Thanksgiving Meal

I've learned a few things having a Keto kid during the holidays. First, don't put pressure on yourself to create the perfect "holiday" meal for your child. Even though everyone else may be diving into a traditional turkey dinner, your child may be just as happy to have their favorite pizza or pasta instead. After a few years of watching William have limited interest in his keto-friendly turkey dinner, I've decided this year to let him choose. If he chooses Ice Cream Bars for dinner, so be it - he's been through enough these last few years and I'll let him eat ice cream for dinner if it makes him happy. And if he chooses turkey dinner I have that on standby because with the ever changing mind of a toddler you gotta be prepared right?

My second piece of advice is if your child wants to have a keto-friendly turkey dinner - prep in advance. Okay now say that with me... "prep - in - advance". Whether you are having a quiet dinner at home, hosting others or joining family or friends for the holidays you want it to be stress-free. Try to choose items that can be cooked and frozen well in advance then thawed out on the big day. And you're in luck because I am here to help you get organized with this delicious recipe for turkey, cauliflower mash with gravy and side of cranberry sauce and buttered bread. This complete meal was developed by me using three bulk recipe* items provided by the KetoDietCalculator.

Equipment:
Scale
Blender or Food Processor
8x8 Pan
Sauce Pan

Complete Meal Ingredients:
Dark Meat Turkey (Cooked)
Cauliflower Mash*
Homemade Gravy*
Flaxseed Bread*
Cranberries (Fresh or Frozen)
Butter

Using the ingredients for a completed meal listed above, calculate out your recipe in the KetoDietCalculator. I have listed William's recipe at the bottom of this post for reference.

Instructions:
Before the holiday is actually upon you, start by prepping your bulk recipes that can be portioned and frozen ahead of time making holiday mealtime a synch. Below are the KetoDietCalculator recipes for making the cauliflower mash, gravy and bread. After cooking/baking each recipe I recommend weighing and portioning out how much your child will be eating before freezing. Specifically, the cauliflower mash and gravy can be difficult to portion once they are frozen.

On the day before (or day of) you can easily whip up the cranberry sauce in less than 5 minutes by weighing out your fresh or frozen cranberries and cooking them in a small sauce pan on low heat with a tiny bit of water and a pinch of non-nutritive sweetener (sweetener optional).

On the day of, be sure to thaw out your frozen ingredients, weigh out a piece of the dark meat from your freshly cooked turkey and divide the butter between the bread and your cauliflower mash. Done!

Notes:
It may seem like a lot of work (and it can be) but the bulk recipes make quite a bit of food that can be stored and enjoyed at a later time. I often vacuum seal and freeze the leftovers so I can use them again around Christmas. This takes away all the pressure of doing it again several weeks later, so for me the trade-off is worth it.

We host our families for Thanksgiving and one small change we made last year was to do away with sitting and passing food and went with a buffet-style meal instead. Yes, it may be a little untraditional but we had struggled with the idea of passing tempting, high carb foods by William's plate then leaving it in the middle of the table for him to see. We have been very lucky that William rarely asks for or gets upset about eating food outside his diet. Nevertheless, we felt this would help give him the sense that everyone was simply eating, not necessarily eating different food than him. The result? We loved our Thanksgiving buffet setup and will continue to make it a tradition in our house, keto or no keto.

Cauliflower Mash Recipe and Instructions:

700 g Cauliflower (Raw)
70 g White Onion (Raw, Chopped)
6 g Garlic (Raw, Chopped)
110 g Ghee
1/2 tsp Salt
Pinch of Ground Black Pepper

Cut the cauliflower into florets. Place in a steaming rack inside a pot filled with 2 inches water. Bring to a boil and cook about 10 minutes. Heat a pan on low with about 2 tablespoons of the ghee. Add chopped onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes until slightly brown. Keep stirring to prevent burning and take off the heat. Place the cooked cauliflower into a blender. Add the cooked onion and garlic and remaining ghee. Pulse until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper.

Homemade Gravy Recipe and Instructions:

90 g Chicken Broth, 100% Natural-Swanson
20 g Olive Oil
20 g Butter
2 g Coconut Flour - Bob's Red Mill Organic Hi Fiber

Heat the broth, oil, butter and coconut flour in an 8-inch non-stick saucepan. Use a whisk to combine all the ingredients. DO NOT add salt, it will have enough salt from the butter and broth. Continue to whisk the gravy while it simmers over medium heat. Let the liquid reduce by half. Season with pepper. Serve gravy over cauliflower mash and turkey.

Flaxseed Bread:

35 g Almond Meal (Almond Flour) - Bob's Red Mill
40 g Flaxseed Meal (Whole Ground Flaxseed)
4 g Baking Powder, Calumet (or Magic brand from Kraft)
1.5 g Salt
2 g Distilled White Vinegar
85 g Egg, Raw Mixed
31 g Coconut Oil, Melted or 37gm Butter, Melted
Optional: Non-Nutritive Sweetener

In a bowl, weigh and mix together all the dry ingredients. In another bowl, weigh and mix together the wet ingredients, then combine the wet and dry ingredients into one bowl. Spread your mixture into a lightly greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 350° for 8–10 minutes. Cut with a knife then lift with a spatula.

Notes:
Even with a lightly greased pan I find it a bit hard to remove the bread. I recommend putting down a piece of parchment paper before pouring in your batter, baking it and letting it cool completely in the pan. Then I lift the bread out by the parchment paper and cut my portions directly on the cutting board.

William's Meal Calculations
Thanksgiving Meal
Ratio: 3:1

5.7 g Cooked Dark Meat Turkey
34.6 g Cauliflower Mash
10 g Homemade Gravy
7.9 g Flaxseed Bread
6.2 g Butter
15.1 g Cranberries

Wishing you and your family a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving. As we reflect on all our blessings this year, make sure to show appreciation and gratitude towards yourself as well! Keto (and the holidays) can sometimes feel overwhelming but nothing worth doing comes easy - keep going, you're doing amazing! Heading into this busy season, let's find the time to slow down, enjoy the little moments and make sure to prioritize time for self-care. 💜

Happy Thanksgiving!