Get the Skinny’s Holiday Gift Guide

The holiday season is filled with enough sugary sweet temptations, so instead of piling on even more tins of cookies and baskets of fudge, Molly’s here to give us the Skinny on giving the gift of health.

Foodspiration nutrition- and wellness-themed T’s, note pads, and greeting cards.  $3.50 – $40

Locally-made dark chocolate.  Bittersweet Confection’s Dark Chocolate Bark – 74 percent cocoa (naturally lower in sugar and higher in fiber and antioxidants than regular milk chocolate):  Trail mix bark, salty bark, and cherry almond bark, plus 74% cocoa ‘nutty dots’, little chocolate rounds embellished with a toasted pecan or pistachio.

Sucre has a 65 percent Dark Chocolate Bark with roasted cashews, whole almonds, pistachios, pecans, and dried cherries, and lightly sprinkled with sea salt, and Blue Frog Chocolates has their line of 73% dark chocolate bars.

Keep it Local.  Good Eggs NOLA brings the farmers market to you.  More than 60 farmers, ranchers, dairies, bakers, and foodmakers.  Opt for home delivery for just $3.99, or pick up from one of their neighborhood pickup spots.

Gift friends a weekly or monthly subscription to Stoney Point Farm’s abundant Produce Bundle, picked just the day before it’s delivered to their door.  Or give a gift certificate to Good Eggs NOLA and they can customize their own local shopping basket — and have it delivered  straight to their doorstep.

Gone For a Run for runners. Scan in an image of a race bib and they’ll turn it into ornaments, wine stoppers, coasters, you name it.  They also have countless running-themed pint glasses, wine glasses, and hand-stamped artisan jewelry for runners.

Veggie-themed apparel and accessories. ‘I Heart Spinach’ t-shirt from Inexplicable Confetti, available at the Palmer Park Arts Market (the last Saturday of every month), and online.

Homemade jam and preserves.  Make jams, jellies and preserves lower in sugar with a natural plant-based sugar replacer (like Swerve or Truvia).  Easy when made with the Fresh TECH Automatic Jam and Jelly Maker – just 30 minutes!

Vom FASS specialty oils and vinegars.  The uniquely-shaped bottles with the names hand-written on the bottles are a welcomed addition to any kitchen.

Homemade Swerve Cranberry Pepper Jelly

Recipe by Elmwood Fitness Center’s Registered Dietitian Rebecca Miller

Find more recipes on Rebecca’s blog Twisted Nutrition & Me

Makes: 4 8-oz jars

Ingredients:

3 red bell peppers, finely diced

1 green jalapeno, finely diced

1 cup Swerve Sweetener

1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup liquid pectin

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 cups fresh cranberries (1 bag)

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat, add the peppers and swerve. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the pepper flakes and salt along with the pectin and lemon juice. Reduce heat and simmer for another 10 minutes. Finally, add cranberries and cook another 10 minutes until they begin to pop and the liquid thickens.

Preserve in glass jars if desired or store in fridge and use within 3 weeks.

Goes great on pork or chicken, crackers and cheese, and makes a great gift for the holidays!

Nutrition facts (per tablespoon): 10 calories, 10 mg sodium, 4 g carbs, 1 g sugar

Homemade Swerve No Sugar Added Pear Jam

Recipe by Elmwood Fitness Center’s Registered Dietitian Rebecca Miller

Find more recipes on Rebecca’s blog Twisted Nutrition & Me

Makes :4  8-oz jars

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups pears (about 3), washed and peeled

2/3 cups water

3 Tbsp low sugar pectin

1/2 tsp butter or margarine

1 cup Swerve Sweetener

Directions:

Finely chop the pears and mash until they resemble a rough applesauce-like consistency. Then, in the jam maker, sprinkle the pectin along the bottom of the pot. Add the fruit evenly to the container as well as the water. Finally, add the butter and turn on the machine.

After 4 minutes, it will beep to indicate it is time to add the sugar (i.e. Swerve). Add the swerve and then place the lid back on the pot. Allow to finish cooking (about 21 total minutes).

Then evenly distribute the pear mixture into glass jars and preserve accordingly.

Nutrition facts (per Tbsp): 10 calories, 5 mg sodium, 2 g carbs, 1 g sugar