You might think that Christmas is a slow time in the nutrition world, but after wrapping up Beat the Couch (they aced it!), we’ve gone straight into a gym management software change and prep for our Healthy Kick-start in January.

The kick-start is a two week healthy-eating challenge that’s free to everyone in the community, helping Bermuda begin 2024 on the right foot.

Last year we had over 300 people take part and had tons of fun sharing our new recipes, seeing what people thought of them and watching the kitchen selfies roll in!

There was also a fair amount of commiserating within the group as people made huge efforts to leave behind the caffeine and sugar.

The good thing is, you can engage at any level you like. Some people go all-in, and others just dabble with a recipe or two.

So don’t be sacred off! If you think you might like to get involved, keep an eye on the Waterfront Wellness social media.

Everything is Nutrifit-friendly, so if you’ve done our more comprehensive six-week programme, this would be a great refresher for you!

In general, kick-start prep is going well. We’ve lined up a series of amazing, delicious recipes that are absolutely packed with immune-boosting and anti-ageing nutrients.

These options are also easy on the blood sugar, all of them without refined sugar and packed with protein and fibre to help ensure a lower glycemic load.

However, there is one thing that’s perplexing me. I’ve been trying to make a gluten-free, dairy-free, high-protein, low-GI carrot cake and I’m not having much success.

We find that healthy muffin recipes are popular as people love the comfort, aroma and fun of baking.

Last year we shared our Green Smoothie Muffin recipe which was so popular and we’re hoping to do a kind of carrot-cake version this year.

So, here’s my request. If you have a great carrot cake recipe, please email it to me!

It doesn’t have to be gluten and dairy free, I am interested in seeing as many regular recipes as possible, so that I can experiment with substitutes.

I’d be especially keen to see “chunky” recipes – ones which are packed full of carrots, nuts and raisins vs being a smooth batter.

In return, I’m giving you two of my favourite allergy-friendly recipes here.

They are not a disaster from a sugar perspective, but they are still sweet so easy does it on the portion size.

The Christmas morning muffins will make your kitchen smell beautiful and the Christmas cake – as much of a process as it is – is moist and delicious.

If you are a fruitcake lover, this is honestly wonderful. Even my kids like it, and they hate fruit cake!

Before I finish, I wanted to leave you with an idea – especially helpful for all the last-minute shoppers out there.

For the last few years, I have ditched the expensive wrapping paper and wrapped my gifts in pages of The Royal Gazette instead.

I always have a few copies lying around, the sheets are a handy size, you can pick out sports, cartoon or business pages to suit your target (maybe skip the obituaries?!) and you can liven everything up with some sparkly ribbon and fun tags.

It’s eco-friendly and looks surprisingly lovely. If I am wrapping something that might mark with a smudge from the ink (e.g. a soft toy or socks!) then I do use a layer of tissue first, just to protect it a little.

There’s a picture here and I posted a video of the bottom of our tree to insta stories too! Have a peek, it looks so festive.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Gluten-free, dairy-free Christmas cake

Ingredients:

175g Earth Balance vegan margarine (Down to Earth, Lindo’s)

110g molasses

75g Sucanet or soft, dark brown sugar

150ml soy, hemp or almond milk

110g dates, pitted and chopped

300g raisins

200g dried plums, chopped

110g dried or glace cherries, chopped

225g brown rice flour (Down to Earth, Harrington Hundreds, Lindos DV, ABC store)

2 tsp gluten-free baking powder (widely available)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

110g ground almonds

2 lemons, the grated rind of

3 eggs

Method:

1, Place the margarine, molasses, sugar and “milk” in a large pan along with all the dried fruit. Heat gently and stir until all the margarine has melted.

2, Simmer for 1 minute and then take off the heat and cover. Leave the fruit to “swell” for at least 2 hours – even overnight if you have time.

3, Line the base and sides of a round (8”) or square cake tin (7”) with baking paper. Make sure that the paper rises at least 5cm above the rim of the tin.

4, Put all the other ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix roughly.

5, Add the fruit mixture and mix by hand or using an electric mixer (not a blender!) on low speed. Mix well.

6, Pour the cake mix into the tin and smooth the surface with a wet knife.

7, Bake for 2 hours and 40 minutes at 250F.

8, Leave to cool in the tin until cold.

9, Ice as you would an ordinary Christmas cake, or make a “butter” icing using Earth Balance margarine, icing sugar and a little Goslings rum.

Christmas morning muffins!

Christmas morning muffins (gluten and dairy free)

Ingredients (makes approximately 30 mini muffins):

5oz almond flour or ground almonds

3oz brown rice flour

1oz linwoods ground seed mix (from Miles – I used the ground sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, flax and goji mix)

2½ tsps baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

4oz Sucanet or brown sugar (plus extra for the topping)

4oz (weight) apple sauce (unsweetened)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

2 clementines/satsumas

Approx 350ml milk (I used Hemp, you could use any – obviously use dairy free if need be)

¼ cup melted coconut oil

2 eggs

4oz dried cranberries

Method:

1, Get the eggs and “milk” to room temperature. Melt the oil in a small pan over a very low heat if yours isn’t already liquid.

2, Preheat the oven to 390F. Line the pan with muffin liners and spray lightly with coconut (or other) oil.

3, Mix the flours, seed mix, baking powder, bicarb soda, sucanet, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl. Stir in the dried cranberries.

4, Zest the two satsumas over the flour mix, catching as much as you can.

5, In a large measuring jug, squeeze in the juice of the two satsumas. Now top this up with your milk until the 200ml mark. Whisk in the melted coconut oil, apple sauce and eggs. Make sure everything is at room temperature otherwise the coconut oil will harden. Whisk quickly!

6, Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well but lightly.

7, Spoon into muffin cases and sprinkle the tops with a little sucanet.

8, Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes (seems a long time but they will need it) or until the tops are firm but springy.

9, Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then move to a rack to cool.

• The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION, BNTA is a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in Britain She works at Waterfront Wellness in Bermuda. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda or instagram @naturalbda. Email: catherine@natural.bm