Holiday Meal Plan (Gluten-free & Tasty)

0

As the holiday season approaches, the meal planning begins.  I absolutely adore this time of year because it is time for me to experiment in the kitchen and find recipes that are gluten-free, yet still delicious for my family.  I have had my “fails” (darn Pinterest fails) and I have had my successes.  This is my tried and true grain-free holiday meal plan…I love these bloggers and am grateful that they have shared these recipes with the world!  Enjoy, indulge, take a walk in between meals, and be grateful for those around you.  And make sure you scroll all the way to the end for booze tips.

Happy Holidays, y’all!!

Butterflied Turkey (the BEST turkey ever) from Nom Nom Paleo

This is my go-to turkey – I receive special requests for it all year long.  Click on the image below to see Nom Nom’s specific instructions with pictures.

holiday gluten-free meal plan
Butterflied Turkey from Nom Nom Paleo

And here is the delicious gravy recipe to accompany this turkey!!

Grain-free Stuffing from Primal Palate

gluten-free holiday meal plan
Pork stuffing from Primal Palate

Ingredients For Stuffing:

  • 1 pound ground pork (pasture raised)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 packs of button mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons each, rosemary, thyme, and sage, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tsp each, fennel seeds, anise, and paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
**Note: Adjust stuffing measurements accordingly depending on the amount of people being served. This stuffing filled a 16 lb turkey, as well as a 5 qt braising pan.

Directions:

  1. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
  2. Place bell pepper, mushrooms, and celery into skillet and saute.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground pork, onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, fennel seeds, anise, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
  4. Add ground pork mixture to skillet, and cook until pork is browned slightly.
  5. Remove from heat, and discard any liquid in the pan.

Bacon and Chive Sweet Potato Biscuits from Paleo OMG

gluten-free holiday meal plan
Bacon and chive sweet potato biscuits from PaleOMG

Ingredients:

  • 1 large sweet potato or yam (equivalent to 2 cups mashed)
  • 3 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 3 eggs, whisked
  • 6-8 strips of bacon, diced – nitrate free pasture raised
  • leftover rendered fat from bacon (or coconut oil)
  • 3-4 tablespoons chives, thinly diced
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 415 degrees.
  2. Poke holes in your sweet potato with a fork.
  3. Place in oven and bake for 30-40 or until soft.
  4. When your sweet potato is almost done cooking, place your diced bacon into a skillet and brown until crispy. Then place your cooked, crispy bacon on a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up the excess fat. You will use the fat that is left behind in the pan in your biscuits.
  5. Once the sweet potato is done baking, turn oven down to 375 degrees.
  6. When your sweet potato is done, peel and place in a bowl and mash with a fork.
  7. Add in your eggs and mix well with your sweet potato. Then add your in your bacon fat and mix well.
  8. Add in your dry ingredients: coconut flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.
  9. Finally, add your diced cooked bacon and chives. Mix thoroughly
  10. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use a large spoon to drop your biscuits on the sheet, shaping them as needed. Try to make them all equal in size so they cook the same.
  11. Place in oven and bake for 22-27 minutes.
  12. Let rest.
  13. Top with some melted grass-fed butter.

Mashed Cauliflower 

gluten-free holiday meal plan
Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients:

  • 1 large head cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces (about 6 cups) *or buy Trader Joe’s cauliflower that is already diced
  • 8 tablespoons grass-fed butter (you can substitute with ghee if dairy sensitive)
  • 2 tablespoons whole raw milk or unflavored almond milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Optional add ins: roasted garlic, green onions, organic cream cheese, bacon, celery root

Directions:

  1. Place cauliflower in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain. Pour cauliflower into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add butter/ghee, milk, salt and pepper to the food processor and blend until smooth. Serve.

Green Bean Casserole from Empowered Sustenance 

gluten-free holiday meal plan
Green Bean Casserole from Empowered Sustenance

Ingredients:

  • One batch of Paleo Cream of Mushroom Soup
  • 2 lbs. green beans, trimmed and halved
  • 1 cup hazelnuts
  • 1 Tbs. ghee or coconut oil
  • 2 large shallots, diced
  • Salt, to taste
  • Pepper
  • Fresh thyme
Directions:
  1. Prepare the Cream of Mushroom Soup and keep warm set aside. Or, make it a few days ahead and reheat before preparing the casserole.
  2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a big pinch of salt. Boil the green beans until tender, about 5 minutes. They should still be green, and not mushy. Drain and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, toast the hazelnuts. Place the hazelnuts in a saute pan over medium heat for a few minutes. You’ll start to smell them and see the skins crack. At that point, transfer them to a kitchen towel. Wrap them in the towel and rub vigorously to remove most of the skins. Remove the toasted nuts and chop them.
  4. In another saute pan, heat the ghee over medium heat. Cook the shallots, stirring frequently, until soft and golden (about 7 minutes). Add a pinch of salt and pepper, the chopped hazelnuts, and about a teaspoon of fresh thyme. Set aside.
  5. Combine the green beans and soup with salt, to taste. Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve and top with the hazelnut mixture right before serving.

Cranberry Sauce from Bakerita

gluten-free holiday meal plan
Cranberry Sauce from Bakerita

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz. fresh cranberries
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon allspice

Directions:

  1. Empty cranberries into a saucepan. Add maple syrup, orange juice, orange zest, and spices to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes.
  2. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 5 more minutes. If you like your cranberry sauce very chunky, remove from heat now. If you like a smoother sauce, cook down over medium heat for another 5 minutes.
  3. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely before serving.

Pecan Pie from Deliciously Organic

gluten-free holiday meal plan
Pecan Pie (no corn syrup!) from Deliciously Organic

For the Crust:

  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 4 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon unflavored grass-fed gelatin
  • 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into tablespoons
For the filling:

Directions:

  1. Place almond flour, coconut flour, gelatin, sea salt and coconut sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times to combine. Add the butter to the flour mixture and pulse for eight 1-second pulses and then leave the processor on until the dough forms into a ball. (If dough is crumbly, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.) Press the dough on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 400ºF and adjust rack to lower-middle position. Heat maple syrup over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Simmer until syrup reaches 225ºF, about 10 -15 minutes. While syrup is simmering, place maple sugar and butter in a medium mixing bowl. As soon as the syrup reaches 225ºF, immediately pour syrup over sugar and butter mixture. Let mixture sit for 1 minute and then whisk together. Whisk in eggs, vanilla and sea salt (the mixture might look a little grainy at this point).
  3. Place prepared pie crust in pie plate on a large baking sheet. Pour mixture into your prepared pie crust and top with pecans.
  4. Cover crust with pie shield or foil. Bake for 15 minutes.
  5. Reduce heat to 350ºF and bake for an additional 15 minutes. The filling will be slightly less set in the center than the edges and it also might puff up in the middle, but will set as it cools. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate Mint Balls from Living Well Mom

gluten-free holiday meal plan
Chocolate Mint Balls from Living Well Mom

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1 cup pitted dates
  • ⅓ cup cacao powder
  • ⅔ cup shredded coconut + extra for coating
  • 2 Tbsp almond milk (or coconut milk or your favorite dairy-free option)
  • 1-1.5 tsp peppermint extract
Directions:
  1. Put the walnuts in your food processor and pulse until well chopped.
  2. Add the dates and pulse again until mixed well.
  3. Add the cacao, ⅔ cup shredded coconut, peppermint extract, and 1 Tbsp almond milk. Pulse until combined. Add 1 more tbsp of milk if needed (you should be able to roll into balls easily.) Add a little more peppermint extract if you want an extra minty flavor.
  4. Form into 1″ balls
  5. Keep refrigerated

Alcohol Choices (because sometimes this goes hand in hand with holidays)

These are “better than” choices.  Granted it is always better to refrain from holiday cocktails, but I am a realist and enjoy a cocktail here and there so here are some decent options.  Make sure with every drink that you have an 8 oz. glass of water in between.  Hydration is key!

Silver Tequila – This is a low-glycemic option and when it is 100% blue it is a sugar-free option.

Bio-dynamic wine – This is wine that has been naturally fermented and makes it toxic-free.  It also has minimal sulfites which means no headache! There is a new bio-dynamic delivery service from Dry Farm Wines (I have never used them, but have heard good things).

Potato Vodka– a gluten-free vodka option

Do you have healthy recipes that your family requests for the holidays? I would love to hear all about them!!!  Please share.