Thanksgiving Dishes

So normally Sundays are FOOD PREP SUNDAYS!!! However today isn't for a few reasons:

1. It's snowing and cold outside.
2. I'm red-wine hungover, and any of you who have experienced this know it's not a "let's get out and go grocery shopping!" kind of feeling.
3. My car died on Friday night, so I'm a bit lacking on the whole "transportation" thing.

So, instead, I'll update you on a few exciting new recipes I tried on.....

THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Basically the best and most delicious holiday ever, attempting to be 100% paleo and gluten-free that day I knew would be difficult. I was joining my friend Rachel and her family for the day, and knew there'd be all kinds of wonderful foods. And the way I look at it, if there's ever a day to proclaim "cheat day," Thanksgiving is it!

It was a pot-luck sort of Thanksgiving, so everyone brought a little something. I decided I'd try some new recipes I'd found online, and hope they would turn out as amazing as they looked.

First up!
Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole

This one I found here. Growing up, I'd never been a huge fan of sweet potato casserole, even the kind loaded up with marshmallows. My sister Karen had perfected such a recipe over the years, and in the last 2 or 3 years I've come to enjoy it. 

This recipe is different in that instead of using marshmallows as a topping, it uses a sweet pecan topping - pecans tossed with cinnamon, maple syrup, and coconut oil. YUM! Paleo-licious.

Casserole Ingredients:

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
• 1 TBSP coconut oil
• 1-2 TBSP maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• juice of half an orange

Pecan Topping Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup chopped raw pecans
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 TBSP maple syrup
• 1 tsp melted coconut oil

Here's a few notes before we get started on the directions.

The picture on the blog showed the casserole in a round glass dish. I realized after I was halfway through my preparation that the only glass casserole dish I own is a rectangular one. This is fine, however the sheer surface area size meant I had to increase my pecan topping quite a bit. I didn't measure how much more I added, I just sort of threw in some more pecans and a dash of everything else and added it to the rest. No worries. Also, I had about a half a cop of raw pecans already, and when I went to the store, Hy-Vee was completely out of raw pecans. So I improvised a little - I bought full-sized honey roasted pecans. Why not? Crushed them on my own and all was delightful.

Next: for those of you, like me, who had previously never heard of "canned coconut milk," here's what you're looking for:

I actually had to call Delilah while I was at the store because I could not find this ANYWHERE. It ended up being in the Asian section of the Health Market. At the 156 & Maple HyVee, it was on the back-side of the gluten-free row. 

Alright. Back to the recipe. It should be noted that while I was cooking, I had on the Macy's Day Parade. I have never in my life watched more than maybe 20 minutes of the parade, and this year I was cooking all morning so I got to watch (aka listen to whilst running around my kitchen) the entire thing! It was actually pretty fun.

These are my cooking shoes. Mad support for those arches, yo.

Directions:
1. Peel and dice sweet potatoes into large chunks.

My peeler kinda sucks. And sweet potatoes are shaped funny. Hehehe 

How... appetizing?

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  (I recommend using something like a soup pot. Give yourself plenty of room to work with)
3. Add sweet potatoes to water & boil until fork-tender. ~10 minutes. Turn off heat.
4. Drain potatoes, then dump them back into the large pot w/ other ingredients.

Now we're really cookin'.

5. Using a hand mixer, blend until potatoes reach desired consistency and flavor. You may want to add a little more coconut milk, spices, or syrup based on your taste.

I am so glad Delilah made me buy a hand mixer 3 months ago. First use!

6. In a separate bowl, combine all topping ingredients & mix until pecans are well coated.

So pretty! So crunchy!

7. Dump sweet potatoes into an oven-safe dish and top with pecans.

Sorry it's blurry, the damn casserole wouldn't sit still for the picture.

8. Bake for about 15 minutes, until topping is browned. Serve warm. (I baked mine for about 20 minutes.)
9. Enjoy!! Yay!!!

This casserole was DELICIOUS! It was sweet, crunchy, and I had blended the potato mixture for a good long time so it was nice and smooth. It was excellent. I highly recommend this dish!

Next up!
Cranberry Upside Down Cakes
This recipe says it makes 8, I got 12. So.
I got this recipe here.
These little cakes are super sweet and delectable. A perfect small dessert!

Ingredients for cake:

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1+1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground all spice
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey

Ingredients for cranberry layer:

• 1+1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 TBSP freshly grated orange zest
• 1 TBSP freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & line your muffin tin. I used these awesome parchment paper cups. Or, you can just cut out squares of parchment paper and make your own!

Hello. I am here to make all your muffin/cupcake/other small cake dreams come true.

2. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and all spice in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine eggs, oil, and honey.

3. Combine all wet and dry ingredients and set aside.

4. Toss cranberries with orange zest, lemon zest, and honey. Arrange mixture into a single layer at the bottom of each muffin cup.

5. Top with cake batter and cover evenly.

These are like the ugly ducklings of foods. Looks gross now,  looks (and tastes) fantastic later.

6. Place pan into oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown & fully cooked. 

7. Carefully remove from wrapping and turn upside down so cranberry layer is on top.
8. Top with a dollop of your favorite whipped topping and sprinkle of cinnamon.

9. Enjoy!

I totally cheated and used Reddi-Whip. But just like barely a drop on each cake. But look how awesome!!

So festive! Try not to lick your screen.

Here's how they look without the topping:

Like I said before, these cakes are SWEET. I couldn't eat more than one (right away, that is, I mean, c'mon). But this is definitely another recipe I would highly recommend to everyone!!

I was cooking both of these AND another loaf of gluten-free banana bread all at the same time that morning. So, when I was done, my kitchen was a DISASTER. But it was like, I was sorta proud of it, you know? 

Don't worry mom, I cleaned everything up before I left!

Thanksgiving was an awesome success at Rachel's house. They smoked the turkey, had ham, one of the people brought a sweet potato casserole as well, but hers had bacon in it and so while mine was sweet, hers was savory and so it worked out perfectly. There was green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, like 15 pies, apple crisp.... I'm drooling a little bit right now.

Anyway, I think that'll about do it for today. I've got a few other things I've tried but nothing exciting, so it can wait. Right now, it's time for some Sons of Anarchy on Netflix. And maybe a nap. :)