Thanksgiving Revisited

Since it is that time of year again, I am reposting my recipes from our first GAPS Legal Thanksgiving. I fully intend to make the pumpkin pie, the cranberry jelly (with honey), and the amazingly juicy brined and roasted turkey. The rest of the menu is yet to be decided for 2012. But in the meantime, here is what 2011 Thanksgiving looked like for The Grateful GAPS Holiday Food blog hop.

Totally GAPS Legal Thanksgiving Meal! (2011)

I feel like I have come over a huge hurdle! I made a 100% GAPS Legal Thanksgving dinner.

Here is what we enjoyed today. (We can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!)

Honey Brined Turkey (see recipe below)

Butternut Squash Casserole

Pecan Crusted Apple Pie

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Homemade Cranberry Jelly (recipe below)

Coconut Flour Bread Dressing with Giblets

Honey Brined Turkey Recipe
I took this recipe and this recipe (both from Alton Brown) and created my own. I have been making AB's classic Roast Turkey for years now. But because it has sugar in the brine I needed a modification. This worked great! The only thing I would do differently is brush the turkey with melted coconut oil instead of rubbing it with ghee. The ghee caused the uneven browning that you see in the picture. It was still very moist and delicious if not very pretty.

Turkey Brine
1 cup hot water (I use filtered)
1 lb real salt
1 lb honey

Combine hot water, honey and salt and stir until salt dissolves. Add 1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns and 1 1/2 tsp whole allspice berries. Pour into a 5 gallon bucket or cooler. Add in 2 quarts of vegetable broth and 1 seven lb bag of ice. Stir to combine. Place thawed turkey neck-side down in liquid until completely immersed. Let sit in cold place for 8 to 16 hours.

Approx. three hours before serving. Remove turkey from brine. Throw away the brine and wash and pat dry the turkey. Rub the turkey with melted coconut oil and place in roasting pan. Add to the cavity 4 sprigs of rosemary, 4 sprigs of sage and 1/2 onion sliced, 1 red apple sliced and 2 cinnamon sticks. (Steam the onions, cinnamon, and red apple in one cup of filtered water until soft and then add to the cavity with sage and rosemary.)

Roast turkey uncovered on lowest rack at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn down the temp after that to 350 and roast for another 1 1/2- 2 hours until thickest part of breast reads 161 degrees on a meat thermometer. (I tent my turkey breast with foil to keep it from drying out after I turn down the heat to 350. I took the foil off the last 30 minutes.  Let rest covered for 15 minutes before carving. My turkey was 13 lbs and took a little under 3 hours total.


Cranberry Jelly

I followed the basic homemade jello recipe from here and made it into what I was aiming for (tastes like the canned cranberry jelly that is GAPS legal).

1 Quart  "Just Cranberry" Juice
Grade B Maple Syrup
4 Tbsp Great Lakes Gelatin Powder

In a pan over medium heat mix cranberry juice and maple syrup. (I added around 3/4 cup or less.) Taste to see how sweet you want it to be. Let cool. Then remove 1 cup of juice mixture and heat until hot in a small pan. Add gelatin powder mix well with a whisk until gelatin is fully dissolved. Add the rest of the cold juice mixture and set in fridge to chill over night.

PLEASE Note: I did not know until after Thanksgiving that maple syrup is not legal on GAPS. But it would be easy to add honey to taste instead. That's what I will do next year.

Dairy Free Breakfast Casserole and Dairy Free Ice Cream

I made these recipes up tonight. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

GAPS Breakfast Casserole (dairy free)

1 large onion thinly sliced

2/3 of a medium zucchini grated

1 cup frozen broccoli florets chopped

1 1/2 lbs medium hot sausage crumbled and cooked

12 eggs

1/3 cup filtered water

In a medium sized pan crumble and brown sausage until cooked through.

In a separate pan, cook onions in 2 Tbsp of butter or oil of choice. Cook on medium low heat with a pinch of salt until caramelized. 

In a large bowl crack 12 eggs and add water. Whisk eggs and water together.

Take the pan with the sausage off the heat and add in cold chopped broccoli and grated zucchini and cooked onions. Mix until well combined. Pour sausage-veggie mixture into greased 9X13 pan. Pour out meat/veggie mixture evenly in the pan. Then pour whisked eggs evenly over sausage and veggies. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the top of the casserole before placing in oven.

Place in 350 oven and bake for 35-45 minutes

NOTE- You could always cut this recipe in half  for a smaller family. Just use a smaller pan like an 8X8. This provided plenty for our family of five. We even had leftovers. I made this for dinner and now we have leftovers for breakfast waiting.

Dairy Free Ice Cream

3 bananas sliced and frozen

1 cup frozen strawberries

large splash of vanilla

honey to taste

1/4 cup water (if mixture looks crumbly)

In food processor process all ingredients until smooth soft serve ice cream consistency. (Add water as processing if mixture looks very crumbly.) Serve immediately.

There is a myriad of flavor combination options. You can mix any fruit with the frozen bananas. The key to the smooth ice cream texture is the frozen bananas. You can't leave those out. If I had some avocados I would have added those and some extra honey to add more fat.

GAPS Legal Dairy Free Cream of Tomato Soup

I made this recipe up and it was super easy and yummy! I love Pacific's Creamy Tomato soup. But since we are on GAPS it has illegal ingredients. I was aiming for that kind of tomato soup flavor. This turned out great and is now another family favorite.

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 large onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 1/2 celery stalks diced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 28oz canned diced tomatoes
2- 3 cups homemade beef bone broth (or other broth)
salt to taste
pinch dried basil

In pan on medium heat put coconut oil. When melted add diced veggies and cook until onions are translucent. Add a pinch of salt. Add minced garlic. Cook for another minute. Add large pinch of dried basil. Add in diced tomatoes and broth. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about ten minutes. Remove from heat and blend with stick blender (you can pour it in the regular blender, but just be aware that hot liquids in a blender do expand and don't let the top blow off.).

You can add sour cream or shredded raw cheese if you do dairy. My little guy had a dollop of coconut milk in his and liked it.

You can also leave out the extra broth and add more basil and use this as a pizza sauce.

These crackers http://grainfreefoodie.blogspot.com/2010/03/dairy-free-cheez-it-crackers.html
or this http://www.wellfedhomestead.com/gaps-legal-grilled-cheese-sandwiches-and-tomato-soup
would be yummy to go with it.

The coconut bread that I made with it was not a good fit. I'll try the crackers next time.

Banana Carrot Grain Free Muffins

This recipe was created by our sweet friend Sarah. They are absolutely delicious. They make great road food too!



Banana Carrot Muffins

1 c pitted dates
3 very ripe bananas
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
3 eggs
1/4 melted coconut oil

In food processor, process dates. Add melted coconut oil and process til smooth. Add eggs, bananas, & vinegar. Process until smooth.
Add dry ingredients listed below (except grated carrots) and process again.

2 cups almond flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Add 1 1/2 cups grated carrots and pulse to just combine.

Scoop out into well greased muffins cups and bake at 350 degrees for 24 minutes or less. Makes 15 regular muffins and 24 minimuffins.


Remove from pan and let cool until warm. Then cover and let cool completely. Bet you won't let them cool though before you eat them :)

Totally GAPS Legal Thanksgiving Meal!

I feel like I have come over a huge hurdle! I made a 100% GAPS Legal Thanksgving dinner.

Here is what we enjoyed today. (We can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!)

Honey Brined Turkey (see recipe below)

Butternut Squash Casserole

Pecan Crusted Apple Pie

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Homemade Cranberry Jelly (recipe below)

Coconut Flour Bread Dressing with Giblets

Honey Brined Turkey Recipe
I took this recipe and this recipe (both from Alton Brown) and created my own. I have been making AB's classic Roast Turkey for years now. But because it has sugar in the brine I needed a modification. This worked great! The only thing I would do differently is brush the turkey with melted coconut oil instead of rubbing it with ghee. The ghee caused the uneven browning that you see in the picture. It was still very moist and delicious if not very pretty.

Turkey Brine
1 cup hot water (I use filtered)
1 lb real salt
1 lb honey

Combine hot water, honey and salt and stir until salt dissolves. Add 1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns and 1 1/2 tsp whole allspice berries. Pour into a 5 gallon bucket or cooler. Add in 2 quarts of vegetable broth and 1 seven lb bag of ice. Stir to combine. Place thawed turkey neck-side down in liquid until completely immersed. Let sit in cold place for 8 to 16 hours.

Aprox. three hours before serving. Remove turkey from brine. Throw away the brine and wash and pat dry the turkey. Rub the turkey with melted coconut oil and place in roasting pan. Add to the cavity 4 sprigs of rosemary, 4 sprigs of sage and 1/2 onion sliced, 1 red apple sliced and 2 cinnamon sticks. (Steam the onions, cinnamon, and red apple in one cup of filtered water until soft and then add to the cavity with sage and rosemary.)

Roast turkey uncovered on lowest rack at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn down the temp after that to 350 and roast for another 1 1/2- 2 hours until thickest part of breast reads 161 degrees on a meat thermometer. (I tent my turkey breast with foil to keep it from drying out after I turn down the heat to 350. I took the foil off the last 30 minutes.  Let rest covered for 15 minutes before carving. My turkey was 13 lbs and took a little under 3 hours total.


Cranberry Jelly

I followed the basic homemade jello recipe from here and made it into what I was aiming for (tastes like the canned cranberry jelly that is GAPS legal).

1 Quart  "Just Cranberry" Juice
Grade B Maple Syrup
4 Tbsp Great Lakes Gelatin Powder

In a pan over medium heat mix cranberry juice and maple syrup. (I added around 3/4 cup or less.) Taste to see how sweet you want it to be. Let cool. Then remove 1 cup of juice mixture and heat until hot in a small pan. Add gelatin powder mix well with a whisk until gelatin is fully dissolved. Add the rest of the cold juice mixture and set in fridge to chill over night.

PLEASE Note: I did not know until after Thanksgiving that maple syrup is not legal on GAPS. But it would be easy to add honey to taste instead. That's what I will do next year.

The Best Way to Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies- Chocolate Pudding!

This is such a crazy creation and you would never think that it would taste as amazing as it does. Chocolate pudding that is made with avocados! I got the recipe here. I was totally skeptical when I started making it. But it is lick the bowl good and you would never know it had avocado in it! Great way to get avocado into those (like my boys) that won't eat it otherwise.

Braised Cabbage

I made this from the Internal Bliss cookbook. I never even liked cooked cabbage until I made it this way. The beef bone broth makes it taste rich and meaty and the ghee and coriander are key to cutting the bitter taste and bringing out the buttery sweetness.

You can find the recipe here.