Last week, I wrote about nutrient-dense foods that you could add to your holiday dinners. While this is late for Christmas, it is on time for New Year’s, so I would like to finish this post and wish you a happy holiday season. Like last time, I do recommend reading this article for Good Housekeeeping by Caroline Picard and Rachel Brown. Here are some more ideas that you can use going forward to diversify your nutrients in your holiday dinners. Even if eating “healthier” (more blog posts to come on that topic) isn’t a priority, it can be good to try something new to add to your holidays, instead of replacing things. In fact, all of these ideas are intended to be used to add to your dinners. They are not intended to replace things that you love.
Hummus and Pita
Like vegetable and fruit trays, these can be very cost-effective additions to holiday dinners. They are also filling, as pita and hummus are packed with nutrients. Hummus and pita are a good snack while the main meal is cooking. They can even be added to a charcuterie board.
Eating Plant-Based
There are a couple of people who act like eating plant-based is inherently healthier than eating meat, and I don’t want to promote that idea here. I am a vegetarian myself, and eating the way I do means that I still have to eat a balanced diet. I would not promote my way of eating as a way to lose weight, and I would actually tell anyone who lost a lot of weight while eating plant-based to go see a dietician because they may not be eating enough. With all of that said, even if you eat meat and animal byproducts, adding plant-based proteins to your diet can diversify your protein intake. You also may find that you like the taste of tofu or jackfruit or meat substitutes like Impossible brand foods.
Incorporating Fish
Keeping with that idea, incorporating fish into your meals can bring new nutrients to those meals. Last post, I talked about getting creative with salads. One of the ways you can do this is adding salmon.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this post and its two parts. I hope you all had a great holiday season. Let me know down below what you’ve added to your holiday meals!
