Grain Free Turkey and Trimmings

Happy Thanksgiving Monday all ~ we enjoyed our feast last evening and as my first totally 'grain free' Thanksgiving I was totally pleased with how everything turned out! Lots of flavor, very filling and I did not even miss the traditional 'stuffing' and sweet potato casserole we have had in years past that likely adding 1000's of calories to my meal and contributed to the 'turkey coma' I would experience afterward. 

So as promised yesterday here are the recipes I was too full to upload last night!

Grain Free Turkey

What You Need:

• Turkey - you need approximately 2 pounds per person with a small bird with a big bird 1.5 pounds per person should do.
• 1 Granny Smith Apple
• 1 small onion
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 carrot 
• 1 handful of fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil 
• Poultry seasoning ~ as desired as always Epicure has an amazing blend or you can DIY below

What You Do

• Rinse your bird and remove the giblets and neck. We do not eat these personally so no point in cooking them but if they are a family favorite at your house by all means.
• Chop the apple, onion, celery and carrot into large chunks and stuff into the bird cavity along with the Rosemary - this will help to add flavor, keep moisture in the bird and make a nice rich stock for your gravy later.
• Gentle rub the entire bird surface with coconut oil and massage in the poultry seasoning.
• Place into a roasting pan breast side up.
• Bake in the oven at 300 F .... it will take approximately 30-40 minutes per every 2.2 pounds of turkey. So an 11 pound turkey will take approximately 3 - 3.5 hours to cook. You want an internal temperature of at least 165 F 
• We like a juicy turkey with crispy skin so we baste the bird every hour or so.
• Once cooked remove to a cutting board and allow to 'sit' for 20 minutes or so and remove the 'veggies' from cavity before carving.

DIY Poultry seasoning

 As mentioned I prefer the 'ready made' Epicure cause no guess work but if you do not have access to an amazing Epicure representative like I do the following DIY works too ...

What You Need:

•  2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1.5 teaspoons ground thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon ground rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground pepper

What You Do"

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl ~ store any leftover in an air tight container! 
  

Grain Free Gravy

What You Need:

•  Drippings from roasted turkey ~ amount is going to vary per turkey I got about 2 cups out of ours. If your drippings are low simply add a bit of water to the pan.
• Xanthan gum - again amount is going to vary depending on how thick you like start with 1 tablespoon for every cup of broth and add more as required.
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream, optional. This just helps to create that visual look of traditional 'floured' gravy and is not necessary for taste factor just to fool the eyes.

 What You Do

• Transfer drippings into a pan on a medium heat and bring to a boil and allow to 'reduce' for a bit to give a stronger flavor.
• Slowly add the 1 tablespoon xanthum gum while briskly whisking to prevent clumping 
•  Continue whisking as it thickens to your desired consistency. 
• Transfer to your gravy boat ~ you can 'strain' if desired
• Serve over your turkey and trimmings as desired

 Herb and Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

What You Need

• 1 small head of cauliflower (about 3 cups of florets once chopped)
  
• 1 tablespoon Epicure Herb and Garlic seasoning
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese (ideally the REAL stuff not the dehydrated stuff)
• 1/4 cup of broth or drippings from the turkey in this case

What You Do

• Steam the cauliflower until tender.
• With either an immersion blender directly in your pot or transfer cauliflower to your Vitamix or Blendtec or other type of blender and blend together cauliflower and remaining ingredients until a 'mashed potato' consistency add more broth or drippings as needed. 

 Roasted Maple Acorn Squash

What You Need

• Medium size acorn squash
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspooon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspooon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup

What You Do

•  Cut acorn squash in half and remove all the seeds. 
• Poke the flesh with a fork to help flavor seep in as it cooks
• Rub the coconut oil across the flesh part and into the 'well' left by the seeds. Leave any excess oil in the well to melt into the poked holes.
• Place with the 'well' side up on a baking tray.
• Sprinkle with the cinnamon and cayenne pepper.
• Roast in oven at 300 F with the turkey for the last hour until the flesh of the acorn is tender to fork. 
• During last 10 minutes, after you've taken the turkey out to 'sit' add the maple syrup and turn the heat up to 500 F and allow the maple syrup to caramelize a bit in the well. 

Citrus Carrot Coins

What You Need:

• 4 Carrots 
• 1/2 cup of orange juice

What You Do:

•  Peel and coin the carrots
• Cook over medium heat in a pot with the 1/2 cup of orange juice to 'steam and flavor' the carrots ... adds a lovely tender flavor to the carrots!

And that was what we had this year for our tasty Turkey dinner ... I was pleased to see when I recorded my meal into the My Fitness Pal that my entire dinner plate shown had lass than 600 calories including being able to have tasty gravy! So even while celebrating with family and friends and enjoying some tasty treats I was able to stay on plan and goal and am not worried about weighing in and seeing the scale go up on me! 

Also was a good girl and while we did not go to the gym yesterday I did press play on one of my yoga videos after supper while the boys cleaned up the kitchen for me!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

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