Family Festive Feast Fun

1st December, 2025

The festive season can be a time where we can all get a bit frazzled with all the hype and hoopla of the end of year activities, change in routine from school or work mode to holiday mode and the excitement of Santa Claus coming to town and catching up with family and friends with presents galore!

Let’s take a more calming approach to the festive season to enjoy a feast without feeling overwhelmed or overly full to ruin our fun.

As a family, keep up the regular eating routine and monitor portions. If there have been overindulgences have smaller serves.

Breakfast

Start the day with a nourishing breakfast, ideally to fuel both mind and body for the busy day ahead. It could be a small bowl of cereal with fruit and milk or yoghurt, or a slice of toast with avocado/hommus and tomato.

Snacks

Often kids fill up on the snacks rather than the main meals at social gatherings because finger foods are a lot easier to eat and there is so much going on.

Ensure food is brought out for snack times and then put back away to assist everyone to avoid over eating and have an appetite for the main meal. It also helps to keep food safe.

• Veggie sticks and dips can be a great welcome to all guests as they are jam packed full of vitamins, fibre and low in energy, meaning you can eat more of them without feeling overly full.  
  • Try a range of veggies: capsicum, cucumber, carrot, celery, beans, snow peas, broccoli and cauliflower stalks or florets
  • Pair with dips the colours of Christmas like a beetroot hommus, guacamole, tzatziki or salsa.

• Cheese platter:
  • Choose a selection of cheeses and grainy crackers
  • Crisp up the cheese platter with some thinly sliced, crunchy pear and apple cheeks.  Keep the fruit pieces together when serving to avoid browning.

•  Unroasted nut and seed mix, popcorn or roasted chickpeas can be jazzed up by using your desired herbs and spices. Think garlic and rosemary for pumpkin seeds or chickpeas. 

• For hot days frozen fruit such as orange quarters, grapes and banana chunks are loved just as much by the adults as they are by the kiddies.

Lunch and dinners

• Be happy knowing when enough is enough. Avoid piling your plate sky high.  Decide to try a little of a few options rather than a lot of everything.
• You can make friends with salad! Make sure plenty of vegetables are added to those starchy dishes like pasta, potato or rice to bulk them up and dilute the energy content.
• Try a merry red salad, green salad or mixed red and green using a combo of red and green veggies like: tomatoes, capsicums, lettuce, celery, cucumber, radish, green olives, artichoke, baby zucchini, cabbage, avocado, beetroot, red kidney beans and green lentils.
• Keep portions in check:
  • stick to ½ plate salad or vegetables,
  • a fist full of starchy foods (pasta, rice, potato, corn)
  • palm size of protein foods
• You can choose to eat less if you have just eaten or plan to have dessert

Dessert

• In my family we can’t have a plethora of desserts without a fruit salad. Everyone loves a summer fruit salad.  Add some edible flowers like violets, nasturtiums, dandelions petals or some mint or thyme for a twist.

Drinks

•  Limit excess, easy to drink energy by:
• Adding plenty of ice and soda water to juice, cordial, soft drinks, the punch and cocktails.
• Using small cups or glasses for high energy drinks and using large glasses for water.
• Remember to alternate sweet or alcoholic drinks with water
• Offer water to everyone to look after them too.
• Bring a container for leftovers so nothing goes to waste and you and the kids feel like they did not miss out if they did not try everything.

Eat Mindfully

Slow down and truly appreciate the eating experience. 

• Savour the smell, textures and tastes. Notice how the sensations change as you chew and swallow.
• Put your cutlery and drink down between each bite or sip.

Think about your hunger level. What is your stomach telling you? Are you really hungry? Do you want or need it and why?

Think about why are you eating? Often, we eat more food in social groups, and are not paying attention to our hunger.

Plan an activity after eating so food is not the main attraction. It could be kicking or batting a ball around, going for a walk or putting on some music to sing and dance whilst washing up the dishes.

Whatever you choose to do, have a lovely festive season that you can enjoy and be happy with both during and after the social events!

Check out The Bright Shop for our 12 Happy Healthy Holiday Habits, Partying For Our Planet E-Book, Party Hire Kit, Eco-Party Favours: Chatterboxes, Zinnies to share with all the kids instead of sweets.