Thanksgiving 2013 Menu

Cashew and Hot Pepper Turkey?grayman's new brain child, we'll see what happens there, or if it happens.

Lion House Cashew Stuffing---Um, is this a theme?

Celery Root Gold Mashed Potatoes and Gravy---Ahh, no theme.

Mashed Pineapple Sweet Potatoes---Lizzyland's brain child, again we'll see what happens. No cashews.

Favorite Fruit Salad--No cashews, walnuts.

Acorn Squash--With walnuts, wait, it's that theme thing coming up again.

Rolls--I think our guests are bringing her pumpkin rolls

Veggie Trio--peas, corn and caramelized onions. 

Caramalized Apple Pecan Cake

Pumpkin Pie

Heaven and Earth Pie --joint brain child, this will need it's own post. But no nuts....I think.


So it looks like a fairly Nutty Thanksgiving. But hey aren't we all a little nutty around the holidays?

Food and Depression

You often hear, and possibly do, emotional eating or not eating, whatever the case may be. People have all sorts of terms for it 'eating your emotions', 'comfort foods', 'too upset to eat'. Whatever it is, food and depression go hand in hand.

Yet, there are times when your depression is sparked by food. And that's what I want to talk about today.

I know this is my recipe blog. But I also make sure that it is milk free, due to my husband's food allergy. Food limitations are a part of our everyday life.

We have 4 children, each child has had food limitations, whether allergies or intolerances. We are lucky that they have all grown out of them. But we've been there. I've walked hand in hand with friends as their kids are found to have allergies.

It is hard. It is just as hard as any other special need. It effects every aspect of your life, and is a daily challenge if not hourly.

And with these challenges depression can come right along for the ride.

Our oldest daughter, by the time she was a year old was diagnosed with 11 different food allergies. Emotions I went through was feeling alone, overwhelmed, anxiety, and honestly had trouble finding food to put on the table.

I didn't really have a support system. Yeah people knew about it, and they were always ready to say 'that's rough'. But I couldn't find anyone that knew what we were going through. That really got it. These days I can find them online, and even a local support group. But at that time I felt so alone.

By the time our daughter was 2 dinner would be "Here's 3 things from the fridge that she can eat. It doesn't make any sort of real meal, but it's food." Yes I remember one dinner that was plain rice, plain chicken, and peaches (in syrup, not juice because they use pear juice and that was on the list of allergies).

Shopping was a torturous experience. We were never there for less than an hour due to the number of labels we had to read.

In short we were in a total depressive funk, and there was no end in sight. Then one day we were in the store and saw Ground Turkey. Yes, it was probably always there and we just never noticed. Beef was another thing on the list. But that day they had a sale on ground turkey. And suddenly a light bulb went off. I could use ground turkey instead of ground beef.

I swear angels were singing that day. It was a momentous day. And it was the first day I started to think 'Hey! I think we might actually be able to do this.' Suddenly I was reinvigorated to find new recipes, to experiment. Daughter grew out of her allergies by 4 1/2, and that was lovely.

My next two weren't too big of a deal, as they were only unable to have 2 things each (milk and seafood for one, milk and barley for another) and since we were already milk free it wasn't that big of a deal.

Then came our youngest. And since I was breastfeeding her, any restrictions she had, I had. There was no cheating. And she couldn't have anything it seemed like. This time around I did better with the depression, I never stopped looking for things. But the denial of so much food took a toll.

Now, some of my friends will introduce me to others and call me an "expert" on food allergies (I am not). And I find myself talking to these other Moms. And one thing I warn about is depression. Yes, I can give you ideas on dealing with it, I can help you find recipes, resources, an allergist. But you can find that out with a bit of research on your own. I can give book recommendations. I highly recommend The Parent's Guide to Food Allergies.

But one thing I don't see much mention of is how dealing with all these food issues can bring on depression. So I warn Moms (Dad's aren't immune, I'm just usually talking to the Mom) to be on the look out. And to get yourself a good support system.

As Holiday's roll around, it can be the hardest time, as everything is centered around food. And harder is that quite often you will be where someone else is doing the meal, and the stress of that is extraordinary.

I've heard horror stories from others on things that have happened. So I'd like to give some advice to anyone cooking for someone with food allergies or intolerances, based on the fabulousness of our own families.

1) It's ok if not everything is safe for the food allergic person. We understand, having something that they can eat is great. If you can't make the main dish safe, please let us know in advance and we'll bring something if necessary for the food allergic person.

2) Beware of cross contamination. Please try not to even cook a dish with food allergies at the same time as food allergy free food. So many times we've had problems from things like shared cutting boards, bowls, spoons, spatulas. If you must share oven space, please put the food allergy free dish on top, that way there is no worries of spilling.

3) Please don't be offended when we have to interogate you on what is in the dishes and how it was cooked. We don't like doing it, but trips to the ER are worse. We are not trying to be insulting, but if you aren't having to do this everyday it is so incredibly easy to make a mistake and not even realize it. (Do you know how many spray oils contain milk?!)

4) Easiest thing on everyone, is don't put anything away. It's a pain for you, since your kitchen can get a bit cluttered, and you have to put it all away later. But it makes it so we don't have to interrogate. So you spray the pan with spray oil, put it on the counter. Then you threw in a can of X, don't throw the can away, put it on the counter. Then you used X seasoning mix, on the counter. Then when we come in we can do to the pile look through everything and feel safe and sound knowing what is in there.

5) Ask us. If there is anything you have questions on, just ask us. Don't try to Google it, or guess it. We don't feel bothered. We don't feel unsafe with you cooking. In fact in asking us, you set yourself up as a safe person.

May you all have a Happy, and Safe Holiday Season!

Paleo Banana Muffins

1 1/2 C Almond Butter or All Natural Peanut Butter
2 Ripe Bananas
2 eggs
1/4 C applesauce
2 Tablespoon Honey
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
1/4 C Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Bake at 325 degrees F
Mini Muffins 20 minutes
Bread 45 minutes

Honey Almond Donuts

**recipe in progress**

I found a waffle recipe on allrecipes.com I believe. But most of the comments talked about how it didn't work well. But one comment mentioned that it tasted like egg donuts. It got me thinking, and I've been working.

This recipe only slightly resembles the first one. And it's still not quite there yet.

Honey Almond Donuts

1 C Almond Flour
1 pinch of salt
1 heaping teaspoon Baking Powder
4 eggs
1/4 C Oil (I use peanut)
1/4 C Honey

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
•  Mix all ingredients well together. 
• Spoon into well oiled donut pan. Batter will be very liquidy
• Bake for 10 minutes.

This only makes about 6 donuts. And it still sticks in the pan. Still working on it.

Variation 1

• Add 1 Large Banana to the batter. 
• Makes about 7 donuts. 

 Still sticks in pan. Tastes like banana bread

Variation 2

• Add 1/4 Cup potato starch
• Add 2 teaspoons vanilla

 This makes about 10 donuts. It tastes like plain white cake. And comes out of the pan alot better. But make sure to run a plastic knife (I prefer my daughter's IKEA ones) along the edges to loosen. 

Scalloped Macaroni and Ham

This is a forgotten family favorite. We love it, but often forget about it all together, so we go long periods of time not having it. Usually followed by having it weekly for a month.
This is a recipe that we had in a recipe book, and then changed it so much it is now our own recipe. So here it is.

Scalloped Macaroni and Ham

• 1 lb dried elbow macaroni
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 Tbsp non-dairy margarine
• 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 Cups milk alternative (I've done both soy and almond with favorable results)
• 2 Cups diced Ham
• 1 Cup Frozen Peas
• 1 1/2-2 Cups bread crumbs
• 3 Tbsp non-dairy margarine, melted
• salt
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• cayenne pepper

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2) Cook the macaroni until tender, but still firm (al dente). Drain well.

3) While the pasta cooks,  in a saucepan cook onion and 4 Tbsp margarine until onion is see through. Stir in flour, basil, and pepper. Add milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in a dash of salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. (Very important do not add these earlier and cook them in the sauce, stir in after done.)

4) Stir in ham, peas, and macaroni. Transfer mixture to a large casserole dish. (Can mix it all in the casserole dish if your pan is not large enough.)

5) Mix together breadcrumbs with 3 Tbsp melted margarine and 3/8 tsp cayenne pepper. Sprinkle over top of casserole. Should cover the entire thing.

6) Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

7) Enjoy!

This is a favorite with children and adults alike. The cayenne pepper gives enough flavor for adults without so much heat that kids complain.

thanksgiving turkey

This recipe is a combination of a recipe that we found several years ago and the technique that my grandmother used.

The quantities will change based on the size of the turkey.  This year we had about a 14 lbs turkey.

1 small onion chopped fine

4-5 Hungarian wax pepper chopped fine.

1 stick margarine softened. (1/2 cup)

salt if desired

mix so that it is sort of a paste

After the turkey is defrosted, gently separate the skin on the back using your hand, a small parring knife may be used to assist. Be careful not to put any extra holes in the skin.  Add the mixture between the skin and the meat.  Place the bird in the pan with the back up (upside down from most recipes) so that the leggs and wings are on the bottom rather than the top, this will allow the fat and flavor to filter through the bird while it cooks an help keep the white meat moist.

Cook for half the time covered, the remove the cover for the second half.  There is no basting.  Use the  temperature and time recommended for the size.

We have enjoyed this recipe for several years and is now the only way we will prepare it.  The pepper flavors and gives a mild spicy flavor to the meat closest to the skin, leaving the rest very flavorful. 

Note,  any variety of hot pepper will work.

Thanksgiving in Review Part 2: Crockpot

As you may remember for my menu planning post we decided to try doing both the stuffing and the sweet potatoes in our crock pots. I will say that both were a flop. But for the play-by-play read on:

Traditional Crockpot Stuffing

Make this easy stuffing in your crockpot to help save time and work on Thanksgiving day.

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours, 25 minutes

Yield: Serves 12

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 (8 oz.) cans sliced mushrooms, drained
• 12 cups day old bread cubes, dried overnight
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1-1/2 tsp. dried sage leaves
• 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 - 2 cups chicken or turkey broth
• 2 eggs, beaten

Preparation:

To dry bread, let it stand uncovered overnight on a wire rack, or bake in a 200 degree F oven for about 20-30 minutes, until firm. In a heavy skillet, melt butter over low heat. Add onion, celery, parsley, and mushrooms and cook and stir for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, place bread cubes in a large bowl. Pour this mixture over bread cubes, then add all seasonings and toss well. Add eggs and mix well. Pour in enough broth to moisten, about 1/3 cup at a time, tossing with fork. Don't make the dressing too wet! Spoon lightly into 5-6 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, sprinkling with some more chicken stock once or twice during the cooking time. 

 

Changing colors so it's easier to tell where the recipe ends and I begin. 

First off, this didn't have a bad flavor. But then again it is pretty much a basic stuffing recipe, so how much can you screw up the taste?

This had WAAAAAAY too much broth in it. We basically ended with an almost mush. I prefer a crispier stuffing, and I knew I wasn't going to get that in a crockpot, but I didn't expect something that was almost a stew in texture and liquid. So I'm not sure we will ever try this again, but if we do it will be with maybe 1/4 of the liquid called for. 

 

Sweet Potato Mash w/ Pecans (crockpot)

Ingredients

2	lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch slices
1	cup apple juice, no sugar added, 100% juice
1	tbsp. ground cinnamon
1	tsp. ground nutmeg
½	tsp. allspice
¼	tsp. ground cloves'
AFTER COOKING, STIR IN:
	Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
	Apple juice (see instructions)
	Pecans (optional)
	Honey or maple syrup to taste (optional for those who like a sweeter version)

Directions

Prepare your sweet potatoes and place in 3 qt. crock pot. Add 1/2 cup of the apple juice (NOT the full cup) and your spices. Cook on Low for 4-5 hours or until sweet potatoes are cooked through and soft.
When potatoes are fully cooked through, using a hand blender, blend the sweet potatoes inside your crock pot insert, adding the second 1/2 cup of juice. Season with more cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. Top with pecans and enjoy.
Note: While this dish is yummy without the pecans, the pecans truly add the final touch to the flavor. Unless you have a nut allergy, we highly recommend the pecans. Do not be afraid of the fat in pecans. It is healthy fat a perfectly acceptable for Skinny eating.

Ok, me again. First off, this did not cook in 4-5 hours. More like 8-9. But then again we probably made a bigger batch than what is called for in this recipe. John will have to verify, but he's catching up on some much needed sleep right now. 

I say this basically tasted like Spiced Applesauce, only a bit drier. John's opinion was that it tasted kinda like wassail if you replace orange for sweet potato. In either case, instead of the flavor accenting the sweet potatoes it masked it.   No one could eat a full serving of it. Honestly the pecans were the best part, and we didn't even get them toasted (as I made a note on the menu planning of wanting to try). So this is a recipe that for us is going in the trash. 

We like sweet potatoes. If I wanted apple, I'd make an apple recipe. So back to the drawing board for next year. 

So in review, the new recipes did not turn out as well as planned and we will continue our hunt for the perfect Thanksgiving dishes.