Thanksgiving with the Health Nuts
Before you make your traditional Thanksgiving meal this year ask yourself "is there any way to make our classic favorites healthier?" The answer is yes. You can still enjoy your Thanksgiving meal and at the same time know that you are making good choices that won't leave you feeling overstuffed and packing on the holiday pounds. We have focused on a primarily Paleo menu because when consuming a lot of food at one time people tend to feel overly full and uncomfortable, especially from all the breads and high starch foods. Paleo is free of all grains and processed sugars. However, we had to veer off of Paleo for the stuffing and apple crisp, bringing you delicious gluten free options. We have enjoyed all of these recipes ourselves and can make you a more than satisfied guarantee. Cheers to a truly nourishing Thanksgiving without the guilt!
Menu
Turkey
Roasted brussel sprouts with bacon
Cauliflower mashed potatoes
Paleo gravy
Homemade cranberry sauce
Sweet potato casserole
Gluten free stuffing
Roasted butternut squash with apples
Desserts:
Gluten Free Apple Crisp
Paleo pumpkin pie
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Bacon. Need we say more. This recipe will give you a whole new love for brussels sprouts.
Serves:
4-6
Recipe:
1 lb brussel sprouts
1 lb of Applegate Farms organic bacon
Directions:
- Heat oven to 350
- Place bacon on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until crisp
- Remove bacon from pan and put on plate
- Cut ends off brussel sprouts and cut in half
-Place brussel sprouts on previous cookie sheet and cover with the bacon grease
- Bake brussel sprouts in over until crisp
- Cut bacon and add to brussel sprouts
Mashed Cauliflower
You will be very surprised how much mashed cauliflower actually tastes like mashed potatoes, especially when they are smothered in our delicious paleo gravy.
Serves:
4-6
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
2 tbs organic free range chicken broth
2 roasted garlic cloves
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
chives
Directions:
Steam cauliflower until soft
roast and peel garlic cloves
place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
Cover with chives
Paleo Gravy
Ingredients:
1 cup turkey drippings
1 cup of organic free range chicken broth
2 tbs arrowroot starch or potato starch
Directions:
-Bring turkey drippings and broth to a boil
- In a cup mix together starch and a couple tbs of water until starch is dissolved
- Whisk starch into broth and stir until mixture thickens
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Traditional canned cranberry sauce is full of sugar and artificial ingredients. Our recipes contains no refined sugar and is super easy to make. It also is a great make ahead option to save time on Thanksgiving Day!
Serves:
4-6
Ingredients:
12 oz cranberries
4 oranges
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup maple syrup + more if too tart
Directions:
-Juice 4 oranges, and zest one of the oranges
-Place all ingredients in pan over high on stove
-Bring to a boil and turn down to medium stirring constantly
-Cook about 10-15 minutes over medium until sauce thickens
-Taste the sauce and add additional maple syrup if you feel it is too tart
-Cover with orange zest
Don't be afraid to get the kids involved in the kitchen. They can be great little helpers!
Sweet Potato Casserole
A spin on the traditional sweet potato casserole that is high in processed sugars from the brown sugar and marshmallows. This version has banana and maple syrup to add in some sweetness, topped with naturally sweet crunchy pecans!
Prep Time:
20 min
Cook Time:
1 hr 5 min
Serves:
10 to 12 servings
Ingredients:
5 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
4 bananas, unpeeled
1/2 cup (1 stick) organic unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
sea salt
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
-Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, put them in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes.
-Toss the bananas into the pan and continue roasting for 10 to 15 minutes, until both the bananas and potatoes are very soft.-Remove the pan from the oven but don't turn the oven off.
-When potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl.
-Peel the bananas and add them to the bowl along with 1 stick of the butter, and maple syrup.
-Season with salt and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until everything's well combined and the mixture is fluffy.
-Spoon into an oven-proof serving bowl and smooth the top.
-Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the sweet potatoes and return to the oven.
-Cook for about 20 minutes, until the pecans are golden.
-Serve hot.
Gluten Free Stuffing
We cheated a little bit on this one but we wanted to bring you a delicious gluten free stuffing. This stuffing is the closest thing we have experienced to traditional stuffing. In fact you may not be able to tell the difference but it won't leave you feeling as "overstuffed." After all, what is Thanksgiving without the classic stuffing flavor!
Roasted butternut squash with apples
What is Thanksgiving without butternut squash? This recipe combines the sweetness of butternut squash with the sweet tart flavor of roasted apples, and the crunchiness of pecans, with maple syrup draped on top further bringing out all the sweet flavors!
Recipe here- previous post
Gluten Free Apple Crisp
Classic Apple crisp with a healthy twist but your taste buds won't know the difference. Simply delish!
Recipe in previous post
Paleo Pumpkin Pie
This pie is completely grain free and free of processed sugars. The creamy pumpkin filling, sweet frosting, and ginger snap crust will have you coming back for another slice!
Recipe: From Autoimmune Paleo found here pie.
The only change we made is we doubled the frosting.
We hope you enjoy our recipes and most importantly enjoy spending time with loved ones. Have a blessed Holiday!
Yours in Health & Happiness,
Lisa and Nichole
