Thanksgiving Menu

I've started the baking and cooking that comes along with the momentous Thanksgiving Holiday.  

Though it's just my little family, I do enjoy the preparation that goes into such a fun meal.

I'm trying to keep it mostly grain free, as well as gmo-free, so that's the biggest change to my menu.  For the most part, it hasn't been too much of a trial.  Pinterest has been an awesome resource for me this time around!  THIS is my favorite link to reference for new cooking ideas.

So far I've baked the pumpkin rolls (see my note below), and the "cornbread" for the stuffing.  Tomorrow, it will be pies, cranberry sauce, brining the turkey, baking the sweet potatoes and some general cleaning so the house feels lovely before we eat ourselves into a food coma.

My Thanksgiving menu  :
(click on the photos to go to the originating webpage)

Dessert:  I'll start with dessert first (cause that's my favorite part)-

Pumpkin Roll recipe by Eat the Cookie - 
This one is grain free except for some brown sugar in the filling.  This would work great with maple syrup or coconut sugar as a substitute.  

I will confess that I've made this recipe 3 separate times (yes, it's that good) and I cannot figure out how she got this to roll without breaking.  I've made pumpkin rolls with wheat flour and it worked fine, but the texture with grain free is tricky.  I have ended up just cutting the pieces out and layering in between with the filling.  It tastes the same, but doesn't look as impressive.

 

Pecan Pie recipe by Cooks Country

I haven't made this one before, but it looks to be a good one.  No corn syrup and whole food ingredients.  I will be using pre-made pie crusts from Immaculate Baking Company.  (The pie crust is one of the deviations I made to the grain free menu...because making a grain free pie crust is one of those areas I don't feel like tackling right now)

Pumpkin Pie recipe by Meaningful Eats

(because of my crust, this will not be grain free)

The rest of the Meal:

Spiced Cranberry Sauce recipe from Taste of Home

(I use honey instead of the white sugar. This recipe is delicious and I really like that it doesn't use any oranges.)

Green Bean Casserole with crispy onions recipe from Smitten Kitchen

(I'll be leaving out the wheat flour and using arrowroot flour instead)

Sweet Potato Casserole recipe from Meaningful Eats

Bacon-Cornbread Stuffing recipe by Gluten Free Fix

I haven't made this yet, but I did made the "cornbread" so it has some time to dry out...and it is awesome!  I'll be making it in the future as an accompaniment for our soups and stews.

 

 Mashed Potatoes Recipe by Simply Recipes

I like to keep it simple when it comes to mashed potatoes since they're practically perfect on their own.  However, my kids and husband like gravy on their mashed potatoes, so I bought a packet of organic, gluten free gravy seasoning mix at the store to satisfy their taste buds. 

 

For the Turkey, it's nothing overcomplicated.  I'm simply soaking the turkey in brine overnight and then I'll bake it in the oven.  I'm using this recipe from The Kitchn to help make sure it won't dry out on me.

I'll probably end up making some sort of dinner roll as well and it may or may not end up being wheat (sometimes a little delicious, soft bread is too awesome to resist).  

I hope you're having fun planning your own Thanksgiving meal.  Hopefully my little family appreciates my efforts, and if they don't, I'm more than willing to eat it all myself.  I can't wait!!