I wanted to make a post highlighting what you’re making for Thanksgiving to give inspiration to people who are going into this holiday with dread.
I’ve seen far too many topics lately about “what can I eat for thanksgiving”? And then see responses like “just eat a little turkey and some veggies” or “plan to fast”. I’ve also seen “what happens if I go off Keto for one day”?WTH. I’m planning to FEAST on Thanksgiving and completely stay on plan!
It just takes a little pre planning. We are having smoked turkey, mashed cauliflower with ricotta cheese (@Brenda), Brussels au gratin, brisket burnt ends, Keto green bean casserole, even a Keto pumpkin pie with a pecan crust and a MOUNTAIN of whipped cream. There are so many options available. Please post what YOU’RE planning so we can hopefully inspire some people.
Thanksgiving : not about what you can't eat, but what you CAN!
We are having turkey, no-sugar cranberry sauce, green bean casserole (low-carb version), low-carb dressing (made from cornbread made with almond flour and ground baby corn), gravy, a cold spiral ham, and my pumpkin/cream cheese pudding. Maybe a few more things. We’re staying strictly low-carb, and I don’t feel at all like I’m going to miss out.
Our teenage daughter has asked to make small batches of a couple of her favorite high-carb items, and I’m okay with that (I don’t feel any temptation), but I suspect that once she tries my stuff (some of which I’ll make ahead of time), she’ll lose interest in her stuff. Even she already knows she’s going to hit the pumpkin pudding hard.
You are so right there are so many things I can eat and I will eat them, I actually am not missing all the bad things that I used to eat. I actually looked up thickening gravy and am just going to let it reduce down and then I saw it on a website add a little butter they said that helps to thicken it, and bet it will be yummy! It is easier it being just my husband and I, he actually said the other day, maybe I should be eating like that. He has a myriad of health issues that would be helped with him eating Keto, just needs to give up his beer.
@MiKetoAF- what time is dinner? I’m bringing my own side dishes and a giant bowl of HWC for dessert. 
My sides are green bean casserole (made with homemade Keto cream of mushroom) and loaded mashed cauliflower.
Love the positivity. I think the posts you are referring to comes from many of us, including me, being part of a larger family who won’t change thanksgiving meals to suit our eating habits. Or think we are just plain crazy for avoiding carbs.
One day I hope it is the norm across the country to avoid carbs on our plate. For now, many of us need to strategize to keep our health in tip top shape
My @NativeKetoMan requested green bean casserole. All I needed is a keto cream of mushroom recipe. Please share
I’m having roasted turkey, my nearly zero carb stuffing, homemade sugar-free cranberry sauce, and keto green bean casserole. For dessert we’re going to make fry bread and eat it with butter and sugar free blackberry jam.
Hi @Brenda!
The cream of mushroom is so easy I almost fell over, lol. It’s not as thick as the junk in a can, but it’s super delicious. My 12 & 14 year old daughters even liked it!
2 c chicken stock
1 c HWC
1 coarsely chopped scallion
About 12 baby portabella shrooms
Butter to your liking
1 strip of bacon, coarsely chopped
Dump the liquids in a blender. I chopped about 3/4 of the shrooms and added to the mixture. The rest I sliced and added in when I heated it up because I love mushrooms. Add scallions, bacon, and butter and blend to your desired consistency. I then added the sliced mushrooms and heated it up on medium low heat (as this was a test run I don’t think heating is necessary if you are going to make it into green bean casserole). It made a little more than a can and a half of condensed mushroom soup and it was delicious!
Funny how cooking with real, fresh foods taste so much better! Also, I didn’t come up with this on my own, but I did modify it as it called for a chopped onion which I swapped for the scallion and evaporated milk which I swapped HWC for. I hope you guys enjoy! It also takes less than 10 mins to prep.
My hubby, my brother & I are going to a friend’s house for a large Thanksgiving potluck. The table will be groaning with carbalooza. I’m taking today to make sides & desserts to bring to keep us on track. I don’t know if I will get this all done but here’s my list:
Sides:
Green Bean Casserole peaceloveandlowcarb.com/green-bean-casserole-low-carb-gluten-free-primal
Keto Stuffing in a pan - like regular stuffing, just using my own croutons made from www2.netrition.com/glc_bread_company_bread.html
Keto Cranberry Sauce - my own recipe, adds frozen raspberries, frozen rhubarb & SF raspberry jello powder
Dessert:
Boston Cream Cheesecake lowcarbyum.com/boston-cream-cheesecake-recipe
Cake Batter Cookies tasteaholics.com/recipe/cake-batter-cookies
Pecan Cookies joyfilledeats.com/butter-pecan-cookies/
We are having quite a few folks for Thanksgiving, and only my wife and I are doing the LCHF thing. I asked my kids what they want to eat during Thanksgiving:
First, made some Low Carb bread (recipe from www.dietdoctor.com) using almond flour, cut them up and used my dehydrator to dry them up. Making stuffing with that. Turkey basted with butter, cranberries made with Swerve, gravy using xantham gum to thicken, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, and a low carb cheesecake with cranberry topping recipe I found on line. But, also making a small dish of mashed potatoes, one of the canned jelled cranberries (a favorite of my niece) and will have another desert option for those that are not fans of the cheesecake. Everyone’s happy!