No Guilt Here

Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of overindulgence and guilt. Not here. Not this year. And for that I'm thankful. Since this is our first paleo Thanksgiving, I was super excited to try and "primal-ize" some favorite traditional dishes. I began researching recipes several weeks ago and found some fabulous suggestions for green bean casserole, sweet potato pie, and even almond meal stuffing. My mouth was watering from all the finds and I think that evening dinner was not eaten until the kids' bedtime due to my reckless recipe surfing. However, somewhere between that night and the night I made my Thanksgiving shopping list, my motivation to try several new recipes all at once waned. Hard. I realized that over the past few years, we had already dropped some of those less healthy dishes from our holiday dinner table. Why re-introduce green bean casserole, even paleo-ized, if we didn't seem to miss it last year? Plus, my spouse offered to cook. Do not look a gift turkey in the mouth.

We ended up with a lovely spread. A beautiful bird, roasted to near perfection. Minty peas (peas, mint, vinegar, a touch of agave). Mashed "sweetnip" (sweet potato, turnip, a little butter, salt, pepper). And my gorgeous sausage stuffing. I was just winging it and can say I WILL be making this again. I thought it was divine and I swear I didn't miss the dense bready stuffing I normally love.

Sausage Stuffing Ingredients:

• 1 T coconut oil
• 1/2 large sweet onion, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/2 to 1 tsp sage
• 1/2 tsp Berbere spice
• 2 apples with skins, cored
• salt and pepper, to season

Directions:

1. Roast the apples. We actually cooked them inside the turkey and so they nearly disintegrated in lovely turkey drippings. You might achieve the same consistency and flavor in a slow cooker or roasted in the oven with some bacon grease. In a pinch, you might be able to substitute unsweetened applesauce.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat. Fry the onion, carrot, and celery until they begin to soften. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Fry the pork. When partially cooked, stir in the spices. Continue until pork is cooked through.
4. Return the cooked vegetables and cooked apples to the pan. Stir into the pork and continue cooking until vegetables reach desired doneness.
5. Serve immediately.

Note: This dish did not taste nearly appealing once it cooled down. Definitely reheat any leftovers!