Now that Halloween is over, I am getting started planning my Thanksgiving feast for this year. It really shouldn’t be too difficult to tweak the traditional Thanksgiving foods to make them Paleo. Here’s what I have planned so far:
- BBQ Turkey: I ordered a fresh, free-range turkey from Willie Bird, which is a local firm
- Pumpkin or Butternut Squash Soup: I tried a new recipe for this last year and was underwhelmed. I’m going to do something with coconut milk and cinnamon. I’ll do a practice run on my concept next weekend
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Green salad: with any luck we’ll still be harvesting lettuce from our garden
- Roasted Root Vegetables: Carrots, beets, parsnips
- Cranberry Orange Sauce: I found a recipe in Make it Paleo:
which is very similar to the one I have used for years. The primary difference is that orange juice is used for the sweetener instead of sugar. - Pumpkin Pies: I’m doing one with a nut crust and one with a traditional gluten crust I think TMOTH (The Man of the House) and The Offspring would have a revolt if I did not make the pumpkin pie that they love and are used to.
- Whipped Cream
I need to come up with a plan for these things:
- Mashed Potatoes-If I have Mashed Sweet Potatoes do I need to also make white potatoes?
- Gravy-I need to explore some gluten-free options
- Stuffing-I’m also going to go out of the box with this and do something different (and gluten-free). I may get resistance, but honestly I think that I have been the one most interested in the stuffing in the past.
- Rolls-I don’t think I will make them this year. If one of The Offspring asks if they can bring anything, I’ll suggest bread if they want to have some with the meal.
I’ll post some of my recipes in the next few weeks. I’d love to hear how others handle diverse dietary requirements at holiday meals. If you have any suggestions, add them to the comments.
Rancho Seabow Permaculture 
Sounds yummy!!! White mashed taters is a must in our household,,,,,our Thanksgiving is past,,I’m planning for our Christmas feast:)
I’m probably being selfish by consiering not having them. I don’t like them, so it makes no difference to me if we don’t have them. Some of the family reads the blog (from time to time) and I’m waiting to see if any of them weigh in on that point.
I’ll bringing the stuffing replacement, per our previous conversation…unless you want to try something else.
What is your concept? I might want to go with both.
http://eatmindfully.weebly.com/1/post/2011/10/chickpea-vegetable-pot-pie.html
Minus the adorable crust on half.
If you don’t think that sounds good, I wont have hurt feelings 🙂
That has some similarities to the roasted root veggies I have planned. It has way more gluten (including the flour stirred into the sauce) than I want to have floating around the kitchen. We are gluten-free, but I have accepted that I will need to have some gluten to satisfy the family.
Since you are doing mashed sweet potatoes, how about a crusty potato casserole so you have a different texture? Or, steamed mashed cauliflower and celery root make a fantastic replacement for taters.
I like the crusty potato casserole dish suggestion. I don’t think the cauliflower version would go over well with the family. In the past, we’ve done a sweet potato casserole and mashed white potatoes. Perhaps a switch up this year is the answer.
Hey, I’m in Sonoma county too! Willie Bird’s BBQ turkey is great (I don’t normally like turkey!).
I do love getting their BBQ turkey drumsticks at events. We BBQ our own every year with a formula I got from Sunset Magazine. I love the flavor dimensions that cooking on a charcoal BBQ, (with soaked fruit wood chips added) gives the meat. The added bonus is that my oven is free for side dishes.
Is cornbread gluten free? if so I have a yummy cornbread stuffing recipe, southwestern style from Bon Appetit.
It generally has flour in it, so not gluten free.
You can thicken gravies with sweet rice flour, but it’s not low carb. 🙂
My concern is the gluten. Thanksgiving is a feast meal. Low carb is not a concern with this meal.