Can you still have an amazing Thanksgiving if you’re on a special diet? In short, yes!
At my house, most of us are gluten free. We have an amazing Thanksgiving dinner planned, and you really wouldn’t even know that the recipes have been augmented to avoid gluten. I’ll give you some examples of how I make swaps, using regular recipes from the web, to make it gluten free. It just takes a little preplanning and some research.
What we’re having for Thanksgiving this year:
- Brisket – Smoked
- Alabama White Sauce – see notes below about using store bought mayo
- Green Bean Casserole (this is where the swaps come in handy!)
- Fall Harvest Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing (recipe on Cultured Guru here)
- Deviled Eggs (recipe on Food Network here) again, use caution selecting store bought mayo, see notes at bottom of post for what we use
How to Swap!
This year, as you can see, I specifically chose dishes that don’t need a lot of swapping, with the exception of the Green Bean Casserole. This recipe is not doable if you are dairy free, but IS doable if you are gluten free. You have to make adjustments based on your specific needs, and see what you can do. I’ll show you my swaps here that make this a gluten free version…
Green Bean Casserole Ingredients and the swaps
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup – We use Pacific Foods Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1 can cream of chicken soup – we use Pacific Foods version of these as they do not contain wheat, gluten or soybean oil
- salt/pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- green beans – fresh or 2 cans
- 2 cups cheese
- 2 cups french fried onions – Whole Foods sells an organic, gluten free Crispy Onions
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce – naturally gluten free
So, with just THREE swaps, this side dish is achievable!!!
Recipes Calling for Mayo – a note on harmful, RANCID oils
Many of my recipes call for mayo. For this Thanksgiving, both my Alabama White Sauce AND the Deviled Eggs call for mayo. If you look at the ingredients, almost ALL traditional, and beloved, store bought brands of mayo have soybean or canola oil as an ingredient. We avoid these oils at all costs. If you want to understand why these seed oils are so unhealthy I encourage you to listen to this video. I won’t go into all that here, but I will show you what we use, that has NO canola or soybean oil in it. It is more expensive, but it is what it is…. health is wealth! And, it is yummy!
VIDEO – Why You Shouldn’t Be Eating Seed Oils (like canola/soybean)!!!
Be blessed, this Thanksgiving and always!!!
“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.”
Psalm 69:30