We all want to enjoy delicious, tasty food, but many of us are also interested in keeping our nutrition as healthy as possible. When holidays roll around, we usually expect to indulge our taste buds and even venture away from healthy foods in favor of holiday treats. But now we can have both the delicious, yummy food we crave and keep it healthy, too, with organic raw and living foods recipes.

For special treats during the holidays add spices like cloves, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. If you enjoy rich savory dishes, the holidays are just the time to create some mouthwatering delights that everyone will absolutely love and will be asking for more.

For the most part, people like trying something new, so don’t be afraid to serve some different dishes your friends have never tasted before. Of course, if you have those tried and true favorites everyone raves about, you’ll want to be sure to have those on your holiday menu, too. Whatever you decide to prepare for your family and friends, remember to put a lot of love in the preparation, because any food prepared with love just naturally tastes better.

Any host or hostess loves getting compliments on the recipes they have prepared. Even when no one says a thing but you can hear the quite moans of enjoyment, that is one of the best compliments you can receive. Isn’t it wonderful that you don’t have to heat up the stove even once, and you can prepare these dishes ahead of time? In fact, they will taste even better once they have marinated a little.

You don’t have to brag on how healthy everything is. You can keep that a secret between you and me, because who cares if they know it’s healthy? The main thing is that they enjoy eating it. This is especially true when feeding children. Sometimes less information is more.

Everyone will appreciate the effort you make to prepare a good meal for them, and after all, isn’t that one of the best holiday gifts you can give someone? So enjoy yourself and don’t be afraid to indulge. You and your family and friends deserve it!

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Cauliflower Cashew Spice

2 cups cauliflower ¼ cup sweet onion ¼ cup cilantro leaves 2 cups cashews 1 cup golden raisins 6 medjool dates ¼ tsp ground cinnamon Pinch of cayenne pepper 1 tsp Himalayan salt

Pit the dates and soak overnight in 1 cup filtered water and drain and save the water. Soak the raisins in 2 cups filtered water for 2 hours and drain. Soak the nuts in 4 cups filtered water for 3 hours and drain, then rinse in fresh water, drain again and pat dry. Chop the onions and the cilantro. Blend the dates, salt, cayenne pepper and cinnamon in the VitaMix into a cream. Combine all the ingredients together until well coated and sprinkle the top with the cilantro leaves.

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Apple Walnut Soup

4 cups apples 4 medjool dates 1 cup walnuts ½ tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp nutmeg 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tsp Himalayan salt 1 to 2 cups filtered water, depending on desired thickness

Choose the sweetest apples available, like fuji, gala, golden delicious or sonata, or if you would like a more tart soup, choose granny smith apples. Peel and seed the apples. Soak the walnuts in 3 cups filtered water for 3 hours and drain. Seed the dates. Blend the apples, dates, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, lemon juice and water in the VitaMix until creamy. Break up the walnuts into small pieces. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the walnuts. You can also serve this in in little shot glasses without a spoon and have everyone enjoy a holiday toast with this delightful apple soup. For adults only, can add a little spiced rum to each shot.

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Snowy Fruit & Nuts

1 cup pecans 1 cup grated coconut 2 cups mango 2 cups pineapple 2 cups bananas 3 tsp fresh lemon juice ½ tsp allspice ½ cup fresh mint leaves

Soak the pecans in 3 cups filtered water for 3 hours and drain. Chop the fruit into bite size pieces. Mince the mint leaves. Toss the bananas with the lemon juice to coat all so it will keep them from turning brown. Add the mango, pineapple, pecans, coconut and allspice and toss together. Top with the fresh mint.

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Brenda Cobb is author of The Living Foods Lifestyle and founder of The Living Foods Institute, an Educational Center and Therapy Spa, in Atlanta, offering Healthy Lifestyle courses on nutrition, cleansing, healing, anti-aging, detoxification, relaxation and cleansing therapies. For more information, call 404-524-4488 or 1-800-844-9876 and visit LivingFoodsInstitute.com See ad, inside front cover.