Derval O'Rourke: Tips for a mindful Christmas plus my recipe for a simple turkey curry

Easy ways to weave mindfulness through your Christmas

Derval O'Rourke shares her recipe for an easy turkey curry that will use up your Christmas leftovers

It’s here, it’s here! I hope you are having a lovely, peaceful Christmas Eve. It’s time to unwind, stop worrying about the presents and focus on being present.

As I write this, I know it can be easier said than done. In this week’s column I will chat about mindfulness and give you simple ways to weave it through your Christmas. In recipes I’m sharing a really handy curry recipe that’ll make sure you don’t waste any leftovers.

Firstly, let’s define what exactly we mean by mindfulness. According to experts “Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to whatever is happening in the present moment and experiencing it without judgement.

Anyone can practise mindfulness. It is easy to fit into your day. You can do it 1 minute at a time.”

The benefits of mindfulness are plenty but one that always stands out for me is how being more mindful can help you enjoy the world around you more.

Taking notice of your thoughts, feelings and sensations is the first step to being more mindful. Let’s talk about some simple mindful tools you can use in the coming days. Remember mindfulness is a great way to observe our needs, step in and take positive action.

Tips for a mindful Christmas:

• Notice the everyday, pay attention to the air you breathe and the food you eat.
• Name your thoughts and feelings. For example, ‘this is anxiety.’
• Lovely light, with the limited amount of daylight at this time of year, try to get out for a walk early in the morning. Just a few minutes will do.
• Stretching those limbs, we all feel like hibernating and not doing too much with our bodies when it’s cold outside and cosy inside. With energy and motivation low, try to stretch each day. Take a few minutes and feel where your body needs to move.
• Presence not presents, there’s no greater gift than giving someone your full attention. Get absorbed in conversations. It’s not realistic to give undivided attention all the time but being able to give pockets of it is really nice.

If you do find yourself using some of these ideas and want to consider a simple mindfulness activity with your kids one of my favourite ones is mindful colouring. Print out some ‘mindfulness colouring’ sheets (there are loads free online) and set your kids the task of picking ones that they like, paying attention to each part of the picture and using colours that reflect their feelings. Wishing you and yours a peaceful, happy Christmas.

Wellness Tip: Virtual Retreat – Being at home, doesn’t mean we can’t look after ourselves. Play some calming music, light some candles, put on your favourite pyjamas, throw on that face mask you got as a gift and listen to some calming music from YouTube. Ahhhhh bliss!

Exercise Tip: If you can try to squeeze out a few minutes here and there to stretch. Head rolls are lovely to relax you.

Derval O'Rourke's Simple Turkey Curry

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

A really handy curry recipe that’ll make sure you don’t waste any Christmas leftovers

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 10 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp coconut oil

• 2 onions, roughly chopped

• 4–5 garlic cloves, crushed

• a thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated

• 2 tbsp medium curry powder

• 1 tsp garam masala

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• ½ tsp chilli flakes

• 10 dried apricots, halved

• 3 apples, peeled and roughly chopped

• 3 peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• 700ml chicken stock

• salt and pepper

• 4 turkey breasts, cooked and shredded, to serve

• brown or basmati rice, to serve

Method

1. Heat the coconut oil in a large pot over a medium heat.

2. Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes, until softened.

3. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and fry for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Stir in the apricots, apples, peppers, tomato purée and chicken stock and bring to the boil.

5. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for at least 40 minutes (up to 60 minutes, if you have time).

6. Use a hand blender to purée the curry sauce to the desired consistency, then check the seasoning.

7. If you want to pre-cook this curry, now is the time to take it off the heat. Let it cool fully, divide it into portions in airtight containers and store it in the freezer.

8. Stir in the cooked turkey.

9. When the curry is piping hot, ladle it into warmed serving bowls and serve with brown or basmati rice.