In today’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we give you ideas of how you can have an additive-free Christmas.

Yep, we get it, it’s usually acceptable that Christmas Day is the one day of the year where you can eat whatever you want.  However, it is totally possible to have an additive-free Christmas just like us.

To save yourself and your kids from feeling bloated, over-emotional or simply like you are going to be sick because of all the additives you may have eaten on Christmas Day, then follow our simple and easy tips and feel so much better for it.

  1. PRE-ORDER 

Ring around your local butchers as soon as possible so that you can grab a nitrate-free ham.  These sell out fast, so it always pays to order this as early as you can so that you don’t miss out.

Also, hunt around and pre-order a free-range organic turkey/chicken/pork if this is something you are going to be serving.

  1. BREAKFAST

Because we have a big lunch, we don’t eat too much for breakfast.  We mainly stick to things like:

  • Pancakes (home-made)
  • Fresh fruit (get organic if your budget will allow – a nice Christmas treat)

Pancakes

If you are away camping this Christmas, you can still have your pancakes.  Simply pre-mix all your dry ingredients to take away with you so that all you need to do on the day is add milk, whisk up and you have the batter ready to cook.

Maple Syrup

Make sure you get 100% pure maple syrup.  There are a few types at the supermarket, you don’t want the one that is labelled as ‘flavoured syrup’ as this is the fake stuff filled with additives.

  1. SNACKS

Some of our favourite Christmas snacks are:

  • Chocolate coated nuts
  • Gems (kind of like smarties)
  • Gingerbread house
  • Dips
  • Fresh fruit

Chocolate Covered Nuts

Hunt around for organic chocolate covered nuts.  You will be able to find them at your local health food store or online.  We love the Organic Times brand.

Gems

Gems are your additive-free version of smarties or M&M’s and are great to have in a little bowl for people to nibble on or to sprinkle on top of home-made ice-cream or cakes.  You can get them from your local health food store.  We love the Organic Times brand.

Gingerbread Houses

Gingerbread houses are not only fun to make with your kids, but the additive-free versions are yummy.  We love the Gingerbread Folk brand which you can get direct online from here.

Dips and Crackers

These are great to have around on your table for morning tea or nibbles throughout the day.  We’ve got some great home-made dip recipes on our website which are so easy to make, such as:

If making biscuits/crackers is not for you then you can go to your store and get the following additive-free crackers (disclaimer: these are additive-free, that we are aware of, as at today’s date 30/11/18), so always best to check the ingredients:

  • Tuckers Natural
  • Be Finest Crackers

Be aware that the ones with dried fruit are likely to have sulphur dioxide in them, which you want to avoid.

  1. DRINKS

You will need to hunt around the supermarket, but you will be able to find preservative-free drinks like plain lemonade, just check the ingredient panels for ones without preservatives.

You can also make up some sparkling water with some Roar Cordial or flavour water with essential oils.  Head here to check out our preservative-free drink recipes.

For alcoholic beverages, have a look around and see what you can find that is additive and preservative-free, especially with drinks like wine.

  1. ENTRÉE

You’re totally going to think this is weird, but we love bananas wrapped in bacon!  We promise it’s delicious!

Chop your firm bananas and bacon rashers up into slivers and then wrap the bananas in the bacon with a toothpick to hold them together and fry them in the BBQ.

We dare you to give it a try?

You can also do this with prawns wrapped in slivers of bacon too. 

  1. LUNCH

Turkey | Chicken | Stuffing

Even though it’s hot in Australia, a traditional Christmas lunch works a treat.  We usually always go for a turkey or chicken (organic and additive-free) regardless of whether it’s hot or not.  Be careful when buying already stuffed turkeys, whether rolled or whole, as they are likely to contain lots of MSG. It’s really cheap and easy to make your own stuffing:

  • Chopped onion
  • Dried mixed herbs
  • Breadcrumbs (preservative-free or fresh)
  • 1 tbsp. of butter
  • A splash of oil

Mix until it binds together and that’s it!  So easy and no MSG in sight!

Utilising Your BBQ

If you have one, cook your lunch in the BBQ to keep the heat out of the house as well as the smell.  You can cook the turkey or chicken in a frypan or wok on the BBQ, with the veggies also in the pan, using a pan such as a Solidteknics pan.

Gravy

Once your meat is cooked, you can transfer the pan to your stovetop and make gravy with the pan juices.  We have a great gravy recipe here.

Cranberry Sauce 

You can easily make your own as it’s just like making jam with cranberries, sugar and a bit of water.  If making it is not for you then as of today’s date (30/11/18) we know that Woolworths stock their own branded cranberry sauce that is ok additive wise.  However, ensure you check the ingredients.

Glazed Ham

A lot of pre-bought glazed hams have a lot of colours or additives on them.  It is really easy to make your own using 100% pure maple syrup and pineapple juice.  You’ll be able to find additive-free glaze recipes with a quick Google search.

Salads

They are great plate fillers and we have a heap of options on our website which you can find here.

  1. GET EVERYONE INVOLVED 

If you are hosting Christmas at your house, then to help take the load off you, get everyone to bring a dish.

  1. DESSERTS

We love the following for Christmas desserts:

If you need cream, use pure cream instead of thickened cream.  As the thickened cream has an emulsifier in it whereas pure cream is just that, which you can whip up to your desired consistency.

  1. BE PREPARED

The key to an easy Christmas additive-free is being prepared.  Make in advance what you can and either refrigerate or freeze it and defrost the day before.

Because Christmas day this year falls on a Tuesday, you can prepare most of your menu on the weekend prior.

See if you can get help from your family to prep for the day.

If you’re spending Christmas Day elsewhere, where you don’t know what’s going to be in the food, a simple solution is to take your own food, especially things like snacks.

We get it, you don’t want to offend anyone so there will be things you may just have to deal with, but control the things you can.

  1. DETOX 

If you or the kids just couldn’t avoid the additives and preservatives this Christmas, then have an Epsom salt and essential oils bath to detox your body of the toxins.

We hope you have gotten some great ideas of how you can have a well-prepared and easy additive-free Christmas.

The most important thing is to enjoy it and #dontstressit 

Share with us what you have planned for Christmas in our Facebook Groups and don’t forget to leave us a review as we love reading them.

Jo and Tracey x

Links and Resources