Turkey
- Brine ( I am so excited to try this!)
- Roasting (I have used this recipe before and loved it! I am modifying it by making my own montreal seasoning to make sure I avoid anything weird in the store bought mixes. I might also use less of the seasoning because of the brine, but I am not sure yet!)
- Gravy (I will use reduced broth with some added gelatin along with pan drippings.)
Stuffing/Dressing
- Paleo comfort foods recipe (this is the one we will try)
- Here are a couple more I am interested in trying sometime - I just had to pick one of the three I liked to try!
- Mommypotamus's Recipe - for the pureed, gelatinous kind
- Nourished and Nurtured - made this at thanksgiving, and we LOVED it!!! Chunkier, which I adore.
- I am making both, and I am making them ahead of time - yay for less to do Christmas day!
Green Vegetables
- Green Beans with Bacon Bits and Chopped Onions sauteed in the bacon grease. Maybe extra mushrooms sauteed in there as well for my favorite 3 year old who is currently obsessed with mushrooms.
- Spinach Casserole. I grew up with this at every thanksgiving and Christmas and it is a defining dish to me for the holidays. I was so excited that I could easily adapt this to a GAPS/Paleo way of eating. It is delicious and I always make a double batch to have leftovers :-).
- Spinach Casserole {Recipe- GAPS and Paleo friendly}
- Ingredients:
- 2 packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1/4 c chopped green onions
- 1 cup sour cream (best is to use homemade, and some day I will try it with strained homemade yogurt and see how it is as an alternative. Confession: we are using store bought sour cream this time.)
- 1/2 tsp seasoned salt (I am using mountain rose herbs' seasoned salt mixture)
- 1 c each cheddar and jack cheese (raw!)
- 1/2 c parmesan cheese
- 10-12 mushrooms, sliced
- Instructions:
- Line greased casserole dish with mushrooms (Kind of like you are making a crust with all the sliced mushrooms).
- Mix remaining ingredients and spread in the dish (use your hands to spread it out and even it out).
- Cover and bake at 325 for 20 minutes, and then bake uncovered and additional 10 minutes.
- Try not to eat all of it at once. You'll want leftovers. It is a good idea to assemble the mixture ahead of time (it would easily keep a day or two or longer before cooking day).
Biscuits (Um...made with wheat flour :-o )
- Passionate Homemaking (the spelt biscuits - I will use all fresh ground wheat berries. And obviously, this is not GAPS or Paleo friendly, but it is a compromise we are making and in the past we have handled things like this well. And we love these biscuits!)
Potatoes
- I am making regular old mashed potatoes for my family that will be with us. And we will eat them, too. Again, not GAPS or Paleo friendly. Organic potatoes, lots of pastured butter, good salt, and pepper.
- I will be baking some sweet potatoes with candied pecans on top. I am not entirely sure what I will do, but I am planning at this point on putting peeled and chopped sweet potatoes in a casserole dish, toss with butter or ghee, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and ground cloves, and top with candied pecans. Paleo friendly, not GAPS friendly. For GAPS, I would do a squash bake with butternut squash and the same spices, also topped with pecans!
- Candied Pecans (using honey) (GAPS friendly)
- Candied Pecans (or other nuts) using maple syrup
- Brownies made from Walnuts (obviously this has nothing to do with Christmas, I just want to try this!)
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (Substitute honey, not GAPS legal with the chocolate chips)
Disclaimer: I strongly believe in the way we strive to eat. I have done endless (feeling) research and I have strong convictions for our family's health and future, and I am keeping this blog to share with others our journey and resources/recipes/ideas/thoughts to help people move towards better true health. However, these cookies are a staple of Christmas celebrations since before I was born (I think) in our family. This is the only time of year i make these. And I am totally going to make them and enjoy them. I want to try and figure out an adapted recipe, but I don't have the time for it this year. Maybe next year sometime. But I just have to say I am sorry to share this if you really can't or shouldn't be eating stuff like this. But I am sharing because our family adores these cookies and I'm making them and I'm just trying to be honest here....
Okay, after my little guilt-induced rant....here's the recipe...
Russian Cookies {Recipe}
(from my grandmother on my dad's side Eileen Watson who received it from her mother in law)
Ingredients:
- 1 C butter
- ½ C sugar
- ½ t. salt
- 1 t. almond extract
- 2 C. flour
- 1 – 2 C chopped nuts
- Powdered sugar
Process:
- Cream butter. Add sugar, salt, and extract. Mix well.
- Add flour and nuts. Mix well.
- Shape into crescents on ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove and dust with powdered sugar.
Sorry to end this post with such a refined flour, sugar laden recipe. :-/
Merry Christmas!!
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