My Low Carb Thanksgiving

It’s the weekend before Thanksgiving here in the US, and I’ve put together a list of what I am going to make. As is the case with me, I am the only person at the table doing low carb, so the recipes have to be acceptable to them – or it be realistic to run similar dishes side by side – there’s just so much time and space in the kitchen.

Here goes:

Turkey – You saw that one coming, right? No problems here. We don’t deep-fry our turkey in batter. It does get a LOT of butter shoved under the skin and usually an apple shoved in the carcass – both these maneuvers prevent it from getting dry.

Funny story: early in my marriage, my wife and I cooked the turkey upside down. We were terrified that we ruined it, but it was a particularly good bird. My speculation as to why was that the white meat – the leanest and dryest part of the bird was in the juices the whole time. We have never had the guts to try this experiment again, but I’ve always had the urge to.

‘Mashed Potatoes’ – No, not really. Rather, it’s my cauliflower ‘mashed potatoes’. These are pretty darn good, though I overdosed them in garlic the last time I made this. I’ll probably cut back a wee bit on the garlic this time, or perhaps saute it a bit to soften the flavor. I might be the only one eating this, though.

Gravy – You know what, the store-bought gravies ain’t that high in carbs, believe it or not. Three grams of carbs for Heinz Turkey Gravy isn’t bad. Yeah, I’d rather not have the modified corn starch, but I also want a few minutes not cooking to play with the kids. I’ll take the tradeoff. The family is OK with it, too, so this one doesn’t jump out as low carb.

Cranberry Sauce – I only tried this last year and fell in love with it. Take a bag of cranberries, cover with water in a small pot , and cook on the stove til they burst – you got cranberry sauce. Then add just enough Splenda to cut the tartness – but not enough to tick off the anti-Splenda faction at the table. Yes – there’s carbs here, but these are about as healthy a serving of carbs you can get – at least that’s what some research says.

Spinach Casserole – I haven’t made this in a while, but I have fond memories of it. This I can squeeze in the rack below the bird in the oven. Everyone liked this when I cooked it last, so I won’t mention that it is low carb and ruin it for them.

Brussels Sprouts – The entire family likes these brussels sprouts, so they don’t stand out as a ‘low carb’ dish (like the cauliflower mashed potatoes). I’ll buy some sour cream – I think it makes a great topping for the sprouts, oddly enough.

Stuffing – I make my kids a great homemade stuffing out of leftover bread. I soak it in chicken broth overnight, then fry up some onions and yellow squash in olive oil. Mix the bread and the fried veggies together, add whatever seasonings strike my fancy at the time (always salt and pepper), and bake until the top is nicely browned. I think I’ll experiment with making some of my low carb bread a bit stale in the oven, and trying it with that.

I’ll have regular stuffing as a backup for the family.

Ricotta Cranberry Cream Pie – My new favorite. Now I can have a dessert to keep me satisfied while everyone else chows down on their sugar and starch laden goodies.

Red Wine – Alcohol slows weight loss. Alcohol, in moderation, is also good for you in a number of ways – especially with the other compounds found in red wine. Enjoy a little – it’s Thanksgiving.