When we were singing Auld Lang Zyne as the clock struck midnight and transported us to the year 2020, I bet not one of us would have believed what havoc would be wrecked by one tiny vicious Virus as the days and weeks turned into months of Pandemic blues!
Taking Charge of our Physical and Mental Health
Many lives and livelihoods have been lost, but we also learnt many valuable lessons along the way; such as taking better care of ourselves and not running to the doctor for every little ailment, as medical centres and hospitals became two places we tried to avoid visiting.
In order to fight this Coronavirus, our bodies need to function at its optimum to build up a strong immune system; now more than ever before!
Mental Well-being
The toll of this pandemic on mental well-being has been massive so now is the time to start living a mindful life.
Have a look at techniques like meditation, yoga, breathing exercises and start enjoying the natural wonders of the world around us.
Our very own @ericvancewalton, the author of The Perfect Pause - Meditating Your Way to the Ultimate You has written a follow-up book entitled Mindful Moments - Living your Best Life in Imperfect Times.
We were fortunate in reading the draft of this wonderful book here on Hive; all the links to the chapters are found in this POST!
Image by @ericvancewalton
Physical Well-being
Food is the first step towards achieving good health as our body needs optimum nutrients to function at its best!
Just like a motor car needs fuel to keep running, just so do we need the correct food to keep our batteries charged!
A plant-based lifestyle
I really admire my friends who follow a plant-based lifestyle; they certainly are healthier and way more energized than any of us who use animal products!
My goal is to move to this kind of lifestyle as studies have proven that those who do not consume animal products are healthier by far and helps avoid getting diseases such as cancer, hypertension and heart disease.
Check out this Source
Naturally we also need to become more active by doing some kind of exercise, with regular walks being my favourite.
Special Times
Special times with smaller groups of close family will be how many of us will be celebrating the Christmas Holidays this year.
Gifts from the Heart
What has been your favourite and most meaningful gift ever received?
Certainly not a mass-produced store-bought gift I'm sure!
One good thing that has emerged as a result of Covid, is that we're not all rushing to the shops to buy meaningless gifts!
As the economy has been hit hard, people are putting more thought into gifts; either buying online with many making gifts from their kitchen, garden or sewing rooms.
Something homemade means so much more, and as a home-cook, I will be sharing some ideas for Vegan Treats that you can give your family or friends as a thoughtful Christmas gift straight from the heart.
Adding the recipe to that gift will be a really nice extra touch.
Soup Mix with recipe for Grandma's Herbal Broth
Nothing could be simpler than packing the base ingredients for a nourishing broth into pretty glass bottles with the recipe attached; may as well add a bottle of Popcorn seeds for Movie time at home!
Apple Date Cobbler
A really delicious dessert made with Granny Smith Apples and topped with an Oat Crumble topping and Medjool Dates in a pretty Apple Pie dish makes a really nice gift - recipe attached as well;)
Aquafaba Meringues
I first made these Vegan Meringues for #fruitsandveggiesmonday some time back, and was really amazed that one could turn the brine of a can of Chickpeas into the lightest and crispiest Meringues!
These will be a delightful gift for anyone but especially for your vegan friends; recipe attached of course!
Raw Chocolate Brownies
Who says decadent Chocolate Brownies cannot be healthy?
These were made with Macadamia Nuts & Walnuts, the superfood raw Cacao Powder, rolled Oats, unsweetened Peanut Butter, Coconut Oil, Dates and garnished with dark Vegan Chocolate, Coconut flakes, Strawberries and Blueberries.
No added sugar as the dates provide all the sweetening; a trick I learnt from a fellow Hive foodie @plantstoplanks!
Your friends will be over the moon with this gift; don't forget to share the recipe...!
Nutty Shortbread
Christmas just ain't Christmas if there's no shortbread in the house; you'll have to hide these from the family if you want to give them away as gifts, really yum!
I believe I've given you plenty of Food for Thought or shall we say Sweet After-thoughts as my contribution towards @naturalmedicine's December Challenge, hope you found some inspiration here; there's still four sleeps left before Christmas day, hope you find the time to make a special gift from your kitchen for that special friend or family member!
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Original Content by @lizelle
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Your posts are always so well put together, Lizelle! This one is really visually appealing and I want to try each of those recipes. I appreciate the kind words about my book as well. Let us all hope for a little more luck, love, and normalcy in 2021. Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas!
Thank you Eric, that's a big compliment coming from you!
I REALLY hope 2021 is going to make a return to some normalcy!
Our oldest son and his girlfriend arrive tomorrow so we're looking forward to that but will spend the day quietly at home, no big family gatherings this year with the second wave here, but that's perhaps just what we need.
A lovely Christmas for you and yours as well!
You're welcome! We hope to see things gradually improving throughout 2021. We're going to spend Christmas by ourselves and we'll be chatting with family members via Zoom probably. Thank you my friend this nightmare will be over soon.
@lizelle Excuse me, but I am salivating right now.
LOL sorry I couldn't share it with you, thanks for the visit though;)
This is such a lovely post @lizelle! Such wonderful gifts all. And so true about taking the time to ponder some positive changes despite the negatives of this year. The new year ahead does not guarantee an automatic reversal, but at least I feel more equipped to handle whatever lies ahead!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it @plantstoplanks, I really enjoyed putting it together!
So very true, we don't know what lies ahead but certainly know that we need to become more self sustainable and take charge of our own well-being. Thank you for stopping by, wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas:)
I have a feeling that Christmas is passing us by this year. I just am not feeling it.
Awe Fiona, I know exactly how you're feeling! We were going to my brother's up in Hillcrest for Christmas day but have heard of too many burglaries locally so even though we have armed response, we don't want to risk it, all the guests will be out. We had a burglary a couple of years ago, house was alarmed, break-in occurred, took the security company 9 min from time the alarm went off to get here, by which time the robbers had taken our big screen tv and a laptop! It was such a horrible experience, they smashed the bottom half of our stable door in the laundry, was just before Christmas, and we couldn't get anyone to come and replace the door at that time so hubby did his best to patch it. The thieves are very busy shopping at present and with so many job losses, more are turning to crime!
But...our oldest son and his girlfriend are coming down and always bring the spirit of Christmas with, both very special souls, they're such a blessing:)
So much better to make things over buy. I wish I could get my family in on that.
It really is! A friend made me a couple of hair towel wraps a couple of years ago and it's something I still use, a useful memento as she's moved away!
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Agreed! There is a greater need to take care of our well being and those were some wonderful tips - thanks for sharing!
And to have more heart felt giving with homemade gifts - lucky people that are the recipience of your gifts - they look delicious!
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