet treat. I love keeping it in my freezer!

Healthy Holiday Recipes

1. Soft Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

2. Gingerbread Loaf Recipe

3. Vegan Loaded Mashed Potato Bowls

4. Honey Pear Ginger Cheesecake

5. Apple Blackberry Crumble Fruit Bake

6. Vegan Pecan Pie

6. Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gift Ideas for 2023

Do you guys like gift guides? I’ve wondered if I should create one as a separate (more detailed/links) guide. Let me know in the comments below or over on Instagram! For now, here are a few fun ideas:

The Best Cookbooks

I love cookbooks. There’s something about having a physical, beautifully styled book in hand that makes cooking so much more fun! Whether you’re looking for a new cookbook as a gift for a friend, family member, or even yourself, you can’t go wrong with these cookbooks.

Life-Changing Kitchen Gadgets

Toaster Oven + Air Fryer – Two in one! How amazing is that? Love this oven for quickly heating up small amounts of food.

December Things: Healthy Holiday Recipes! (9)December Things: Healthy Holiday Recipes! (10)

Salad Chopper Bowl – This one’s a game changer!

December Things: Healthy Holiday Recipes! (11)

Nespresso – Forever my favorite coffee/espresso/latte maker.

December Things: Healthy Holiday Recipes! (12)

Instant Pot Pro Crisp Pressure Cooker + Air Fryer – I have this one and am SO OBSESSED. It’s so nice to have both a pressure cooker and air fryer in one gadget. Highly recommend!

December Things: Healthy Holiday Recipes! (13)

Entertaining & Gatherings

My favorite thing this time of year? Having friends and family over and gathering around a meal! To celebrate the season, I’ve rounded up my favorite festive winter gathering gifts and kitchen items.

Life Lately

There’s so much going on this month! Like so many of you, this month is full of fun holiday activities, school things, parties, and lots and lots of food. I always tend to get overwhelmed this time of year, but I also LOVE the business and how fun it is!

Behind-the-scenes things going on this month:

  • The kids both have Christmas programs, and I’m SO pumped, haha. They’ve been practicing and it truly melts my heart. Atlas, my oldest, truly comes to life on stage and I’m excited for him to have this experience.
  • If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you may have seen that I shared in my stories that Nova (our 6 month old) had an allergic reaction to dairy. We’re now waiting to reintroduce it in a few months, but yesterday we tried peanuts and she did great! Since our middle kiddo has food allergies, we’re really wanting to introduce them and do our best to avoid any that we can by introducing early.
  • Along those lines, so many of you amazing mamas have reached out with your own stories about food allergies and have been so encouraging! I’m so grateful for this community.
  • I have so many fun and delicious recipes planned for the month of December, but I’m already looking ahead to January as that’s one of our biggest months here on Jar Of Lemons. Which leads me to my big news….

Something’s Coming Soon…

BIG NEWS: Ok, ready for the big news?? This January we’re launching a 4-Week Healthy Dinner Meal Plan!!

As in ALL of your healthy dinners planned for 4 weeks! Healthy, comforting, easy-to-make recipes that the entire family will love. Are you interested? More info coming over on Instagram (be sure to follow!) and SIGN UP HERE to get on the waitlist!

Reader Interactions

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Leave a Reply

5 Comments

  1. Elizabeth Flight says:

    I love everything on this list! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  2. Lindsay Howerton-Hastings says:

    I love this list! So many great kitchen items; my favorite gifts to give.

    Reply

  3. Ramona says:

    What great food ideas for all the food lovers. I would definitely love to try these wonderful and so delicious holiday recipes. Thanks for sharing all these superb ideas. Page bookmarked!

    Reply

  4. Amanda Dixon says:

    I just love all these festive ideas! That gingerbread loaf looks especially delicious with that beautiful glaze.

    Reply

  5. Gloria says:

    Lots of great ideas for all the foodies on your gift lists. I would be happy getting these under the tree. Love the list of delicious holiday recipes too.

    Reply

December Things: Healthy Holiday Recipes! (2024)

FAQs

How can I make holiday food healthier? ›

Healthier Eating Tips At Parties And Buffets
  1. Fill up beforehand.
  2. Eat slowly.
  3. Remember your 2 + 2.
  4. Go easy on fat.
  5. Portion Control.
  6. Limit your alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverage intake.
  7. Use healthier ingredients.
  8. Include wholegrains.

What are the top 10 Christmas dinner foods? ›

10 Most Popular Christmas Dishes
  • Roast beef. ...
  • Stuffing. ...
  • Poultry. ...
  • Sweet potato casserole. ...
  • Cranberry sauce. ...
  • Plum pudding. ...
  • Gingerbread cookies. ...
  • Eggnog. While some love to drink eggnog during Christmas, others would not mind missing it.
Dec 11, 2023

What are 5 Christmas foods? ›

Candy Cane can be hung as edible decorations.
  • White Christmas, a sweet slice made of copha and mixed fruit.
  • Cold ham and cold turkey.
  • Seafood and salads.
  • Roast chicken, ham and turkey.
  • Stuffing.
  • Christmas cake or Christmas pudding.
  • Custard.
  • Gingerbread in Christmas shapes.

What food is most eaten during Christmas? ›

Traditional Christmas dinner features turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables. Other types of poultry, roast beef, or ham, are also used. Pumpkin or apple pie, raisin pudding, Christmas pudding, or fruitcake are staples for dessert.

How to eat healthy Christmas? ›

When you face a spread of delicious holiday food, make healthy choices easier:
  1. Have a small plate of the foods you like best and then move away from the buffet table.
  2. Start with vegetables to take the edge off your appetite.
  3. Eat slowly. ...
  4. Avoid or limit alcohol.

What is the most eaten meat on Christmas? ›

1. Turkey. Let's admit it, a whole turkey is the best and most traditional meat for Christmas dinners. Originally gracing our plates in the 16th century, popular history tells of King Henry VIII being the first English monarch to have turkey for Christmas.

What is a Mexican Christmas dinner? ›

Mexican Christmas food spans enchiladas, pozole, tamales, and plenty of desserts. These are our favorite recipes for flavorful versions of those dishes from Mexican chefs, along with a few festive drinks. Start a tamale making tradition, warm up with pozole this winter, and enjoy enchiladas everyone will love.

What is the must have food for Christmas Day? ›

Our Top 22 Traditional Christmas Dishes
  • 01 of 23. Chef John's Honey-Glazed Ham. ...
  • 02 of 23. Mom's Scalloped Potatoes. ...
  • 03 of 23. Best Green Bean Casserole. ...
  • 04 of 23. Chef John's Roast Turkey and Gravy. ...
  • 05 of 23. Holiday Mashed Potatoes. ...
  • 06 of 23. Christmas Prime Rib. ...
  • 07 of 23. Quick and Easy Yorkshire Pudding. ...
  • 08 of 23. Beef Wellington.
Dec 18, 2023

What makes the best Christmas dinner? ›

Christmas dinner ideas
  • Easy Christmas roast duck with crispy potatoes and port gravy.
  • Gorgeous dinner of porchetta stuffed with wild mushrooms, celeriac mash and gravy.
  • Marinated & grilled salmon.
  • Wood-fired shellfish.
  • Pot roast pork.
  • Fabulous fish stew.
  • Sea bass in puff pastry.

What food holidays are in December? ›

Here's the Official December Food Holiday List / #FoodHolidays
  • December 1. National Fried Pie Day**
  • December 2. National Fritters Day. Feast of St. Bibiana.
  • December 3. National Peppermint Latte Day**
  • December 25. National Pumpkin Pie Day. National “Kiss the Cook” Day.

What is the most popular food in December? ›

Roast potatoes

Of all the trimmings, a roast just simply would not be a roast without the icon of side dishes, and you put a perfect roast potato firmly in the top spot – ahead of even the turkey.

What is traditional food for yule? ›

Sweets flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, or peppermint work out perfectly for Yule. Other classic sweet treats for Yule include traditional holiday cookies like shortbread, snowball, caraway, or ginger snaps. Pears and oranges are also a nice touch to a dessert at Yule.

What do Americans eat on Christmas Day? ›

Roast turkey and ham are popular for Christmas dinner throughout the country, but depending on the region, so are tamales, roast goose with red cabbage, crawfish jambalaya, roast pork or “seven fishes” seafood salad.

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