I'm updating an old post on how to counteract the effects of junk food after the holidays or anytime…
On Christmas morning the kids were all over the contents of their stockings, of course. Yes, it's true, Santa still brings our kids some candy. And there have been many cookies and treats around for the past few days and weeks because our neighbors are very kind to us. When we went up north for our family get-togethers, there was more candy and junk food, not to mention the trans fats, MSG, or high fructose corn syrup you might find lurking in my Mom's cabinets.
(I'm so thankful that I didn't worry TOO much about any of this back then and just enjoyed time with family. I'm grateful that my Mom loved to spoil our kids and miss her so much!)
What to do about all this crappy junk food void of any nutrients?
Besides enjoying some of it, that is…it's the holidays, ya know…
Here's what I did: I filled them up on some nutrient dense foods before we left and after we got home!
Who knows if this really does counteract the effects of junk food, but it's GOT to at least help some.
(Pictured above is a sampling of some of the junk we USED to have around here after the holidays, but not anymore! There are too many better options now without all of the questionable ingredients! Yes, they still have some sugar, but none of the *really* bad stuff like high fructose corn syrup, GMO sweeteners, chemical preservatives, transfats, crappy vegetable oils, etc…)
I hope everyone will comment below and let us know your alternative ideas for stocking stuffers, and we can all take notes!
1. We were only out of town overnight, so before we left, here's what I gave them:
- My special chocolate milk concoction (which I told you about in the how to build your immune system post): raw milk, raw cream, an egg yolk, & organic chocolate syrup. I had to stir it REALLY good so our teen didn't see yellow floaties from the egg yolk.
- I also gave them all extra cod liver oil–I still can't believe our 3 younger kids open right up for it, but they do, and I'm so thankful! Our teen only does the capsules, though, which is fine with me. (Update: I'm glad I got it in them while I could, because now that they're all older, none will take it anymore, sadly!)
- Good-for-you pancakes with real maple syrup and lots of butter.
- For lunch some of the kids had crackers, cheese and Braunsweiger–yes that's liver! They won't all eat it, but 2 or 3 of them will. (Our 3 year old dips his in organic ketchup, ewwww, but at least he's eating it!)
2. At both our family get togethers everyone usually brings appetizers. I chose healthy (and delicious) appetizers to bring, like Jeanne's Fiesta Cheese Dip, an EASY grass-fed hot dog appetizer, and Texas Caviar. This way, no matter what others bring, at least I know that they'll have some healthy foods. (Not that nobody else brings healthy stuff, because they often do, but there are always sweets too, and yes I enjoy plenty of it myself!)
3. Then when we got home after Christmas, I gave them more goodies:
- Another hit of cod liver oil.
- Meals with plenty of bone broth, pastured meats/eggs, healthy fats, probiotics, raw milk, fermented veggies, etc.
- I also tried an eggnog recipe and 3 of the 4 kids loved it, our teenager was one of them this time, yahoo! I'd actually never had it before, either, and thought it was really yummy–you'd never know how nutritious it is! I think it will be our new Christmas tradition.
What are some healthy foods you try to push over the holidays?
More you might like:
- Dear Grandma & Grandpa
- Fast food dangers, and now some healthier options
- What to do when your kids eat junk at a friend's house or at grandparents?
- Meal planning/kitchen tips
DON'T FORGET to get your free printable by clicking here: Top 25 Simple Ways to BOOST Your Health with Apple Cider Vinegar!
Ing says
Look, I’m sure you’re a nice person, but I’m going to be the curmudgeon here and tell you that you are still stuffing your kids with WAY TOO MANY CARBS which equals sugar, regardless of how ‘healthy’ you tell yourself the source is. You would be better off training them to make their own protein shakes and snacks, where at least there is some control over the sugars. Maple syrup & catsup are examples of something they can handle eating now, but you are setting them up for obesity little by little by including such things.
KitchenKop says
Ing, thanks for sharing your thoughts, and you’re probably right that it’s still too much, but do you have kids? It’s very tricky walking this line and finding the right balance!
BTW, I do not get our kids the crap in the picture above anymore (see the “update” above), but yes, I know that treats from the health food store aren’t much better, still sugar.
Kelly
Commenter via Facebook says
Our were on a sugar high last night…so we let them stay up two hours after bedtime to burn off some of that energy…and then I limit their intake to one piece a day after that!
Commenter via Facebook says
Kelly. .. .our local dentists actually BUY back the candy, at a $1 per pound and a $20 gift certificate for future dental procedures. They send the candy along with toothbrushes to the overseas military. Win! Win! . . . .for everyone 🙂
Commenter via Facebook says
YES! He is a holy terror. Thanks for the link.
Commenter via Facebook says
Nope! We don’t celebrate – cuts the sugar down a lot!
Commenter via Facebook says
If the conference is in the South East, he could do Krystal’s. I can’t say why specifically (the email had the standard “this is confidential” clause at the bottom and I wouldn’t want wrongly informed health activists to screw it up for the rest of us), but let’s just say that they use very, very little soy. Still not traditional foods, but head and shoulders above other fast food chains.
Commenter via Facebook says
As far as detoxing (even if they ARE able to make things beforehand, I’m assuming he might get some fast food), I would do coconut oil when he gets home, melted in a little hot water and lemon. And double doses of cod liver oil, whole vitamin C, and probiotics. There are also detox baths that you can do with epsom salt, baking soda, or apple cider vinegar (rotated): https://gapsguide.com/2008/12/10/detox-baths/
Oh! And juicing! I’ve been juicing for about 2 weeks in the mornings, along with my detox baths at night. I’m feeling great! (I skipped juicing/baths for the first 6 months on GAPS). Only having probiotics, water with lemon, and fresh juice in the mornings really aids in detoxing. We do carrots, celery, lettuce and mint. I’ve heard adding beets is very detoxofying as well. (Which reminds me that beet kvass can help detoxify the blood).
Commenter via Facebook says
I would think probiotic supplements could only help, too!
Commenter via Facebook says
I agree. I’d make him some pemmican to take along.
Commenter via Facebook says
If they have a chance and resources to dehydrate food (like jerky, soups, fruit leather, etc) prior to the conference they should do that. Then he could pack dehydrated meals and a thermos. All he would need is access to is hot water to make a meal. Between thermos meals, jerky, nuts, and fruit leather he should survive for four days out of a suitcase.
Commenter via Facebook says
(You can see comments #17 & #18 for our discussion on this: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/10/monday-morning-mix-up-10242011.html#comments)
Liberty says
anytime our boys eat junk food – especially if it’s sugar-y I pump them full of raw milk kefir before they can go to bed. I will wake them up to get some into them before they konk out for the night. Over the years I ‘ve come to believe it’s the disruption of the intestinal flora caused by a large sugar influ that makes for colds/runny noses/fevers/worse.
BLessings!
LIB
https://bit.ly/gjDQOS
KitchenKop says
Geesh Jackie, I guess you DON’T have to worry, what a great meal full of nourishing foods!!!
Jackie says
I don’t worry at all about our Christmas dinner – we cooked the same things that have been in my husband’s family for generations – often using the same recipes, and of course, with good, organic ingredients. Some kind of bird – goose, pheasant or this year, turkey, a huge pan of roasted vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, brussels sprouts, celeriac. Usually there are onions in there – but this year I forgot), sausage and chestnut stuffing as well as a bread stuffing with cranberries and apples (not a family thing, but we’ll probably make it so), gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce (the last few years I’ve added pomegranate to it). Dessert is always a flaming Christmas pudding – (my MIL’s recipe) a dense mixture of all kinds of dried fruits, suet, eggs, etc.
Stocking stuffers were mostly small gifts with a few edibles – chocolate coins (we do these every year) and Glee gum. Santa brought a Lindt Santa. We’ve also got some Turkish Delight floating around and a box of belgian chocs.
We didn’t get around to too much baking, but there was plenty from other sources. Somewhere in there we also managed to make a batch of homemade ice cream (chocolate with peppermint bark), and there always have to be little mince pies.
I’m leaving it all for the weekend (Boxing Day and our anniversary tomorrow) after that the best of it is going in the freezer, except one of the puddings which will be for New Year’s Day dinner.
Heather says
For those who have teens old enough to be driving (or college kids), a gift card for a local gas station is a sure winner for a stocking stuffer. My parents did that for me one year (well, gift certificate, which dates me a bit), & I loved it.
Kelly says
I’m kicking myself now for the stupid junk I bought this year – mostly because I was busy and wanted to cross “stocking stuffers” off my list. There are such better options out there and I’m excited to have so many ideas here in one spot for next year. 🙂
Erica says
Can’t be perfect all the time, my kids got one piece of candy in their stockings this year. They got Raisins, pretzels, a juice box, and the worst thing………….was some mini-boxes of cereal. I haven’t bought cereal in MONTHS. I figure every once in a while, is okay. Next year though, I like Anna’s ideas though, most health food stores carry a somewhat better version of the “bad” stuff. My kids love the Newmans oreo type cookies.
Anna says
I couldn’t bring myself to fill my family’s stockings with a bunch of junk this year, so I came up with a few healthier alternatives. Other than the useful non-food items, here’s what I used to stuff all the stockings: Rapunzel org. Swiss milk chocolate bars, Panda black licorice, Reeds crystallized ginger candies, pure maple candies, Virgil’s natural root beer and cola, St. Clairs org. peppermint tins, homemade gingersnaps and lemon poppyseed muffins (with Rapadura and org. unbleached white flour. I know, not the best! But sometimes what can you do??), caramel corn (made with agave nectar and org. brown sugar, plus double the popped corn so it wasn’t as sweet), and Mexican hot cocoa mix (also with Rapadura.) Most of the brand names I mentioned are pretty popular in health food. I think most stores with health food aisles would carry them. I get all my loot from our local co-op.
Hope that helps!
Kelly says
A big thank you to Judy, who corrected me about my title – I had written “affects”, when it needed to be “effects” – I appreciate this feedback so much!
When writing this, I knew that those two words are often mixed up, and I meant to look it up better before posting, then I forgot.
I’m picky about this kind of stuff, BUT it’s usually late when I’m writing and I am often tired and miss things when posting.
Thanks again, Judy!
Kelly says
Hi BarbaraLee, are you talking about that Google ad on my site? (It comes and goes, so there may be a different one there by now.) A lot of people have asked me about it, but I haven’t checked it out. What “ingredients” are you talking about? Anytime you have to buy a product to lose weight, don’t do it! Go read over my low-carb post (it’s under “popular posts”) – that really works, and it’s all natural, healthy, and cheap.
Keep all the great ideas coming, everyone! I’ll be so glad to have this to refer to next year when I’m thinking again about stocking stuffers. 🙂
Kelly
BarbaraLee says
We did the same thing on the treats. We didn’t stuff stocking but I made cookies. I think dh ate most of them. It is Christmas after all.
Say have you ever checked out that stuff on your blog for loosing weight? I order it and am trying it out but I canceled my membership. The ingredients are the same. So you are paying for 2 different products w/the same ingredients.
Donielle @ Naturally Knocked Up says
I’m lucky my little guy is only 2. It’s easier to not let him have all the junk food in stockings like I had when I was young. My mom made us HUGE stockings and put all sorts of fun stuff in there. This year we just put some slippers, hot wheels cars, and a pair of sunglasses in his stocking. Next year I plan on doing about the same, with just small trinkets like crayons and such.
Trying to keep him away from the cookies at our Christmas parties was another thing though! Stinker can reach the table by himself now and doesn’t understand the whole “no, you’ve already eaten your weight in sugar today” concept. I did try and feed extra farm fresh eggs and yummy homemade foods to try and counteract the ickiness too. 🙂
Next week we’ll be starting a sugar and processed food detox too! I’ll even be running the challenge online on my blog as well to keep me motivated! Gotta get all that junk out of him – his behavior has been something else!
mub says
Our stockings didn’t traditionally have too much candy in them! An orange in the toe, a bag of peanuts in the shell, a bag of mixed nuts in the shell, and the candy was the (Sweets I think) “Christmas mix” that has little chocolates and gumdrops in it. We also do stockings on New Years, and in addition to those goodies there was usually a jar of pickles (haha, probably not healthy with all that salt, but delicious and no sugar!) a magazine, a bottle of juice and some games.
Kelly says
Jessie,
Your baby is so blessed to have a Mom who knows about healthy foods so early in the game! Don’t forget your cod liver oil to build your baby’s brain! 🙂
Kelly
Jessie says
I don’t have any children yet (pregnant with our first!), but I plan to do stockings for them the same why I do the stocking for my husband. He usually gets one York Peppermint Patty (I made his stocking, and he had me put a pocket in it just for that, so I can’t really escape that one). Other things that go in there include gift cards, boxer shorts I make him out of silly fabrics, little trinkets (this year, a Batman sticker and pin)… stuff like that. Oh, and sometimes alcohol, but I won’t be putting that in our kids’ stockings. 🙂
Also, I’m definitely feeling everyone else’s pain on the sugar front! I’ve felt awful the last couple days. I’m pretty sure I’m coming down from my Christmas sugar high. Ick. I’m trying to cleanse with plenty of homemade chicken broth.
Kelly says
You guys, I can’t tell you how nice it is to “talk” to you again after all the switching over the weekend! I felt cut off from everyone and only had Twitter to communicate with, but that was basically one way.
LOVE all your GREAT ideas here and I have decided NO MORE CRAP next year in the stockings, or at least I’ll cute WAY back.
If you think of it, please send up another prayer about this site (yes, I know there are MUCH bigger issues out there, but this is really driving me crazy) – there are still so many major bugs and I have NO CLUE how to fix them. The worst right now is that email is screwed up, too, and also none of my subscribers are getting their email notices or RSS feed………along with lots of smaller issues.
THANKS!
Kelly
Shauna says
Vicki what a great idea with the coupons! We homeschool too….. and I think I’m going to take your idea and adapt it for their birthdays (in a month or so!)
Shauna
Amy says
Great new look, Kelly!
I tried all day yesterday to view it and now it’s up and going! 🙂
I didn’t put nearly as much candy in the stockings this year as I usually do….a few pieces from a local chocolate shop that some friend’s own and then filled the rest with gift cards and small novelty items. My youngest son is still fascinated with the gyroscope I put in there! 🙂
Unfortunately, we have been eating sooooo much junk and I’m really noticing how bloated I feel and just that overall yucky feeling you get from all the sugar.
I’m trying to take a break from all the sugar and white flours and have been eating more veggies, juicing grapefruits and oranges, and eating more healthy proteins such as eggs, natural peanut butter, natural ham we had for our dinner, and cutting out breads and other grains. It has made a big difference.
Anyway, thank you so much for all the wonderful information you provide on your site.
Happy New Year!
Sheree says
I don’t put much candy in if at all. Usually its an apple or orange plus a couple of small gifts like wool socks so they can be warm skiing or playing in the snow. My daughter got an extra latch hook so she can do it with friends and my son a hackysack. Sometimes I’ll put some coins in it.
Vicki says
This year I went simple and semi-healthy for our stocking stuffers. I found a great deal on Amazon’s Friday deals and got a case of Lesser Evil Krinkle Sticks (potato snacks) and a case of Lesser Evil All Natural Classic Kettle Corn. They both come in individual serving bags and I was able to stuff 5 into each stocking. I also made up coupon booklets for each of my kids (using a template on Microsoft Office). They expire next Christmas Eve and include things like 1 night sleeping in Mom’s bed, 1 day off from school with 36 hours notice (we home school), 1 lunch out with Dad, 1 walk with the parent of your choice, etc.
For our Christmas Dinner, we got an organic hardwood smoked ham from our health food store and made fresh maple sweet potatoes, homemade wheat rolls, fresh fruit salad (from Harry & David fruit that was sent to us as a gift), and green beans, and pumpkin pie made with rice milk and turbinado sugar. Lots of leftovers! We are still eating on the ham and the sweet potatoes!
Shauna says
Love the website Kelly! Looks great!
I am on a week of “cleansing” I guess you could say – no sugar and no flour whatsoever! I made everyone’s favorite appetizers for Christmas Eve, and it’s amazing how lousy you feel afterwards! However, for Christmas Day Dinner, I used a lot of the French recipes I learned when living abroad…… and they were much more delicious than the usual fare, and used lots of nutrient-dense ingredients. (Garlic green beans, and the potatoes in garlic/cream/swiss cheese sauce were the favorites!) So – I actually felt good on that day.
I also nixed a large majority of the baking I normally do. We did one type of cookie this year: cut out/decorated cookies, and we did them FANCY. They were beautiful. I liked that there was only ONE kind, and they were quickly gone. We didn’t make them until the day before Christmas Eve, so it was only a couple days of sugar cookies.
We also have cut way back on the candy for stockings. They get one tube of kisses and that’s it. I fill stockings with all sorts of practical stuff that they need anyway. (socks, undies, boxers, new hats, etc)
Shauna