Christmas is a magical time of the year when we celebrate with our families and friends with festive foods and snacks. It is the season for everyone to come together to share traditions and merry feelings. Christmas is also a wonderful opportunity to explore various flavours that bring in warmth, joy and comfort.
Starting with Christmas morning breakfast, consider spicing up porridge with Christmas flavours such as cinnamon and nutmeg and enjoy it with a peppermint hot chocolate or making fun Santa pancakes with whipped cream and fruit. For lunch and dinner, make it fun by creating Christmas-tree themed pizzas, sandwiches and wraps, or perhaps make Rudolph patties with a cherry tomato as its button nose, or creatively design a Christmas tree with pesto pasta. Christmas is not just about the main meals, there also Christmas snacks too! Organise fruits such as sliced bananas and strawberries into a candy cane shape, Christmas tree or a wreath shape to make it fun.
Here are 12 simple and easy festive serving and plating ideas to turn any meal into a merry delight.
Festive Breakfast or mid-meal ideas
Christmas Egg in a hole
This is a fun Christmas take on Toad in a hole, the tradition where there is a cooked egg in the hole cut out of a piece of bread. Let’s stick with the egg and bread, but change the shape of the hole using Christmas cookie cutters, such as a tree. Eggs are protein packed with other nutrients such as Selenium (the happy nutrient), and Vitamin A, B2, B5, B12, D and Calcium. Eggs are a great way to start off in the morning being a high-quality protein to help maintain and repair muscle tissues.
For the bread, choose wholegrain bread which is a great source of fibre and contains other good vitamins and minerals. Whole grain foods are important for your overall health and being a great source of fibre, it can help with digestive health by regulating the bowel movements. Fibre also supports heart health by lowering cholesterol levels.
For added variations, mix spring onions and sliced red capsicum to incorporate Christmas colours into the eggs.
Reindeer Porridge
Porridge can be a great way to start the day, no matter if it is warm or cold outside. It is also a healthy start as oats are so good for us! Oats are a whole grain food, full of vitamins and minerals, including manganese, copper, phosphorous, Zinc and so many more!
This is such a simple and adorable little reindeer porridge or oatmeal. There are the nutritious benefits of the oats, with milk which is a good source of calcium and protein. Use a raspberry or strawberry as a nose, blueberries at the eyes and slice strawberries for the antlers. Get creative and add a sprinkle of cinnamon or cocoa powder for some cheeks too.
Santa Pancakes!
Pancakes with sliced bananas for Santas beard, and raspberries or strawberries for his hat. Whipped cream and ice cream are great for a dessert but for a healthier alternative, swap the whipped cream with Greek Yoghurt to make up the moustache, white hair and top of the Santa hat. Then simply add two small dark chocolate chips or blueberries for eyes and another raspberry or strawberry for Santa’s nose.
Pancakes are great way to start of the morning and it provides energy and protein. Pancakes are typically made of wholewheat flour, a complex carbohydrate that offers a slow release of energy to fuel the morning and keep you full for longer. Pancakes are also made of egg and milk, both providing protein which assist in building and repairing tissues.
Festive Fruit snack ideas
Strawberry & Banana Candy Canes
Serving strawberries and bananas is a great snack, so why not get Christmassy and slice them up and serve them in a candy cane shape.
Not a fan of strawberries or bananas? Candy canes can come in different colours, any fruit that can be sliced such as kiwi, oranges, pineapple, watermelon can be used instead.
Strawberries are high in vitamin C, which is a vitamin that helps boost the immune system and protects the body from infections. It may reduce the duration and severity of common colds. Bananas are a good source of potassium which is essential for regulating heart health and electrolyte balance in the body.
Kiwi Christmas trees and wreaths
Kiwi fruit is great source of vitamin C and fibre, and its green colour makes it a versatile fruit for Christmas. Slice or dice into a Christmas tree or wreath, and top with oranges, mandarins or strawberries. Typically, Kiwi Fruits are available in Autumn and Winter in Australia, however some fruit stores sell imported Kiwi fruits making it available in the festive season. Or use green grapes or cucumber slices as an alternative.
Festive light meal ideas
Christmas Tree Pizzas!
Not all pizzas need to be round, the dough can alter into different shaped and sizes such as turning it into a Christmas tree. Use basil leaves to provide the vibrant green colour and top it off with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese as the baubles. Cherry tomatoes are high in fibre, vitamin A and vitamin C. Vitamin A is an important nutrient that supports vision health, supports the immune system and skin health! Mozzarella cheese is a good source of calcium, a nutrient that the body needs to build and maintain healthy strong bones. Basil leaves are packed with various nutrients such as vitamin K, vitamin A and vitamin C. Vitamin K supports bone, cognitive and heart health and assists in blood clotting.
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Christmas tree Sandwiches & wraps
Take a sandwich to the next level this Christmas. Create a Christmas tree centre piece for the table by stacking lettuce, bread cut into star shapes and prosciutto, topping it off with a star-shaped cheese. If that is too difficult, stack some wraps with your favourite filling to create a 3D Christmas tree. For vibrant colours and added nutrition, you can use lettuce as a base, herbs as a garnish along the wrap-tree and pomegranate arils as the baubles, and a star at the top using red capsicum.
Christmas wreath salad
Christmas Wreaths are a classic holiday decoration, a traditional custom of brining evergreens home in winter is believed to have begun in Europe in the 16th century. There are so many ways to bring evergreens to the table this Christmas. Using a large round platter or plate, start with a mixture of lettuce and spinach leaves to create a big circle of leaves, leaving a hole in the middle. Place toppings all around the leave wreath and spread well for colour variety. Try sliced red or purple onions, cubes of feta and other cheese, cherry tomatoes and different coloured olives. Olives are considered to be a fruit, part of the same family as stone fruits.Â
Olives contain fibre, healthy fats and are nutritious with their high vitamin E and antioxidant content, as well as other minerals. Black olives are a good source of iron, so try mix up the colours with different types of olives too. Other savoury topping ideas are gherkins, sliced red or yellow capsicum and sliced boiled egg.
Savory Christmas ornaments
Turn mini savoury pizzas into Christmas ornaments. This is fun and tasty to eat, but also super entertaining to prepare – get the kids involved to help decorate.
Using wholegrain small wraps as the base and spread cream cheese or cottage cheese across the top. Cottage cheese is a great source of protein and contains other nutrients such as selenium, riboflavin, phosphorous, calcium and folate.
For toppings, try mix different colours veggies and cut them into different shapes. Cut the ends of a cucumber in half for the top of an ornament. Cut red capsicum in zig zags, or strips and place on the ornament in a zigzag, cut the carrots into little stars or snowflakes. More ideas include slicing cherry tomatoes in half, finely slicing gherkins, thin slices of purple onions make great shapes, adding a smear of pesto, sliced olives, basil or other herbs and even different colours of cheese, such as small orange or yellow cheese cubes.
Festive main meal ideas
Rudolph patties!
This is a super fun idea for kids! Use beef, chicken, fish, turkey or even veggie burger patties, and serve with wholegrain toast cut into antlers. Place a cherry tomato on top for Rudolph’s nose and small amount of BBQ sauce for his mouth and eyes. Â
Don’t forget some food for Rudolph to eat, by including some steamed veggies too. We hear Rudolph love carrots so be extra generous with these!
Christmas Tree Pesto Pasta
For a quick and easy fun lunch or dinner, pesto pasta is where it is at this Christmas! This is great for the whole family. Plate Pesto spaghetti into a triangle shape with cherry tomatoes as the baubles. Cherry tomatoes are a great source of Vitamin A and also contains Vitamin C, Iron and Potassium. Leave the skin on tomatoes if you can, provides great fibre for promoting good gut health.Â
Slice a carrot as the base, or green capsicum or sliced eggplant with the purple skin for variety. The star can be made from yellow capsicum. For different coloured baubles, cubed chicken pieces could be used to mix it up and add some protein.
Fish Cake Snowman
Even though Australia does not experience a white Christmas each year, there is a lot of Christmas influence from overseas that makes a snowman a key Christmas feature. Spread some mashed potato on the bottom of the plate for snow. Using three round fish or salmon cakes, or meat or veggie patties, the snowman’s body can be built. Zucchini & corn fritters work great for the snowman’s body as well.Â
Make a nose using a thinly sliced carrot, and for the arms carrot sticks are great, otherwise cucumbers - keep the skin on and use this part of the arms. The snowman’s buttons can be capers, sliced olives, small bits of cheese or blueberries.  Get even more creative with a scarf made of sliced capsicum or make a ribbon by finely slicing cucumber or even a thin slice of cheese. Why not give the snowman a hat with broccoli head or cut a hat out of a capsicum too.
Merry Christmas from OSCAR Care Group
These 12 ideas are guaranteed entertainment for all. Get those creative juices out and have some fun making and then eating the magical creations. From breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and platters, we have you covered for all occasions around Christmas.Â
OSCAR Care Group are here to support you with your nutrition needs and wish you the most wonderful time of year in this happy and festive season!Â