Grain Free Stuffing

For anyone who is eating gluten-free, paleo, or wants a healthier substitute for stuffing, this recipe is for you! It’s packed with the essential Thanksgiving flavors, like sage, rosemary, thyme, and garlic. It’s filling and will help make you feel “stuffed” with the starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and parsnips. Finally, the fattiness from the sausage rounds out all the flavors to make this hearty stuffing the perfect pairing for your turkey dinner. Not to mention, it’s simple to make and you can prep it in advance to clear up some oven space!

Ingredients

• 1 lb of organic pork sausage without the casing, crumbled

• 3 large sweet potatoes

• 8-10 parsnips

• 2 yellow onions, peeled and diced

• 2 apples (honeycrisp or another tart variety), peeled and cut into cubes

• 5 stalks of celery, washed and cut into ½ inch pieces

• 6 cloves of garlic, minced

• 7-8 tbsp of olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil

• 1 tbsp dried sage (or 2 tbsp fresh)

• 2 tsp salt

• 1sp dried rosemary

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions

• Heat oven to 375

• Wash and peel turnips; cut into ½ inch wide pieces

• Wash and dry sweet potatoes; cut into ½ inch wide pieces

• Coat the sweet potatoes and turnips in about half the oil and half the spices; then roast on two separate baking dishes so vegetables are in an even layer; roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until vegetables are soft when poked with a fork and a little browned

• When root vegetables are cooking, heat oil in a pan over medium heat

• Add sausage and stir; once browned, remove from pan into a bowl

• Add remainder of the oil and add onions and celery; stir and cook until softened

• Add remainder of the spices and apple and cook for 3-4 minutes

• Mix together ALL ingredients in a large bowl and serve immediately (or make ahead and warm in the oven before serving)

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon, Lemon, and Capers

This Thanksgiving side is so quick to make, and so flavorful! It uses all the fall flavors, for a tangy and savory dish. The fat from the bacon adds a smoky and salty flavor that can’t be beat. It’s balanced by the acidity of lemon and capers for a full-bodied, yet guilt-free taste. There are many substitutions you can make to adjust the flavor and make it your own. For example, you can skip on the lemons and capers, and then garnish with fresh pomegranate seeds. You can also sub pancetta for bacon, or maybe even toss the end product in a light white wine vinaigrette! One thing to keep in mind is that this recipe serves about 4 people, so you might want to double it for a larger crowd!

Ingredients

• 15-20 medium sized brussel sprouts

• 4 strips of good quality bacon

• One lemon, halved

• 2 tbsp avocado oil

• 2 tbsp of capers, drained

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• Chop ends off brussels and halve them

• Cut strips of bacon into ¼ inch slices

• Slice half of the lemon into wedges

• Assemble all ingredients in baking dish

• Drizzle with avocado oil

• Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over mixture

• Add salt and pepper

• Roast for 40 minutes

• Add capers

• Roast another 5 minutes or until sprouts and bacon look browned and crispy

Ready to go in the oven

Crispy, roasted, and ready to eat!

AIP Pumpkin Bars

I am completely pumpkin obsessed! However, for the past month, I’ve been on a strict autoimmune paleo (AIP) healing protocol, which is basically an intense elimination diet. The reason for it is to heal my Leaky Gut and try to prevent getting a full-blown autoimmune disease, especially since I already have hypothyroidism. It was super challenging for me to get my pumpkin fix because of the restrictions I was facing in my diet, but thankfully I found inspiration from AIP bloggers to create these DELICIOUS pumpkinny treats. I even served them at a girls night last week and they were a huge success! They are guilt free and easy to make. Enjoy :)

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas

• ½ cup pure pumpkin puree

• ⅓  cup coconut oil (melted)

• 3 tbsp maple syrup

• 1 cup tigernut flour (https://thrivemarket.com/p/organic-gemini-organic-tigernut-flour)

• ¼ cup coconut flour

• 1 tbsp cinnamon

• ½ tbsp pumpkin pie spice (for non-AIP - otherwise ½ more tbsp cinnamon)

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• ½ tsp baking soda

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Grease an 8x8 baking dish with coconut oil

• Mash bananas in a bowl with a fork

• Add pumpkin puree and mix

• Add coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and mix

• In a separate bowl, add coconut flour, tigernut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and mix well

• Combine all ingredients and mix well

• Spread mixture in baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes

• Let cool before serving