Healthy Holidays

Reason #5 - Holiday food is enjoyable.
No doubt about it - eating well during the Holidays is...VERY POSSIBLE. It is a matter of taking your favorite recipes and altering them a bit. This year on Thanksgiving, I knew that there wouldn't be many (if any) Paleo friendly side dishes or desserts with my family's Thanksgiving meal. To make sure I was not tempted by the casseroles and stuffing and pies, I took matters into my own hands. I looked up a few recipes online and decided to make some Paleo options for myself, Marco and anyone else who felt like trying. I ended up with stuffing, broccoli and cauliflower casserole and two, yes TWO pumpkin pies (courtesy of Everyday Paleo: http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/11/15/thanksgiving-recipes-and-everyday-paleo-pumpkin-pie-cooking-demo/). Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, these are still good options for any other Holiday meals.

Here are the recipes:
Stuffing
Ingredients
1 lb mild Italian pork or chicken sausage, casing removed (I used Italian lean turkey sausage)
4 ½ cups mushrooms, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
6 celery stalks, diced
4 carrots, diced
1/2  cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon diced fresh sage
½ tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
½ cup dried cherries, finely chopped
½ cup slivered almonds
½ tablespoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. In a large soup pot, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent.  Add the sausage and brown.  Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, chicken broth, cherries, almonds, sage, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mix well, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the veggies begin to absorb the chicken broth.  Transfer to a large glass baking dish, cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

The Result

Casserole
Ingredients
2 ½ cups broccoli florets, finely chopped
1 ½ cups of cauliflower, finely chopped  - I used purple cauliflower so it would look cool :)
**Side note - this says finely chopped, but I left it in small chunks. I'm sure both ways still taste good!
1 shallot finely chopped
2 eggs
1/3 cup coconut milk
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon sea salt
4 garlic cloves, minced

Cooking Instructions 
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the shallots, broccoli and cauliflower.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, garlic, salt and pepper.  Pour the egg/coconut milk mixture over the broccoli, cauliflower and shallots and mix well.  Bake in an 11’ round glass baking dish, covered at 350 for 45 minutes.

The Result

Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients for Crust
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 cup pecans
**Side note - I used 1/2 cup of almonds and 1 cup of walnuts
4 tablespoons melted organic grass fed butter
pinch of sea salt
Cooking Instructions for Crust 
Preheat oven to 350. Place the nuts in a food processor and process until the nuts are a flour like or almond meal like consistency. Pour into a small mixing bowl, add the butter and salt and mix into a thick dough. Using your hands, spread evenly into a pie pan and back for 10 minutes.


Ingredients for Filling
1 – 14oz can of organic pumpkin puree (nothing added, just pumpkin)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 eggs
1/2 cup raw organic honey
1/2 cup coconut milk

Cooking Instructions for Filling
While the crust is in the oven, whisk all of the pie filling ingredients together.  Pour into the crust that has been baked for 10 minutes, return to the oven and bake for and additional 45 minutes.

Please note that the filling can make enough for 2 pies, so you may want to mak2 2 crusts.

This is one of the best pumpkin pies that I have ever tasted!