A Very THM Thanksgiving

Edited to change stuffing recipe - reduced amount of sage

Let's Talk Turkey!

 Wait turkey is about the only thing we don't have to talk about. A juicy, roasted turkey is perfectly on plan! What about Stuffing? or Cranberry Sauce? or Pumpkin Pie? And how on earth do you THMify (new word!) Sweet Potatoes??? Stick around and I'll teach you!!


   Let's Tackle the Stuffing, First!

   Stuffing?!  Yep. We used cauliflower as the base. The seasonings make it taste a lot like Stove Top Stuffing. I asked Mr. Traditional how he liked it (btw, he doesn't do 'diet' food) he said it was pretty good, but you could taste the cauliflower a little. I don't mind tasting it a little. This recipe is very customizable. I understand some folks like sausage in theirs, brown some and throw it in. Big cranberry fan? Throw some in. Not a fan of thyme? Throw it out.  Customize it to your tastes. ( I would not, however recommend throwing out the cauliflower, just sayin' ;)

STUFFING - S

32 oz of  frozen Cauliflower

1/2 cup of Chicken (or turkey) stock

1 Tbsp of Butter

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

1/2 tsp of sage

3/4 tsp of rosemary, finely chopped

1/2 tsp of thyme

2 tsp of parsley

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup of Almond Flour

3 eggs

1/2 cup of Chicken Stock

Steam cauliflower to a medium consistency. 

In a saute pan add the chicken stock and the next 8 ingredients.

Simmer until vegetables are cooked and about half of the liquid is reduced.

When cauliflower is cooked, drain well.

Add the contents of the saute pan.

Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir in well, chopping up any large pieces

to a more bread cube like consistency.

Put into a baking dish about the size of an 8x8 pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.

You want the extra liquid to have been absorbed by the cauliflower.

How About A Lovely Sweet Potato Casserole! It's An S Recipe!

   Next we're going to talk Sweet Potato Casserole. I must say this was the one I thought was impossible. I was going to go off plan have to figure something out because I couldn't figure out how to make change the molecular structure of a sweet potato to make it a THM S.

AND THEN..... (drum roll... chorus of angel...etc,)  I found this next recipe on the THM Facebook  page. I asked Mr. Traditional to taste test it. He said... (another drum roll... another chorus of angels... another etc) 

"I would prefer to have this on Thanksgiving instead of the usual recipe"

Yes, he said that. No, I'm not pulling your leg. This recipe is fantastic! You cannot tell it is "diet". I give this recipe 5 stars. I would give it 6 but the scale only goes up to five ;)

I don't know who came up with this recipe, but it must be said that they are, in fact, a genius. 

(If this is your recipe, let me know. I've always wanted to meet a real food genius. I consider you smarter than Betty Crocker :)

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE - S

1 Head of Cauliflower - steamed

1 c. Pumpkin Puree

1 tsp. Stevia Glycerite

2/3 c. Just Like Brown Sugar or sweetener of choice*

1/3 c. Butter - melted

2 eggs plus 1 egg white

1 c. Coconut Milk (the canned kind)

1 tsp. Vanilla

3/4 tsp. Maple extract

1/2 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt

Topping:

1/2 c. Xylitol

1/2 c. Almond meal (or flour)

1/3 c. cold Butter

1 c. chopped Pecans

1/2 tsp. Caramel Extract**

1/3 c. Unsweetened, Coconut flakes (optional)***

Process Cauliflower in food processor (or blender) until smoother. Add pumpkin and sweeteners and process another min. Add remaining casserole ingredients and process until very smooth. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

While that is baking, make the topping. Mix xylitol and almond meal and caramel extract together. Cut cold butter into that. Stir in pecans and coconut (if using).

(At this point you can freeze it, if you want to make it up ahead. Putting the topping ingredients in a separate container. Then thaw and heat the casserole, covered, until it's hot, to continue recipe.)

Sprinkle topping over top of baked casserole. Increase temp in oven to 400. Bake 10-12 min. watching closely, just until browned.

* I used 2/3 cup of xylitol and 1/2 tsp of blackstrap molasses mixed together with a fork

** I didn't have caramel extract so I used English Toffee Better Stevia (liquid, from Now Brand)

*** My mom doesn't like coconut, so I decided to forgo that option.

On to the Cranberry Sauce...

    I was not really a big fan of cranberry sauce, but I thought this was pretty good. As a matter of fact there was some leftover, I think I'll take a quick break and go eat some ;) ( No seriously, I'll be right back)

INTERMISSION

Ahem... I'm back. Where was I? Oh, Yeah! Cranberries!

As I was saying, this is pretty good. I also found a cranberry sauce recipe from Serene and Pearl.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but as soon as I get some more cranberries, rest assured, I will.

Until then, here is the link to their recipe. You decide which one. If I try the recipe before Thanksgiving, I'll update this post and let you know which one I like better.

Serene and Pearl's Red Sauce

And the recipe for the one that I actually made.

CRANBERRY SAUCE - FP

1 cup of Xylitol

1 cup of Water

12 ounces of Fresh or Frozen Cranberries

8 drops of Orange Essential Oil

Combine xylitol and water in sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, add cranberries and bring back to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While simmering, I use a potato masher to smoosh the berries a little.

Remove from heat. Cool and add orange essential oil.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Some Veggie Ideas 

    

    Let's see... we've addressed the turkey, the stuffing, sweet potatoes, and the cranberries.

What are we missing??.... The vegetables! Yeah, not really everybody's most sought after Thanksgiving dish. But we do have a few ideas for you to help round out your meal.

Stuffed Broccoli and Cauliflower

and

Green Bean Casserole.

It's titled something like Spinach Casserole but they mention you can use green beans. 

We did that for Easter and it was really good.

These recipes are in the Trim Healthy Mama book.

If you don't have the book, you can make cooked broccoli with browned butter.

If you don't know how to brown butter, check out this You Tube Video.

How About Something to Drink?

   Serene and Pearl have created a great new all day sipper that would be perfect for Thanksgiving! I have not actually tried this yet. I'm going to gather the ingredients and try it as soon as I get a chance. However, if you want a special drink for the holiday, this sounds like a very nourishing way to do it!

Apple Pie Sip

    

    Or you could try some THM EggNog! I made this and the family loved it! It's from a blog called New Every Morning. I haven't had a chance to stalk her blog, but after this recipe, I'm going to as soon as I get a chance!

Holiday Egg Nog

Photo used with permission

That's All, Folks, Oh! Wait!

THE DESSERT! You can't have a feast without the dessert! What kind of dessert could we possibly have for Thanksgiving? (I'm thinking, I'm thinking...) Oh! I know! How about Pumpkin Pie?

PUMPKIN PIE - S

CRUST

1 cup of pecans, ground in blender

1 Tbsp of Melted Butter

2 Tbsp of Xylitol

Mix all together in the bottom of a pie pan and press onto the bottom.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

FILLING

2 Eggs

15 oz can of Packed Pumpkin

3 Tbsp of Xylitol

1/4 tsp of Salt

2 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 cup of Heavy Cream

Put all ingredients in a blender or mixer. Blend/mix until smooth. 

Pour into the pie plate.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

When it is cool, top with Whipped Cream

If you're not interested in Pumpkin Pie, maybe

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

is more to you're liking!

We really hope this post helps you with Thanksgiving. If you have any questions or comments, 

feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to monitor them.

However you choose to celebrate Thanksgiving, we hope you have a wonderful one.