Easy and Tasty Low-Carb Thanksgiving

Every year since my husband and I began a low-carb lifestyle, I question what to serve at my Thanksgiving feast. I always get a little troubled. So many questions pop into my head and once again I’m not sure I have the right answers that make me happy.

This Thanksgiving will be our fourth low-carb Thanksgiving! If it were just Terry and me, I’d be fine, but I wonder if I should impose our lifestyle on our family, especially when it messes with TRADITION? How will they like mashed celery root and gravy made with arrow root as opposed to mashed potatoes and gravy made with flour? Should I make both? I’ve got a wonderful cookbook entitled Paleo Comfort Food and there’s a recipe for bread using almond flour (which we love) and I could make dressing out of it, BUT I know the family will be expecting the dressing to taste, well, like it used to.

Do I break tradition and maybe disappoint them. Am I willing to risk that?

Well, now that my troubles are on the table, I’ll address each one. How will “they” like mashed celery root? They’ll love it! If you didn’t know it was celery root, you’d think it was potato. I heartily believe in the cardinal rule (does “cardinal come from the bird or the high up guy in the Catholic Church?) to never try a new recipe on company. Since I won’t have time to try mashing cauliflower, I’ll serve my standard and very tasty mashed potatoes even though they’re loaded with carbs (I’ll just have a taste and it’ll be very nice) and I’ll make gravy as usual too (with cornstarch because Terry is gluten intolerant and that’s how I’ve made it for 25 years).

I think I’ll bake the almond flour bread and make stuffing from that loaf, but I’m going to server sour dough rolls (my new doctor told me, “If you’re going to eat bread on special occasions eat sour dough”) and butter. I’ll also serve a fruit salad (which will be the first fruit I’ve had since the August wild blackberries we picked) and figure it’ll be one of those once-a-year treats.

Now, how dare I break tradition and is it too late to start a new tradition? Oh, big deal on breaking a tradition, they all had to start sometime and is it too late to start a new tradition? NO!

I’m going to make a low-carb pumpkin cheese cake and let the rest of the family bring traditional pumpkin pie if they want that.I’ll make hors d’oeuvres that are low carb and will knock their Thanksgiving socks off. I’ve been playing with making pizza crust with parmesan cheese and it’s so good. I also mix ¾ cup of parmesan cheese and ¼ cup almond flour together and fry it in a stoneware skillet until the circle is brown on both sides and then I cut it into pie triangles making, great crispy chips ( 0 carbs) that’ll take the place of potato chips! My theory with low-carb entertaining is, “Fill ‘em with fat right off the bat.” Once they have a little fat in their systems, all cravings for carbs go away like magic.

So I’ll be breaking tradition and I’m really not worried the family won’t come back next year, because after all, we all love each other and we’re thankful to spend time together during this wonderful time of year no matter what we eat. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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