Guilt-Free Holiday Recipes (AIP, Paleo and Gluten Free Options!)

1. Take your turkey and submerge into a pot of water with a heavy helping of salt and lemon juice. Make sure the turkey is completely covered in this water. Keep in the refrigerator (this is going to make your turkey the juiciest you have ever had! It is well worth the extra day of prep work).
2. Remove the turkey from the water, and drain over the sink. Pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside (this is extremely important because if your turkey is not dry the rub will not stick).
3. Preheat oven to the broiler.
4. Take a deep set roasting pan and set aside.
5. Take two onions, cut in half, remove the peel and set aside.
6. Take out your whole carrots, rinse them off, and cut off the ends (no need to peel them as you will not be eating them, they are just for flavor).
7. Clean and trim your celery, leaving them whole.
8. In the deep set roasting pan… make a grid base with the carrots and celery (see picture) and put the onion halves around the grid. This is what your Turkey will roast on.
   
9. Take a few extra carrots and, celery sticks and cut them in half. Set aside.
10. Take your apple and cut into large chunks and set aside.
11. Take your last onion, cut in half, remove the peel, and cut into quarters.
12. Take your turkey and salt the inside cavity. Then stuff with the apples, onions, carrots and celery until packed tight with the veggies and apples.
13. Place turkey right side up on top of the veggie grid and onions into the roasting pan, and set aside.
    
14. Take the fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary and rough chop together, set aside.TIP: you can go a little heavy on the herbs if you like them but make sure that you do not go heavy on the rosemary as it is the most powerful one and will over power the dish if you use too much. No more than 1 tbs of rosemary.
15. Peel your garlic cloves, smash with the back side of the knife and chop until fine.
16. Mix the garlic with the fresh herbs into a bowl with your olive oil and the pad of butter making a thinner paste.
17. Take this mixture and massage it onto the turkey, covering it everywhere. Do not miss one little spot!
18. Add turkey stock (you can use veggie if you cannot find turkey) to the pan. Add enough where it covers the entire bottom of the pan.
19. Your boiler should be ready in your oven… put your turkey in and cook for about 5-10 minutes… you want to keep a close eye on this. Once your turkey starts to brown on the top then you immediately turn your broiler off and turn your oven to 350 F.
20. Cook your turkey for 14 minutes for every pound (so this varies depending on the size).
21. Make sure to keep an eye out toward the end… if it looks as if it’s getting too brown then cover it with foil, and also check the temp right then to make sure it’s not over cooked. The perfect temperature for a turkey is 165 F.
22. Once done cooking remove immediately from the oven and cover with foil as fast as possible. Let it sit covered tightly for at least 25 minutes. It must rest covered or it will become very dry.
23. Once it is set… you can remove the foil, carve and serve.

Instructions for Pie Crust:

1. In food processor combine flour, salt, sugar and mix until combined.
2. Scatter butter pieces over the flour and mix with pulses (can also use a pastry cutter or your hands)
3. The crust consistency should have bits no larger than the size of peas.
4. Put crust into the bowl, and sprinkle the water over the mixture. Fold in using a spatula.
5. Press down on the dough kneading until it starts to stick together.
6. Add up to two more tbs water if needed.
7. Flour your surface and rolling pin.
8. Divide dough into two balls and flatten each until about a 4th inch thick.
9. Wrap separately and put into fridge for at least an hour.
10. When ready to make the pie, again flour your surface and rolling pin.
11. Roll out each dough ball evenly to fit your pie plate.

Instructions for Pie:

1. Preheat oven to 475 F.
2. Combine 1/2 stick melted butter, cinnamon, and coat the apples and pears with them tossing gently in a bowl without breaking the apples and pears. Make sure they are all coated on each side of each slice.
3. Evenly spread out coated apples and pears onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil, and sprinkle evenly with a little brown sugar and coconut sugar. (just a pinch)
4. Bake for 7-10 minutes, turning the slices one time half way through. (Make sure you bake until edges are browning and the juices are bubbly).
5. Cool in the pan and reduce the oven heat to 350 F.
6. Line the pie plate (use a deep set pie plate) with the first pie crust.
7. In a bowl combine brown sugar, coconut sugar, salt and almond flour.
8. Add cooked apples and pears with all of the juices from the pan, and slowly mix carefully without breaking the apples and pears. Make sure everything is coated evenly.
9. Put apples and pears into the pie crust and drizzle that 1/4 stick of melted butter over everything in the pie.
10. Then sprinkle just a little more cinnamon over the top.
11. Put the 2nd pie crust over pinching the edges together, so they are sealed.
12. Make a few slits in the center of the pie crust, so that when it bakes it can evaporate some of the liquid out, so you do not have a runny pie. I like to make a cute design to make it look fancy.
13. Take your beaten egg and 1 tbs of freshly squeezed apple cider and mix together. Take this mixture and brush the top of your pie crust covering the entire thing.
14. Cover the pie with foil (not super tight because you do not want the crust to touch the foil) this just prevents from any burning. Put onto a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes.
15. Take the foil off after 40 minutes but keep the edges covered (you can do this with foil or they make a piece for this that looks like a metal ring for specifically for pies) and then bake for an additional 30 minutes or so until the crust is golden brown.
16. Take out of the oven and let cool completely before cutting into it or it will leak. It needs to set for at least an hour and even longer is ok. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated once baked, you can just keep it covered and on the counter.
17. It is best served warm. Which you can do in the oven at a low temperature once the pie has already set.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Use coconut oil or avocado oil to grease a medium size baking dish (I love to make this in a cast iron skillet too to go from stovetop to oven easily instead of a baking dish. Just make sure your cast iron skillet is large in size)
3. Add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to skillet and melt over medium heat
4. Add diced celery, onion and apples along with salt and herb seasonings to skillet and stir and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Mix coconut flour, tigernut flour and chopped dates in a separate bowl and mix well until everything is combined. Add to celery, onion and apple mixture and toss to coat well.
6. Add chicken or beef bone broth and stir to combine (mixture will be wet and slightly crumbly still)
7. Make gelatin eggs (recipe below). Add gelatin eggs and mix well again. Transfer to baking dish if using instead of cast iron skillet. Smooth top of the mixture until even in the baking dish or skillet.
8. Transfer to oven for 45-60 minutes until a golden brown.
9. Remove from oven and let cool. Enjoy!

1. Add 3 tablespoons of gelatin to a glass bowl
2. Add 3 tablespoons of luke-warm water and stir to get gelatin wet (it will clump which is totally fine for this step)
3. Add 6 tablespoons of boiling hot water (this is crucial!) and whisk, whisk, whisk with a fork to get out all the clumps. I immediately pour into the stuffing mixture so I can stir and combine it well into the stuffing while it is still very fluid.

1. Place cranberries, orange juice and sweetener of choice (honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar etc) into a saucepan over medium heat on the stove top.
2. Allow to come to a simmer. Stir frequently for 10-15 mins. The berries will begin to pop and the sauce will thicken. Keep stirring to prevent your sweetener from burning.
3. Remove from heat and transfer to serving bowl or storage of choice. Once completely cooled you may refrigerate or serve.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease a baking dish with coconut oil.
3. In baking dish, combine thinly sliced apples, maple syrup, lemon juice and cinnamon and toss to coat and combine.
4. In a separate bowl, mix coconut flour, tigernut flour, cassava flour, unsweetened shredded coconut flakes and salt until well combined.
5. Add maple syrup. Stir. Mixture will be clumpy still. Then add palm shortening and coconut oil (not melted) and smash to combine with a fork or with fingers (fingers works best although much messier!)
6. Crumble topping mixture on top of apples until well covered.
7. Place in oven for 15 mins until golden brown.

1. Preheat oven to 375*.
2. Place legs into a roasting dish.
3. Take a small pot and melt your butter on low. Baste your turkey legs with the melted butter, both under and on top of the skin.
4. Combine your sage, garlic powder, salt & pepper in a bowl. Rub this mixture onto the turkey legs (again both under and on top of the skin).
5. Cover your roasting dish with lid or foil & bake for 20 minutes.
6. Open the oven & baste turkey legs with butter from the pan (you can melt more butter to add if so desired). Put the turkey legs back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
7. Remove turkey legs and sprinkle on rosemary (if you add this too soon it will burn).
8. Put turkey legs back into the oven without the lid or foil and bake for another 15-30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165*.

   Note: This process may take longer if your turkey legs are large. If you have to bake for a longer period of time due to the size of your turkey legs, remember to baste your legs every 15 minutes to keep them from drying out.

9. Remove turkey legs from oven, cover roasting pan with foil (this helps keeps the meat from drying out) and let cool for 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

1. Preheat the oven to 350*.
2. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes.
3. Chop the sweet potatoes into ½ inch rounds.
4. Put the sweet potatoes into a 9 x 13 baking dish.
5. Grab a small pot and melt the butter on low.
6. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and optional honey to the pot with the butter and mix together.
7. Pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes doing your best to evenly coat them.
8. Place a lid over your baking dish or foil (just make sure it’s sealed so the steam stays inside the dish).
9. Bake the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes.
10. Remove the sweet potatoes and baste with the butter and spice mixture from the pan (this keeps everything from drying out too much).
11. Cover the sweet potatoes and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes until fork tender.
12. Remove the sweet potatoes and let cool for about 10 minutes.
13. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt and serve.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Heat a large pan over medium heat and add the butter or coconut oil. Once the fat is hot, add the onions. You want to cook the onions slowly over medium to low heat. They don’t need to be completely caramelized (they don’t need to be extra dark), but you do want them to be nicely browned.
3. Add the sage to the skillet and cook for a minute or two longer to allow the flavor of the sage to release. Remove the onions from heat.
4. Dump the cubed muffins into a large bowl and add the onions and sage. Mix to combine everything well.
5. In a separate bowl, break the egg, add the coconut milk and the chicken broth. Whisk everything to combine. If you want the stuffing to be super duper moist, you can add another 2 tbsp. Of coconut milk and another 2 tbsp. of chicken broth.
6. Season the egg mixture with salt and pepper (I added  ½ tsp. of pink Himalayan Sea Salt and it was perfect). Whisk the mixture again to combine everything.
7. Pour the egg mixture over the corn muffins, onions and sage. Stir to combine. You want all the pieces to be moist.
8. You can add the stuffing to the cavity of a turkey or you can add it to a buttered (or coconut oiled) baking dish and bake at 375 F for for about 30 minutes. You may need to add 5 to 10 more minutes if you added extra liquid in step 5.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. You can use paper muffin liners in your muffin pan. What I do is lightly grease a stoneware muffin pan with grassfed butter.
3. Whisk together the cornmeal, gluten-free flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk and butter.
5. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir until just blended. You don’t want to overmix.
6. Spoon the batter directly into the muffin pan (or into the paper liners).
7. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes. Cool and serve. Enjoy!

1. Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot add the onion and sauté until soft, but not translucent.
2. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant.
3. Add the kale and sauté with the garlic and onion, coating the leaves with oil as you stir. Feel free to add more oil if you need to prevent things from sticking. Season the kale with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add the balsamic vinegar and continue to sauté, coating the leaves with the balsamic.
5. Add the broth, cover and let simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the leaves are very soft and wilted.
6. Remove the pan from heat and drizzle the kale with more balsamic vinegar, tossing to cover the leaves.
7. Serve with tomato wedges if you like.

Crust

1. If you don’t want to make the crust, just use a gluten-free crust of your choice. That’s what I almost always do.

Pie

1. Roast your sweet potatoes at 350* F until soft and tender. Roasting is important to bring out the flavor.
2. Make your pie crust according to package instructions or bake if you’re using a recipe. If you’re using a frozen crust, there’s usually no additional steps. You’ll just pour the filling right in.
3. Add all of the pie filling ingredients to a Vitamix, high powered blender or food processor. Blend until completely smooth, using the tamper to scrape the sides of the blender jar as needed.
4. Pour the mixture into the pie crust (let the crust cool first if you baked yours) and place in the oven.
5. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350* F or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.