Thanksgiving Menu

Food choices have come a long way since Pamela started a gluten-free, casein-free diet. In fact, they have come a long way since I blogged my first Thanksgiving menu post which always gets hits this time of year. I am very thankful that we can put on a traditional spread with traditional ingredients missing.

This year, we had a turkey and stuffed it with the cornbread stuffing mentioned in that first post. We have never missed making a favorite in our house, cranberry conserve—delicious on top of the turkey and very yummy mixed with yogurt in the race to gobble leftovers before they go bad.

I continue to experiment with old favorites as new products have come on the market. I have found coconut oil a delicious substitute for butter and shortening, which we used in mashed potatoes and biscuits made from the recipe on the back of a box of Bisquik, which debuted on our menu three years ago. The other wonderful product is Pillsbury's refrigerated dough for pie crusts. What's not to like: convenient and edible for Pamela. [Pillsbury now offers tubs of gluten-free pizza dough and chocolate cookie dough, too!] I still make the pumpkin pie recipe from the back of a can of Libby's pumpkin, double the spice.

We added two new items to the menu this year. Both were a hit. Neither required any substitution. I made maple-bacon roasted pecans for snacking, and they are so addictive! I am heavy-handed with spice, and I will probably increase the spice next time. Our vegetable was roasted asparagus: quick, easy, scrumptious.

Since we did not have time to make a health food store run, I invented with a whipped cream topping for Pamela's pie. I skimmed the layer of fat at top off of a can of coconut milk and put it in the refrigerator to harden. I whipped an egg white into a meringue, adding in a little sugar once the soft peak formed. Then, I folded the egg white into the coconut fat. Pamela loved it!

Our GF/CF Menu
Turkey
Cornbread Stuffing
Cranberry Conserve
Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Asparagus
Biscuits
Maple Bacon Pecans
Pumpkin Pie
Coconut Cream Topping

Little Sides for the Non-Dieters
Toasted Bread with Butter
Whipped Cream for the pie