• Avoid putting out cashew or peanuts, crisps and savoury snacks as nibbles as they are so moreish and loaded in fat and calories. Instead have some red and white grapes for folks (you!) to nibble on.
• As well as having alcoholic drinks for everyone, don’t forget some delicious non-alcohol options and some bottled water or low-cal mixers.
• If you are planning a starter, why not offer something based around prawns and/or fruit or try our Stilton Pears recipe? These have far fewer calories than pâté and toast or garlic mushrooms.
• Homemade soup is always an easy starter as it can be made in advance and frozen until needed.  
• Cook plenty of vegetables. If you cook them in water with a vegetable stock cube you don’t need to serve them with any butter. Different people enjoy different varieties of veg and any leftovers can make fabulous vegetable soup.
• Try Dry-roast Sweet Potatoes. Remember to parboil for 10 mins before putting them on a baking tray to dry roast for 50 minutes. Just spray with a little Frylight. You can do the same with parsnips.  Delicious!
• Nutritious and tasty turkey soup. Whether you are having turkey or any other bird, remember to boil up the bones to make a fabulous and nutritious soup. Use the water from cooking any vegetables and save it for soup or gravy. With all those nutrients from the veg, just add a couple of chicken stock pots and a few dried herbs to create a perfect home-made soup with loads of flavour.
• Leftover turkey Do try our delicious recipe-of-the-week Turkey & Pepper Stroganoff.
• Leftover Christmas pudding makes great ice cream. Just mash it up with some vanilla ice cream and pop it back in the freezer for when guests come round for supper. Delicious!
• Leftover Christmas cake can be cut up into portions, wrapped in cling-film to keep them separate and placed in a Tupperware box in the freezer for unexpected guests who may call at any time in the future. You can cut off all the marzipan and give it to the birds. Unless you can find someone else to eat it, throw the icing away!
• Decide on a cut-off date by which anything and everything left from Christmas must have GONE! We really do not need any lingering temptation in the house as we go into the New Year.
• I keep a Christmas Present Record Book which I find so useful. Each year I write down the presents we give and jot down immediately any that we receive so that I don’t forget where presents have come from. This also helps me to keep a note of who I have thanked and by what means – a letter for some, an email, or for others may be a text or a telephone call. I jot down what I have done so that I don’t forget.

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Very occasionally a book is published which makes a really big impression on its readers and one such bestseller is The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. Written by Charlie Mackesy, it is a beautiful story of thoughtfulness and kindness and wonderfully illustrated in pen and ink by the author. On Christmas eve an animated adaptation of the book will be shown on BBC1 at 4.55pm. I can’t wait to watch it and totally recommend it to everyone. It is a real heart-warmer!

Fun, Facts & Fitness with Mary Morris MSc.

I woke up on that morning a couple of weeks ago when there was our first real frost and it looked spectacular!  A clear crisp morning with everything covered white and the sun shining – just how I like a winter’s morning to be. 

One of my granddaughters was staying the night and I had to get her to school that morning.  She insisted it was far too icy to drive and that the school would probably be closed anyway.  'Wishful thinking' is all I said and promptly beckoned her into the car!

That got me thinking that in the old days we went to school in thick, thick snow and even a blizzard on one occasion I remember!  There was no mention ever for the school to close, we just had to get there... and back home again, despite watching the weather worsening as the day progressed. How times have changed... and in so many other ways too.

Christmas presents came in 'ones' when I was growing up. Each of my brothers and sisters all got one main present and then some chocolate and a tangerine in the bottom of the sack. Now children seem to be festooned with presents on Christmas morning, and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as they are appreciated. 

This year we have bought a joint present for my grandsons, aged 3 and 4, of a starter set of Scalextric and, knowing how much my son loved his, it bodes well for these two little boys. My son-in-law will be in seventh heaven putting it together and my husband will spend all Christmas day on the floor playing with it! The last present I bought them was a hand-me-down train set that my friend's grandson had grown out of. I loved the fact it was recycled for the next family to enjoy.

All my walks are organised for the Christmas period and I always urge my groups that, no matter how pressured they are with Christmas preparations, they must keep to their planned walks as a priority. I really hope you can do the same. We all know just how much a brisk walk can clear the head and put any pressures into perspective. 

Saying all that, sadly I had to cancel the walk that I had intended to lead on that frosty morning as the conditions underfoot would be just too risky.  The chances of having a fall are considerably increased when there is ice around and my 'steady walkers' group are in that high-risk category. Preventing falls is something we are passionate about and we hope that you take every care in avoiding one. Good sturdy walking shoes are a must as well as regularly working on our balance and strength exercises. I pointed them in the direction of our website so as to keep up with some exercise that day instead!

Well, all there is left for me to say is that I wish you the very best of times during this festive period. I'm sure I speak for Rosemary too when I say we enjoy communicating with you every week and hope it keeps you on track with staying healthy and keeping fit. It is our pleasure and long may it continue.

And finally...

All that is left for us to say is HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
HAVE A FABULOUS TIME AND ENJOY YOURSELF!

With love and best wishes,

LIVE LONGER | LIVE HEALTHIER | LIVE HAPPIER