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 :)

Favorite Summer Salad

Due to my current condition, gardening has not exactly been at the top of my priority list these days. Thankfully, I have an amazing husband!! A few months back, I dragged him to the Home Depot, and we picked out a handful of veggie and herb plants. He has labored over the garden this summer with diligence that I envy. And it has paid off. I swear I've never seen our garden look so good! So that's what happens when you actually water every day...lol.

Well, everything's growing nicely. The only problem is, I haven't been cooking as much. My herbs especially are exploding, and I am struggling to keep up with the weekly haul.

This salad has been a staple, since it is so fresh, easy, and doesn't require any heat! I must admit, this is one of very few ways that I actually enjoy cucumbers.

I adapted from this recipe over at The Food Lover's Kitchen, which is also in their fantastic cookbook. If you click on the photos on the recipe page, the salad is actually the second one that shows up, and it's gorgeous!

Because I'm a little OCD with my food, I measure out exactly equal parts tomatoes, cucumbers and olives, so I can have a bit of each in every bite, but you can do whatever you would like :)

Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Serves 1

1/2 cup each kalamata olive halves, cucumber chunks, and grape tomato halves
A handful of fresh basil, chopped thinly
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2-1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
A couple shakes of salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A dash of garlic and onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. Serve, and enjoy!

This salad keeps for a few hours, but isn't quite as good the next day, so I make just enough to eat.



Anyone else experiencing an abundance of herbs? How about those zucchini? Get ready for that saga...coming soon ;)

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!

Avocado Goodness "Recipe"

I mentioned this fantastic recipe in this post, and figured I'd share my favorite way to enjoy it. It's so easy, it really doesn't even need a recipe!

Sarah at Everyday Paleo created this little delight and I love her for it! It makes a great post workout snack or a fantastic side to most dishes where you want to add some delicious fat.

Avocado Goodness

Recipe adapted from Sarah at Everyday Paleo

1 avocado, halved, w/ pit removed

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

A pinch each garlic powder and salt

A sprinkle black pepper

Arrange your avocado halves on a plate. Either whisk together the remaining ingredients and drizzle over the avocado, or just pour on top of the avocado, and enjoy.