Turkey Day Game Plan 2012

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Seems everyone right now is sharing their awesome recipes on the blogs, which offers an overwhelming array of delicious foods to choose from.

This year, things are going to be simplified in our house. We'll probably visit the in-laws for the usual feast, which means I will need to be stocked with some safe dining options. I'm cool with that, I love Thanksgiving food (and especially leftovers)!

However, due to the increasing size of my belly, and the strain on my poor muscles, I am not allowed to spend as much time on my feet. This has severely cramped my ability to cook lately (and do dishes, darn...).

So, this is my plan for the big day:

The Amazing Feast of 2011 

The bird: I have a 10 lb free-range turkey on its way, which I ordered from my favorite Sprouts Farmer's Market. I plan on keeping it simple, and following this winning recipe from allrecipes.com.

The sides: My favorite green bean casserole for the past few years - Thanks to Irvin at Eat the Love for allowing me to enjoy this classic dish without all the gluten and dairy! (pictured above)

Still debating between these two recipes - Roasted Orange Sweet Potatoes from Gluten Free Girl & The Chef - or Cinnamon Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (I know it's a recipe from a yogurt website, but I plan on subbing cashew cream in for the yogurt). 

Of course, I'll be whipping up a batch of Cranberry Citrus Sauce from Kim at Cook it Allergy Free! I can't get enough of this stuff. I've been dreaming about it for months now, as the weather's hinted at getting colder ;) (pictured above)

If I have any leftover sauce, I may try adding some of it to this gorgeous cake recipe from Iris at the Daily Dietribe. 

Dessert: Of course, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without something amazing to satisfy the sweet tooth! I'm sticking to my tried and true (and much loved) Chocolate Pecan Tart. I think I'm going grain free on the crust this year (I love the Food Lovers' almond flour crust!), and will somehow be adapting the filling (possibly using Hallie's pecan tart as a guide?). 

I promise to follow up this year with the results of all this hard work!

What do you all have planned this year?

*The photo above is from last year's dinner, however, I never posted a follow up on how everything turned out! It was great! The turkey was deliciously flavored, and I definitely enjoyed all my leftovers :)

Thanksgiving Menu 2011

I'm rather embarrassed that it has been 2 months since I last posted. Life has been incredibly busy and stressful, but mostly good. However, I have not had much time to keep up the blog.

So, Thanksgiving is just about here, and I'm sure most of you have your menus all planned. However, if you are in need of any last-minute inspiration, here is my plan for the big dinner.

Well, technically, we are having 2 Thanksgiving dinners. Wednesday night, we're having a smaller feast, with just the two of us. On Thursday, we're headed to Grandma's house to celebrate w/ the in-laws. They should have some safe foods for me, but I always like to be prepared, just in case. So I'm sure I'll have a Tupperware or two of leftovers hanging out in my purse.

As far as my meal plan goes, this is the rundown:

For the bird - I have my brine soaking my 12-pound free-range turkey right now, a delicious-smelling concoction from Pioneer Woman (also, check out her tips on controlling saltiness post-brine). I plan on following this recipe to actually cook the turkey tomorrow.

I LOVED this cranberry citrus sauce last year, so I am making it again. But I am struggling to resist the gorgeous photos of this tart recipe, so I think I'm going to halve the first recipe, and make a half-batch of The Food Lovers primal cranberry sauce too! Funny that I never touched this stuff as a kid, and now I can't get enough cranberry sauce!

Rolls - I had planned on making Carol's beautiful GF/DF dinner rolls...but laziness struck, and I hit up the health food store to see if I could find any rolls from my new favorite local bakery! Success! They are a bit pricey, and not at all paleo (but still GF of course), but after my first bite, I decided they're definitely worth the cost! Hopefully I will have the self-control to save the rest for dinner tomorrow.

Since we're on a pretty paleo diet these days, I thought I'd skip the stuffing this year, since I'm the only one who likes it anyway. Hopefully the rolls will be enough to give us our carb-fix (and I'm sure my husband will get his fill of mashed potatoes on Thursday).

Another favorite recipe from last year - Irvin's GF/VEGAN green bean casserole. I've been having dreams about this dish, and can't wait to taste it again! I'm trying an onion-free experiment to see how my body does without them, so I wanted a substitute for the absolutely divine shallot crisps in this recipe. I think I'm going to give this almond "bread crumb" topping a go.

I don't ever remember eating butter pecan sweet potatoes, but someone mentioned them in a blog post the other day, and I started fantasizing. So I did some searching, and came upon this recipe. Knowing Martha, she won't disappoint.

We're bringing a couple appetizers to the big dinner on Thursday. I've got a veggie platter in the works, as well as my favorite cheezy dip from Kristen's Raw. I'm also contemplating baking some bacon-wrapped dates. I wonder how many of those would still be on the plate when we get to Grandma's...

On to desserts.

I keep coming back to this paleo pumpkin pie recipe. I love that it looks like a creamy, fluffy pumpkin filling, but there's no coconut in it! I'm sold! For those who can tolerate coconut, I suggest this chocolate mousse pie which has me salivating. As far as my own chocolate fix goes, I'm also planning on making my chocolate pecan tart recipe again, but I'm wanting to paleoize it if I can. We'll see how that goes.

There are so many great resources out there for paleo/gluten-free/dairy-free and other allergy-friendly recipes, if you can find them! I hope some of the recipes I've listed have inspired you! I can't wait to hear how everyone's meal goes :)

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving all!

Wellness Challenge complete! Vote for me!!

As you all know, I have been following the Paleo diet for a month and a half now. There have been plenty of ups and downs, but definitely more ups! A new development in my life is that last Saturday my husband came to me, and said he wanted to try eating Paleo for a month. He's trying to get in shape, and hopefully bulk up a bit. Being so tall and lean, he's struggled w/ this in the past, and thinks changing his diet may help his chances. So, I'm cooking Paleo for two now! Well, more like three, since he eats almost twice as much as me...

At my husband's request, we are also trying a more strict Paleo diet for his first 30 days, meaning organic, grass-fed meats and eggs (and veggies, when available). Whew! That's gonna be pricey! Although I found some killer deals at costco, so I'm a little more excited about this aspect!

We've also been eating a lot of fresh veggies out of our garden, which I think rocks!

Conveniently, around the same time as I started my Paleo journey, Katie over at Wellness Mama decided to issue a 30 day Wellness Challenge, chock full of advice, mini-challenges, and spectacular giveaways. I decided to follow along, and started my own Wellness Journal to track my progress, and keep me motivated through the first month of this diet.

The challenge was so great! I learned a lot of great things, from my own documentation, as well as from the others participating. It was a lot of fun too, to be involved in a community of people all striving for the same goals.

Even better, I was chosen as one of the finalists for the grand prize! You can head over here to read my full story, and if you feel so inclined, you can VOTE for me here!

We're headed camping tomorrow, but when I get back, I plan on doing some serious catching up on the blog. I have so many fantastic recipes to post! The one I'll be dreaming about tonight (and hopefully photographing before consuming tomorrow) is Primal Breakfast Burritos!!

Now I'm off to make some banana bread muffins.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!

Rainbow Cookies - Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free!

My dad is coming to town this week to visit. I'm so excited! Part of what I do to prepare for a visit from someone I love is bake. Yep. I make cookies, scones, cake, brownies...something delicious to wow them with! My dad, who has such a sweet tooth, is always pretty excited to sample what I've created.

I know I mentioned a little bit about my dad here, but I wanted to share a little more about the father I respect, honor and love. Our relationship hasn't always been perfect, but he has always loved me, and done what he thought was best for me.

Food has always been a big part of our family, and I remember spending time with my dad in the kitchen, out at the grill, and in the garden preparing food for us to eat. He taught me the importance of hard work, and the reward that comes from that labor (both with food, and in other areas of my life).

Mexican food has always been his favorite, and we ate it quite often growing up. I have fond memories of family vacations, eating out, and hanging out at home. We traveled a lot, but many of my fondest memories are of small things - canning homemade salsa, riding wave-runners out on the lake, yard work, beach camp-outs and kite flying, bike rides, birthday parties, sitting around the fire pit in the backyard, Bryce Canyon family reunions, watching movies and reading together.

My dad is a very smart, spiritual, patriotic man. He works with computers, and knows more about them than anyone I know! He loves sci-fi (I practically grew up on Star Trek), good movies, "classic" literature, See's chocolates, Red Vines, cinnamon candy, music from the 70's and 80's, and photography. He helped publish the local paper when he was younger, and did some of the paper's photography. Thanks to him (and our very own dark room!), I was able to develop my own passion for the art.

I know my dad is going to love these cookies! They are flavorful, yet light, and have a great combination of almondy-nuttiness, mixed with a light fruity taste from the jam. And they're chocolate coated, to boot! Who wouldn't love 'em?

Now, on to the cookies themselves:

When I first laid eyes on this post by Britt @ GF in the City, I knew I had to try it! I've now made these cookies twice. The recipe is a bit time consuming, but breaking it up into two parts helps it feel like it's not taking too long. She did a great job adapting from this Bon Apetit recipe.

I keep forgetting to take a pic, so I borrowed this one from Britt! Yay for Mexican flag-resembling cookies for Dad!

Other than a few substitutions, I followed Britt's recipe pretty closely. Therefore, I am going to suggest you head over to her blog, and follow her well-written, detailed instructions on making these cookies.

My Substitutions/Notes

*I subbed 1/2 c sorghum flour for the millet flour.

*I then subbed 1/3 c millet flour for the brown rice flour.

*I used all tapioca starch instead of a tapioca/potato starch combo.

*I used 1 1/2 sticks of earth balance butter sub.

*I used room temperature eggs. My friend tried to make this recipe, and her eggs didn't stiffen. I think that was why.

*I forgot to buy marmalade both times I made this! So, I used strawberry jam w/ a splash of OJ the first time I made it and raspberry jam w/ a splash of OJ the second. So good!

*Also, I simmered the jam/juice combo a bit longer, to try and reduce the liquid. I ended up needing more than 1/3 c both times.

* I am pretty sure I used more than 2 oz chocolate both times (I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips). More like double that!

*Be really careful, and don't rush putting this cookie together. Especially the chocolate part. It seemed my chocolate didn't want to spread well, and I had to go slow, or it wrecked the coating.

*Also, I just used regular baking sheets to spread my dough on, since I didn't have three 8x8 pans and was impatient. They worked well. Try and spread the dough as evenly as you can.

*Cut the cookie up pretty quickly once you remove it from cooling the chocolate. I did 15 min in the fridge, instead of freezer, and the chocolate was a little too settled, and cracked in some places. Next time I'd try 10 min in the fridge.

This recipe is dedicated to my dad. I can't wait to share these cookies with him! I am also sharing this post over at Living Free, where Aubree Cherie is hosting a very special Dads' Celebration of Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free!, the great monthly carnival coordinated by Naomi at Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried.

My Dad

My dad and me (2009)

I wanted to take a minute to honor my dad on this Father's Day. I mentioned in this post that I was able to do some baking today, and even though I couldn't spend the day with my dad, I did make a couple of goodies in his honor. Well, not just in his honor...he's coming out to visit in a couple of weeks, so I'm stocking the freezer w/ gluten free goodies to share ;)

I have a great father! He's such a kind, caring man, and has always been a good example to me. We're both living very hectic lives, and don't get to see each other or talk often enough, but he is always in my heart. He's often encouraged me to follow my dreams, and pursue my passion for food. He's a great mentor. I'm so thankful to have him as my dad!

Stay tuned for a recipe dedicated to my dad, via Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! hosted by Aubree Cherie at Living Free.