Paleo Cranberry Apple Sauce

4 Gala Apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 12-ounce bag of fresh Cranberries
1/4 cup Coconut Sugar
1/4 cup Water
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Mix all ingredients into medium sauce pan over medium-low heat.
Cover and let simmer, stirring regularly.
Once apples have softened, cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened turn off heat and remove from stove top.
Serve room temperature or chilled.

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What's for Thanksgiving Dinner 2013

Escarole Soup a.k.a. Italian Wedding Soup

Roasted Brined Turkey

Grain Free/ Paleo Thanksgiving Stuffing (bread style)

Candied Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole (going to candy the potatoes and add a pecan toping)

Paleo Green Bean Casserole made with Paleo Creamy Mushroom Soup

Mashed Potatoes with Cauliflower (I am going to use a 50/50 mix of potato and cauliflower)

Turkey Gravy (use a paleo approved starch)

Paleo Cranberry Sauce (this year I will remove berry skin solids to make it a jelly)
Pumpkin Pie with Elana's Paleo Pie Crust

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An Extraordinary Low Carb Thanksgiving

This is my old house, my old dining room.  Man, I miss that place!  This is our very first low carb thanksgiving.  We are still eating the traditional foods and making the substitutes where needed.

Roasted Brined Turkey

What is Thanksgiving without the turkey? Well that is what I think anyway but I just learned that a large portion of Southerns actually prefer HAM for dinner instead.  OK, ok I can respect that, but we need the turkey.  I save eating turkey all year for this day.  Riverside brand (Walmart) and Butterball are the gluten free options in our neck of the woods. Riverside has gluten free printed right on the package. I always feel good when I see that. We brine our turkey.  It really does make the turkey extra moist. The brine we use is half of Alton's Brown's recipe.  We leave out the aromatics portions and will switch out the brown sugar for Coconut Nectar Crystals instead to make it Paleo.  OR maybe I will just leave the sweetener out all together!

This year we are using Against All Grain's Paleo Stuffing Recipe

as an alternate you can make: Gluten Free Copycat Stovetop Stuffing

I am not putting the Sausage, Mushrooms and Apple in my stuffing like Dinielle suggests, I will modify it to suite us, as I usually do.  Danielle says this recipe tricked regular SAD diet eaters so I have high hopes for this recipe.  I am actually not even trying this out ahead of time so all or nothing here.  LOL.

Mock Mashed Potatoes

as an alternate you can make: Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
This year we are serving both versions so the non dieters wont throw a hissy fit! LOL.  Check out this mock version, looks good.

Cranberry Port Conserve 
is a recipe from Bon Appetite that we have been using since the very beginning! I have seen recipes posted as Paleo using Orange Juice as the sweetener, pureed apples as the sweetener.  Neither of these is Rosedale Diet approved. My new favorite sweetener to use these days is Coconut Nectar Sugar because of all the minerals in it.  I am pretty sure this would not be Rosedale diet approved either!  It does seem to be the most healthy sweetener available.  The taste is good and in moderation I am sure you will be fine.  They key is not to eat so much that you kick yourself out of fat burning.  This year tho, I will add some extra unflavored gelatin so it jells properly!

This, my friends, is Urban Poser's picture of her Green Bean Casserole recipe!
Awesome, right?

Paleo Green Bean Casserole
Dosen't this look outstanding?  The idea of making and keeping this dish on the menu started with the Urban Poser's Green Bean Casserole recipe which I found totally by mistake.  She is using Ina Graten's Crispy Shallots instead of the french fried onions that are traditionally used.  I think that is a wonderful idea.  I will use Against All Grain's Creamy Mushroom Soupas the base, tho, because her soup looks a bit more creamy and that is how I like my casserole.

Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole
This is sort of the recipe I will be using.  I like to add Cinnamon and Nutmeg to my potatoes and it gives them this slightly darker color.  I am also switching out the sugar for Coconut Nectar Sugar. My new favorite sweetener to use these days is Coconut Nectar Sugar because of all the minerals in it.  It seems to be the most healthy sweetener available.  The taste is good and in moderation I am sure you will be fine.  They key is not to eat so much that you kick yourself out of fat burning.  I just can't leave it off the menu tho, it is a tradition to serve sweet potatoes at our house.

Biscuits or Cloverleaf Rolls

 None of the Paleo Biscuits I have ever tried turned out right.  No offense to my favorite blogs.  I am trying to decide to either make my own Gluten Free sweet potato biscuits, Shirley's gluten free sweet potato biscuit that used half almond flour and half gluten free flours.
*****
I had a reader make Clover Leaf Rolls out of a Modified version of my bread recipe by adding 1/4 cup of Almond Flour to the mix and forming into 2 1/2 inch balls and placing into a muffin tin.  I will have to try this, I think. this year.

Paleo Pumpkin Pie

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Our Gluten Free Thanksgiving Menu Plan, 2011

A Traditional Gluten Free Thanksgiving.

I am a traditionalist by heart.  I like to serve up the same super special family favorites every year.  I even go as far as not serving them any other time of the year.  This way when the family sees the china out, the special glasses, the silverware.....they know this meal is meaningful.  If you look at my menu plan this year and say, "Gee Lisa that looks like last years", you are probably right.  I change very little from year to year.  However, I am going to re-share my menu anyway.  It is my way of welcoming you to our family table.  We always have room for one more!

Roasted Turkey and a Brine Recipe

What is Thanksgiving without the turkey?  Riverside brand (Walmart) and Butterball are the gluten free options in our neck of the woods.Riverside has gluten free printed right on the package.  I always feel good when I see that.  This brine recipe is Alton's.  Its awesome and rocked our world the first time we ever tried the brine.  It really does make the turkey extra moist.  

Stuffing, the Traditional Recipe

This is it, the way I have been making stuffing since the very first time.  The big issue here with stuffing is the gluten free bread.  I have heard that gluten free bread does not hold up under pressure and turns to goo.  GROSS!  I did not actually have this problem.  This picture above was stuffing from inside the turkey.  Yes, we are an inside the turkey stuffing family.  It has been the way since before I was born and so far a total of ZERO people got sick from this method.  Notice that you can still see the shape of the cubes.  I baked my own bread from my Udi's copycat recipe.  I am not actually sure how it would turn out using Udi's although it seems like it would be the same since this recipe is a literal copycat.  I would love to hear from any of my readers who tried that.  See this year its all about convenience.  I may still bake up some of this bread with tons of savory stuffing type seasonings.  Or I may use  a loaf of Udi's White bread.   

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Okay, so this is the only recipe I actually do make and serve throughout the year.  I am planning on putting it in the crock pot to stay warm until dinner.  This way the potatoes are not cold.  The biggest Thanksgiving disaster, in my opinion, is cold mashed potatoes. 

Green Bean Casserole

I may be the only one eating and enjoying this dish.  My kids really do not care for it.  No matter, in my mind it is not Thanksgiving without the Green Bean Casserole.  Making it gluten free is tricky tho.  Either you have to make your own breaded fried onions, or do what I am doing and cheat.  This year I'm using Progresso Cream of Mushroom Soup (its gluten free!) and Kinnikinnick Planko style bread crumbs tossed with onion powder and oil for the topping.  Basically this linked recipe with bread crumbs instead.  I have heard folks putting Funyons in the mix to mimic the fried onions.  Not sure I'll go there but figured I'd toss that idea out for ya. 

Candied Yams

This year we grew our own organic sweet potatoes.  Cool huh?  Those sweet potatoes will show up on our dinner table as Candied Yams and in the Sweet Potato Biscuits.  

Cranberry Port Conserve

This recipe came from a gourmet type magazine a very long time ago (Im older than you think). I originally started making this when I was young and childless.  Before I knew that the stuff they line the cans with just may help in killing you.  My only motivation to make this was because it made me feel super gourmet ;-).  It is good though, and tastes just like that stuff from the can. 

Easy Gluten Free Turkey Gravy

My son told me this morning that I make gravy better than anybody in the world.  Sweet huh?  Truth is, this recipe is no big secret.  The best juices come right out of the turkey and make the best gravy.  Just thicken it up with some corn starch, brown rice flour or betty crocker gluten free bisqick mix.  I think the combination of the rice flour and gum in the bisquick does the best job as a thickener.  I tend to use betty crocker gluten free bisqick mix as a replacement for the Wondra flour I USED to use before Celiac.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

This really truly does taste like a regular honest to goodness biscuit from your wheat eating days.  I think its the sweet potatoes that make the difference.   I know if you are anything like me, you have been burned so many times when it comes to gluten free bread.  But I would not lie to you here, its really a good recipe.  

Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe Ever

The crust pictured here is the whole foods crust.  I will be using their crusts again this year.  

Pecan Pie (no recipe yet)

Maybe I will add some brown sugar carrots to the mix or buttered corn.  No recipe required.  My preparation schedule can be found by clicking here.  I hope you have a happy, healthy and blessed holiday!  

I will be linking this post to

• Good Cheap Eats Thanksgivng Linkup
• Orgjunkie's Menu Plan Monday
• Celiac Family's Gluten Free Menu Swap

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The Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe Ever...

I am crazy, I know it.  I am sitting here Thanksgiving day sharing a recipe with you.  I am hopelessly addicted to sharing great recipes with you.  This one wont take long, I promise.

Everybody has a favorite Pumpkin Pie recipe, Im sure.  There are TONS of them out on the net.  They even come on the back of the can of Pumpkin you buy.  All good, all very similar.  But this one I have decided just now is my personal favorite.

1 Pie Crust (I used Whole Foods Bakery Crust, Yum)
2 cups pumpkin Puree
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ginger
1/8 teaspoon Cloves
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Canned Milk
2 eggs well beaten
1 cup heavy cream

• Combine pumpkin along with next 4 ingredients.  Beat well.
• Add in milk, eggs and cream. Beat until combined well.
• Pour into the pie shell and bake at 325 degrees one hour 

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Thanksgiving Preparation

I remember my very first Thanksgiving.  I was having about 20 people over.  There were things to worry about like having enough chairs and plates and serving just the right drinks.  Our turkey was 23 pounds that year ~ WOW.  In fact, it barely fit into the oven but we were so excited to have tons of turkey!  This year our turkey is 14 pounds and that suites us just as nicely as that 23 pounder did back then.

We are so far from where we grew up and where our family lives that the days of 20 plus guest are gone.  It will be the 6 of us this year and we will perfectly happy with that!  I am blessed that I do still have some family local that I can enjoy the holidays with.

While thinking about all of this, I remember that I have been making Thanksgiving dinner for 14 years now.  WOW, am I old :-D.  In the beginning I needed to take two days off of work and prep all day long those two extra days.  I'm serious.  I have no idea why it took me so long, maybe because I was nervous.?!?!?!? But these days, I do not need a schedule.  Its more like a plan and its the same plan I follow each year.  I have been doing it precisely this way for so long that I can do this with my eyes closed.  I included my general plan below in case you were wondering what MY Thanksgiving morning will look like.

Take care and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A week or two ahead:

Plan menu

Review all recipe and cross check with your pantry

Make shopping list

Purchase all necessary ingredients

Buy frozen turkey and place in refrigerator to thaw (takes a week)

Made Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes and placed them in the deep freezer

Monday:

Make Fresh Loaves of Bread

Make Fresh Pie crusts (and freeze)

Peel, Slice Bake/Boil Sweet Potatoes

Take Potatoes out of Deep Freezer an put in refrigerator

Tuesday:

Turn Fresh loaf of bread into Croutons

Make Cranberry Sauce and Chill

Wednesday:

Make Brine for Turkey

Make cheesecake

Make Mashed Potatoes (in case you did not do it earlier)

Make Carrot Souffle

Make any soup you plan to serve for dinner
Wash, Dry and prep Salad Ingredients

Wednesday Night:

Take frozen pie crusts out of freezer, place in fridge

Place thawed turkey in brine overnight

Vacuum and Mop

Thanksgiving Day:

AM:

Wake up bright and early and make some Pumpkin Muffins
Make fresh loaves of bread or Sweet Potato Biscuits

Cook Onions and Celery for Stuffing & Make Stuffing (allow to cool)

Make and Bake pies (pumpkin, cranberry walnut, whatever!)

Stuff TURKEY and put in Oven

Place Carrot Souffle and Mashed Potatoes in Crock Pots

Clean up and wash all dishes (put away)

Mid Morning:

Set Table

(If using linens that need ironing, do so a few days before)

11 am:

Make Sweet Tea

Prep and set out small snacks and finger sandwiches

2 PM:

Prepare Green Bean Casserole 

Whip fresh cream for pies

Brew Coffee if serving

3PM:

Take Turkey out and Tent

Place sides in oven

Make Turkey Gravy

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Thanksgiving Thursday: What is on my Dinner Menu this year

Pumpkin Muffins (for Breakfast)

Escarole Soup (otherwise known as Italian Wedding Soup)

Mixed Garden Greens with Apples and Cider Vinaigrette

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Stuffing

Carrot Souffle

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Cranberry Port Sauce

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Cranberry Walnut Pie

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Thanksgiving Thursdays: Cranberry and Desserts

Welcome to part Three of my Gluten Free Thanksgiving.  Click on the links to find Part One. and Part Two.  


I'm going back in time.  I have the first Thanksgiving book I ever put together out and its dated 1996. Today I'm digging out the exotic cranberry sauce and desserts I served up that year.  

Cranberry Port Sauce

Cranberry Walnut Pie

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with Pecan Crust
Photo Courtesy of Olive Garden Menu
(I have not made mine again to get a new picture)

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Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with Pecan Crust

We were tired of the same old pie for the holidays so we decided to mix it up a bit. Pumpkin pie cheesecake is a new twist to the traditional pumpkin pie that is typically served. The beauty of this recipe is that the cake portion of this recipe does not require any ingredients that contain gluten.  It is naturally gluten free.

Photo courtesy of Olive Garden Menu
Did you know that Olive Garden has a Gluten Free Menu?

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Cookie Crumbs (I used Mi-Del GF Pecan Cookies)
3/4 cup Ground Pecans
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Butter, Melted
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Filling:
3 8-ounce packages of Cream Cheese (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups canned Solid Pack Pumpkin
1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves
3 large eggs

1/3 cup chopped Pecans

For Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in medium bowl and stir until moist clumps form. Press mixture into bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 9-inch diameter spring-form pan with 2 3/4 inch high sides.  Refrigerate crust while preparing filling.

For FIlling:
Beat cream cheese in a large mixing bowl until smooth.  Add pumpkin, sugar, spice, vanilla and cloves and beat until well blended.  Add eggs one at a time, beating until just incorporated before adding another egg.  Pour batter into crust (batter will extend above crust top).

Bake until top is golden and center is softly set, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Transfer pan to rack.  Cool completely.  Cover and chill over night.

Using small knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake.  Remove pan sides.  Garnish cake with pecans and serve.

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Cranberry Sauce

This is the original Cranberry Sauce recipe I served at my first Dinner back in 1996 . It was adapted from a recipe I found in that years seasonal Bon Appetit magazine.  I have changed it up a bit though.  The original called for currents and walnuts.

I suppose what lured me to this recipe was the Port.  I was young and newly in love and very much into wine with dinner on special occasions.  I splashed this port into my gravy base, into the cranberries, into my glass!  Enjoy!

1 12-ounce package fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup ruby Port
1 medium navel orange, unpeeled, chopped

Combine cranberries, sugar and Port in saucepan.
Bring mixture to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Reduce heat to low and add orange.
Simmer until cranberries burst and mixture thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.
Cool cranberry conserve completely.

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Cranberry Walnut Pie

This was one of the first pies I ever made for that first Thanksgiving back in 1996. I was inspired to make it from a recipe I read in a magazine at the time that suggested using dried berries and apricots. I am a HUGE fan Pecan pie and I had extra walnuts from various other recipes and had extra fresh cranberries from the Conserve I made that year.  So figured blend them.  

I was not really expecting my Brother and Sister to love this pie as much as they did. I half expected them to say it was a bitter pie from the cranberries. Nope, they LOVED it.  It is now and ever will be their all time favorite pie.  It goes faster than the pumpkin pie actually does if you can believe that.

1 Pie Crust  (I'm using whole foods GF Pie Crust ~ yum!)
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
3/4 cup Maple Syrup (the real stuff)
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Walnuts, chopped
1 cup Fresh Cranberries (whole)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter 8 inch pie plate and place your pastry dough to prepared dish.  Crimp edges.
• Beat sugar and eggs in mixing bowl.
• Add in maple syrup, melted butter, vanilla and salt.
• Stir in Walnuts and Cranberries (gently).  You can chop the berries if you choose, that is good also.  I like the whole berry look.
• Pour filling into crust.
• Bake pie for 45 minutes.
• Serve with whipped cream!

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Thanksgiving Thursdays: Stuffing/Dressing, Vegetables & Potatoes

Welcome to part two of my Gluten Free Thanksgiving.  If you missed part one, you can find it here.  If this is one of your first Gluten Free Thanksgivings, like us, I hope you do not feel like you are out of luck with your old favorites.  I am working hard in the kitchen so you and I can have a wonderful gluten free Thanksgiving.

Its all about the side dishes today.  I have dozens of recipes I have used over the years for the holidays, as I am sure you do as well.  These are the dishes I have selected to work on and share this year.  

Stuffing

Carrot Souffle

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

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Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole

Last thanksgiving I made a Gluten Free green bean casserole entirely from scratch.  Yes, it was yummy but oh so complicated to do for a huge meal like Thanksgiving.  This recipe is slightly less complicated. There are no French Fried Onions Gluten Free so that step you will still have to do from scratch, but the rest can be purchased.  The added mushrooms step could easily be left out to make this dish more convenient.  Below is how I intend to make Green Bean Casserole this year.

French Fried Onions:

2 Large Onions, sliced into thin rings

2 Eggs

1 cup Milk

1 cup Flour Blend (any)

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Oil

2 Tablespoons Butter

8 ounces of Sliced Mushrooms

2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Flour Blend (any)

1 18 ounce Progresso Creamy Mushroom Soup
1 teaspoon La Choy Soy Sauce
1 Pound Frozen Green Beans, thawed

• Combine Milk and egg and mix throughly and place in a wide bowl.
• Soak the onions in egg/milk mixture a few minutes.
• Combine flour and seasonings in a large mixing bowl.
• Add onions and toss to coat.
• Heat oil to about 325 to 350 degrees.
• Cook onions for 4-6 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the onions and set on paper towels to dry.
• Season with salt and pepper.

• Melt the butter in a frying pan set over medium-high heat. 
• Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. 
• Add the garlic and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. 
• Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. 
• Add the Soup and Soy sauce. Stir.
• Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 5 minutes.

• Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. 
• Top with the remaining onions. 
• Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. 
• Remove and serve immediately.

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Thanksgiving Thursday - Soups, Salads and Bread

I am sharing my 1996 Thanksgiving dinner recipes with you this year.  Today I am sharing the soup, salad and bread I served back then.  These three dishes showed up at allot of our Thanksgiving dinners over the years and are three of our favorites.

Escarole Soup, Italian Wedding Soup

Mixed Garden Greens with Apples and Cider Vinaigrette

Sweet Potato Biscuits

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Mixed Garden Greens with Apples and Cider Vinaigrette

My husband and I were married in 1995.  This salad was one of the first salad's we ever served for Thanksgiving.  Back then I subscribed to all the top of the line cooking magazines for inspiration.  This recipe was posted in Bon Appetite in the 1996 Thanksgiving Edition.  I would buy every one available and come up with my own crazy Thanksgiving concoction.

This recipe really truly is the perfect light starter for a wonderful dinner. I think leftovers of this salad could be served on bread the next day along with leftover turkey to make one awesome sandwich!

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup light olive oil

12 cups mixed torn greens (such as romaine lettuce, curly endive and watercress)
1 crisp red-skinned apple, quartered, cored, very thinly sliced

Combine vinegar, shallots, mustard and honey in small bowl. Add oil and whisk until well blended. Season vinaigrette to taste with salt and pepper.
Combine greens and apple in large bowl. Drizzle with vinaigrette; toss to coat.





Bon Appétit published recipe Circa 1996

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