Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There is no stress about finding the perfect gift and making sure the holiday meets high, sometimes unattainable expectations. This is how I often feel about Christmas. However, a gluten-free Thanksgiving can feel overwhelming when you are newly diagnosed.
A few facts about me, I’m not a huge fan of cooking. I enjoy baking but I also enjoy shortcuts! When you must eat gluten-free you almost have to be able to cook and bake. Many things you can’t find or they are so expensive it’s not affordable to buy regularly. I am quite lucky that my husband likes to cook.
I’d like to share a few of our “shortcuts” for Thanksgiving. After all, this is supposed to be a fun holiday spent with those you love enjoying food not cooking all day in the kitchen.
Dinner rolls-the best gluten-free dinner rolls I have found are homemade in a cast iron skillet, yes this makes a difference. The recipe is from “Gluten Free on a Shoestring.” I highly recommend Nicole Hunn’s cookbook. She has great recipes without having to buy a lot of ingredients that you’ll never use again.
Gravy-this one is pretty easy you just replace the flour with gluten-free flour or corn starch and voila! My favorite gluten-free flour is Cup4Cup.
String bean casserole-it was never really my favorite but it’s easy to make gluten-free with the correct ingredients. You need to find gluten-free mushroom soup like Mom’s Place or Pacific Foods and gluten-free fried onions like Simple Nature Organic Gluten Free French Fried Onions.
Stuffing or Dressing- Aleia’s Gluten Free Savory Stuffing mix or you could make it from scratch with gluten-free bread.
Macaroni & cheese-make your favorite recipe with Barilla gluten-free noodles. These are the best gluten-free noodles I have found.
Pie crusts-when I was first diagnosed both my husband and I tried to make homemade gluten-free pie crusts! What a nightmare. They fell apart, the dough would not stretch, and there were lots of swear words and wasted time. When we found Wholly gluten-free by Wholly Wholesome it was wonderful! I haven’t even attempted to make another pie crust. If we need topping for our pie we simply put a crumble on top.
What shortcuts do you have? Please drop a comment below so we can all benefit. I’m always looking for new shortcuts or products that make my life easier.
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