A Happy and Gluten-Free Thanksgiving!

Soon after my daughter Kayli was diagnosed with Celiac at age fifteen, she and I traveled to Indianapolis to have Thanksgiving with my brother’s family. She had a very hard time through dinner, since she couldn’t eat the rolls, string bean casserole, stuffing or pie. Later some nieces were making cookies, and she took a taste of cookie dough, then cried, realizing she couldn’t have that either.

Last year my family had a completely gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner. It was wonderful to enjoy all of the tastes that we love! I’ve included some recipes and tips that can help make your Thanksgiving a healthy and tasty one!

When looking for your Thanksgiving turkey, it’s important to find a turkey that has not been pre-basted, since many have wheat gluten in the basting. If you look hard, there are some that don’t contain gluten. You may want to be safe, and do the basting yourself.

I use gluten-free bread cut into cubes and then dried to make my favorite stuffing. See recipe  in my Gluten-Free Holiday Recipes available in Larraine’s GF Store.

A crowd pleaser is the traditional Green Bean Casserole. I do this by making my own Golden French Onions and Cream of Mushroom Soup to make the Casserole – which is also in my Gluten-Free Holiday Recipes.

You’ll also find a recipe that is a favorite of my husband’s. It is for Candied Sweet Potatoes or Yams.

I have made my own pie crusts, but usually order them for Thanksgiving, to save time. Look for health/natural food markets that offer holiday orders. I travel about 45 minutes to a great little place to order mine. If you need a recipe to make your own, you can use the recipe found under Pizza in my Gluten-Free Recipes – Larraine’s Pizza Pie. The recipe says to press dough in a pie dish, but can also be rolled between two sheets of waxed paper.

Now that my family knows how to make Thanksgiving gluten-free, we look forward to this holiday rather than feeling left out and disappointed that we cannot participate in this traditional meal.

Have a Happy and Delicious Thanksgiving!