Hi friends!
My family celebrated Diwali his past weekend, so this week's recipe is one I've been making for over a decade whether it’s a holiday or not: butter chicken baked ziti. It has all the creamy, cozy flavor of butter chicken, baked into a pan of high fiber pasta with mozzarella on top. It feels like a treat and is still built around protein and fiber, which is exactly how I like to head into the rest of holiday season.
Paid members, your three bonus holiday recipes are at the bottom of this email.
XX Lolita
Butter Chicken Baked Ziti
Something a lot of you may not know about me is that I’m South Asian. Diwali, the festival of lights, felt like the right time to share a little more of that side of me with you, and of course I wanted to do it with food.
Keep the Holidays Simple
Once the holiday season starts, it's easy to start overthinking what you "can't" eat. I'd love for you to skip that this year. A list of off-limits foods won't help much. A simple place to start will.
At every holiday meal, fill your plate with protein and fiber first. Turkey, ham, roasted veggies, a big salad, green beans... whatever is on the table. Then enjoy the stuffing and the pie someone only makes once a year. That's ALL ok! Starting with protein and fiber will help keep your blood sugar steadier, so you're less likely to feel wiped out an hour later.
Movement is the other half. Keep your strength training on the calendar through the holidays, even if some weeks the sessions are shorter. It's one of the best ways to hold on to muscle as we get older.
Here's a simple idea I love: instead of everyone heading straight for the couch after the big meal, round up whoever's willing and go for a family walk. Even 10 to 15 minutes after eating may help soften the blood sugar rise from a big meal. And if a few days get away from you, don't beat yourself up. Just return to protein and fiber at your next meal.
Want something lighter between the holiday feasts? My Low Carb Dirty Cabbage has all the flavor of Southern dirty rice, with cabbage instead of rice.
Low Carb Dirty Cabbage
I’ve lost over 90 pounds eating high protein, high fiber versions of the classics I love, so when dirty cabbage started showing up everywhere, there was no way I was skipping it. If you’ve been around here a while, you know cabbage and I go way back. I’ve turned it into bread and pizza crust, and it still surprises me every time.
The Ninja Prepi makes prep SO EASY
Some of you probably saw how easily the Ninja Prepi was to use when making my regular batch of pickled red onions - I retired my trusty mandolin that I've been using for years! Another winning gadget from Ninja, it chops, slices, shreds, purees and even crinkle cuts directly into storage bowls that come with it. Genius!
Holiday Gift Guides!
My holiday gift guides on LTK are live including Kitchen Must-Haves and Splurge Worthy Skincare. More will be coming soon!
Some of these are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you.
BONUS RECIPES
High Protein Apple Pie Chia Seed Pudding
Let the Fall recipes begin! This is a great one to start with: my apple pie chia seed pudding. Diced apples tossed with cinnamon, cardamom, and a little sweetener, folded into a thick vanilla chia pu…
Hot Fudge, Minus the Sugar Crash
Hot fudge is one of those foods that quietly disappears once you start paying attention to blood sugar. Nobody announces they’re giving it up. It just stops getting bought, and dessert becomes a squa…
My Low-Sugar, Low-Carb Holiday Eggnog (So Much Better Than Store-Bought)
Christmas is somehow three weeks away, which feels wild… and also like the perfect excuse to start counting down my most popular healthier holiday recipes. So today, we’re kicking things off with a c…
Not a paid member yet? Every week you'd get at least two extra recipes and the full monthly meal prep guide, plus access to my entire recipe library. It's $6 a month or $55 a year.
Stay warm, Lolita
P.S. If you want me with you every day, my app is like having me in your pocket with recipes, meal plans, coaching and even exercise guidance... and more.