The Low-Carb Thanksgiving Dinner

Rockwell's Thanksgiving

I finalized my menu and braved the store to shop for all the supplies - whew, that was a HUGE deal. I spent this afternoon prepping some of the things I could do ahead since this will be a busy week for me.

I know I've written this before, but Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday! This is my 3rd Thanksgiving as a low-carber. The first one I kind of just did what I always do on Thanksgiving - last year I added some low-carb sides and a sugar-free dessert option. This year I am totally embracing my Low-Carb WOE and all of the Thanksgiving dinner will be Low-Carb friendly. SO with that declaration, WFD -- WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

The Main Event:
Roasted Turkey

Creamy Pan-Gravy
Twice-Baked Cauliflower

Green Beans w/Bacon & Sliced Almonds
Creamed Pearl Onions

Sugar-Free Cranberry Sauce
Pickle/Olive Tray

Dessert:

SF Pumpkin-Coconut Bread w/Maple-Orange Butter

SF Mini-Pumpkin Cheesecakes

SF Pumpkin Crunch

SF Spiced *Candied* Pecans

I'll be sharing some of these recipes over the next week, starting with 2 of the wonderful desserts. Both of these recipes come from Carolyn (one from her blog and the other from a guest post she did at Bob's Red Mill's blog) and both are EXCELLENT. I made 2 batches of the mini-cheesecakes because I plan to share them at a potluck at work on Wednesday - to carb eaters :)

Pumpkin-Coconut Bread click on the link and you'll notice a difference between Carolyn's recipe and the version I made -- no glaze. I am not a glaze or even a frosting kind of gal. I made a compound butter with 1 stick unsalted butter, 1/2 tsp maple extract, 2 tbsp granulated sweetener (I used Swerve) and zest of 1 orange. Tastes so yummy on the bread. I also used coconut flakes instead of shreds -- gives the bread a nice crunch/texture.

Up next is Mini-Pumpkin Cheesecakes. Carolyn posted this recipe way back in September. The minute I saw it I knew I would be making it for Thanksgiving. I also remembered the little consignment shop near my workplace had a pumpkin mini-cheesecake pan that I had passed on. They are only open 1 weekend a month so I had to (im)patiently wait until the next time they were open and HOPE that pan was still there -- lucky me, it was. I scored it for only $5.00.

These turned out so cute -- now they (and the bread) are all tucked into the freezer so as not to tempt me between now and Thanksgiving. What is on your menu? and did you spend the weekend working ahead?