Five healthy-ish Christmas snacks

It's no secret we all like to overindulge a little too much at Christmas time, using "ah why the hell not, it's Christmas" as an excuse for absolutely everything plausible. 'Tis the season to pile on the pounds and all that. Heck, I must have made my way through two tubs of Celebrations already and I can't seem to stop myself. The only trouble is, my body hates me for it. I wouldn't say I'm a super health freak but I do tend to sway towards the fruit and veg options now I'm used to ditching the sugar. If I flood my inners with the refined stuff I'm forever bloated, have terrible heartburn and my skin breaks out almost immediately. Which means I like to find food I can enjoy and have fun with, with no after effects.

Seen as it's Christmas - and Christmas is a time to get creative and bring out your inner juvenile excitement - I had an itch to gather some inspiration for the healthy alternatives. I ended up getting wrapped up in craft-like nutritious goodness that would more than likely be a thrilling process for a 5 year old (that's what working with kids does to you) but I loved making them and think because they're so full of character, it tempts you and the young ones to eat your five a day. The great thing is there's no fancy recipe, all you need is some local produce, fresh ingredients, an imaginative mind and a steady hand and you're good to go.

Banana snowman |

What you'll need:

bananas

sliced apple

red grapes

twiglets

raisins

carrot

wooden skewers/bamboo sticks

Slice three pieces of banana and place them outer edge first onto the stick, slide half an apple slice and a red grape on top of the formed body to create a hat, roll raisins up into a tiny ball shape and use for eyes and buttons, chop a teeny bit of carrot into a triangle shape for the nose, place a mini twiglet in each side for the arms and there you have it, a simple snowman that looks good enough to eat and IS good enough to eat. Make as many as you like as it's such a cheap way to prepare snacks.

Fruity candy cane |

What you'll need:

strawberries

banana

and that's it

The easiest of the five yet in my opinion, the prettiest. Slicing both the bananas and strawberries as big or small as you like and then connecting them chronologically forms a candy cane shape without that sugar filled stickiness.

Grinch kebabs |

What you'll need:

green grapes

strawberries

bananas

mini marshmallows

cocktail sticks

striped straws

I'm sure you've all heard of the familiar Grinch representative fruity bites. They seem to pop up all over the place come December and I've always wanted to give them a go myself. I've put my own twist on the combo by adding a body with some Poundland straws (classy, ey). Pierce the grape, the middle of the sliced banana, and the ended strawberry; connect the three and add a mini marshmallow on top for the bobble. So ordinary yet so sumptuous. 

Strawberry Santa |

What you'll need:

a punnet of strawberries

cream cheese (anything else of choice)

raisins/choc chips

Another by popular demand. Aldi are even selling the Santa based strawberry treats at the moment and they're most definitely better than my attempt. I found these the trickiest, purely because I had no clue what to use for the inner. Tried ice cream, didn't work; tried normal cream, didn't work, and I didn't have anything else left in the house. In the end I went for low fat cream cheese as a strawberry and cheese mix is always delicious. Cutting the strawberries in half, I spooned the cheese into the middle, placed the other half on top and *tried* to form buttons and a bobble (but gave up after the first), then parted some more raisins to create the eyes. You'd be much better using whipped cream and a squeezy tube to give it a more realistic edge (even if it kinda defeats the point of healthy).

Avocado Christmas trees |

What you'll need:

wholemeal pitta bread

guacamole

a large tomato

twiglets

Stepping away from fruit now, I went with some of my favourite food choices; guacamole and wholemeal pitta bread. I personally prefer homemade guacamole as I've just about grasped the recipe but ready made would work too. Dividing the bread into triangle parts (as many as suits you), spread the guacamole on the entire piece, top with finely cut tomato to portray the tinsel/bauble decoration and use a twiglet/pretzel stick for the bottom. They don't have to be perfect but they're damn delicious.

Have you made anything fancy (and healthy) this Christmas?

Bridie x