Sarah’s Rap: Time sure has been flying by! I can’t believe Thanksgiving is next week. It is one of my family’s favorite holidays. We will miss spending it with our extended family on the East coast this year, but are fortunate that several friends will come share a meal with us. I’m sure you know by now if you follow my blog that I eat a strict Paleo diet for health reasons. This means that my Thanksgiving meal will be full of delicious vegetable dishes, meats, nuts and fruits. Many of you may be thinking… a Thanksgiving without bread, macaroni and cheese and sugar?! How is that even possible? Well, it’s actually pretty easy considering the umpteen ways to prepare vegetables, all the cookbooks and websites offering Paleo recipes and the plethora of grain, dairy, sugar and gluten alternative ingredients at the grocery store. There are so many wonderful dishes you can make using wholesome ingredients without having to be in the kitchen for a week straight. Be thankful for your health by rewarding it this Thanksgiving with a delicious, and surprisingly simple, Paleo meal. I know I will!

My typical Paleo Thanksgiving Meal:

The below is what I typically will make for a Thanksgiving meal. None of these items contain dairy, processed sugar, grains, soy or industrial seed oils.

Appetizers

As you can see, I prefer easy ones since there is enough cooking going on with the meal

• Nuts
• Vegetable Crudites with hummus and spinach dip
• Terra, Carrot, Parsnip and/or Potato Chips
• Deviled Eggs
• Olives

The Main Meal

• Butternut squash soup
• Bacon-wrapped haricot vert (green beans)
• Maple-sweetened cranberry sauce
• Roasted sweet potatoes and shallots or Sweet potato casserole
• Mashed potatoes
• Mixed green salad
• Curried apple and cabbage slaw (made with Paleo mayo)
• Grilled herb and garlic salmon
• Maple-glazed carrots
• Roast turkey and gravy

Dessert

• Chocolate pie with whipped vanilla coconut cream
• Pumpkin pie
• Fresh Berries
• Carrot Cake
• Peanut-butter brownies

As you can see, I’m not above buying store bought for a few things, such as nuts, chips, olives and berries. And most of these recipes require just a couple ingredients, with the exception of the desserts which I make ahead of time. I try to do as much prep the night before, so that I still have time to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade with my kids.

Other fantastic sources for Paleo Thanksgiving Meals

Paleo Leap

Paleo Grubs

Nom Nom Paleo

Mark’s Daily Apple

Primal Palate

The Paleo Mom

Elana’s Pantry

Food and Wine

Against All Grain

I hope you all have a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday. Don’t forget to take some time to rest, enjoy time with friends and family and remember all the things we each have to be thankful for.