Christmas meals

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Hopeful
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Christmas meals

Post by Hopeful »

I am enjoying hearing what you all eat for Christmas around the world!

Our custom, for the last 12 years, has been to drive 30 minutes to spend Christmas morning with my son and his sons. My daughter in law greets us with hot cinnamon buns (I ate 1/2 a warm sweet potato on the way, so managed to stay strong!). Then we open presents and enjoy them for a couple of hours. Our tradition is breakfast sandwiches. I used to make the english muffins but didn't this year! And I bring bacon, ham, sausage, eggs (some years from my own animals) and garden potatoes for the home fries. It has been a way to share our harvest bounty with the family. This year, I could eat everything except the english muffins, cheese, and ketchup without feeling like a weirdo. Cool!

I even had 90% chocolate in my stocking. Now, for a nap...

Merry Christmas to you all, Chris
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megamoxie
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Post by megamoxie »

Hi Chris-
My British immigrant parents live about 2 hours away so they came for Christmas dinner with my DH and me. I prepared a safe feast. My diet is GF, DF, no oats or sesame, no beef, pork, tuna, and eliminating a few other things (including chocolate). My family does not have many restrictions in comparison, so the appetizers included regular cheese and crackers, and yummy-looking rolls of fresh mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto. There were also sesame-free hummus, some GF chips and grapes. For the main course I bought a fresh goose from a local butcher shop and made chestnut dressing (stuffing but not cooked inside the bird), roasted potatoes, parsnips, green beans, orange sauce and also served with specialty store-bought plum chutney. We had a very nice Washington state Gewurtztraminer with it - my first wine in many months! Everyone thought the meal was delicious. After a break for exchanging presents, we had dessert: a carrot cake from a local dedicated GF/DF/SF/NF bakery, a warm apple cobbler that I made, and ice cream/whipped cream for those who can have dairy.

Then we had a Skype session with my son who moved to Seattle in the summer, and opened our Christmas crackers (note to self: for next year, get ones that do not have glitter - that stuff gets everywhere).

I just had some more of the carrot cake for breakfast today :grin: .

Merry Christmas and God bless us, every one.

Meg
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Hopeful
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Post by Hopeful »

Yumm! You came up with some really tasty items and the leftovers should be great for days!
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

I am a bit late catching up on posts..

I survived my first xmas with family in 8 years!! (not just food wise but emotionally and mentally)

I am lucky, my sister and mother iare 'mostly' gluten and dairy free and understand my slightly OCD approach regarding Soy.
For dinner there was roast chicken and roast lamb. While the others had potato bake and salad( salad from my garden!!). I took a small dish of roasted veges to have.

I made a big batch of gabe safe gf/sf/YF gravy from home made bone broth, and bone broth that I had cooked meat and veges in so it made a fantastic base, and everyone thought the gravy was very yummy!!!

Dessert, my sister had made jello for the little kids and me...
Everyone else had pavlova and plum pudding.

I am 5 years post DX, and sticking to my bland strict eating plan. I am AOK with it, I make and enjoy various treats when I feel like them.
Xmas morning breakfast I had my rice protein shake, while the others had bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes etc.
I value symptom free days too much to be tempted by what others are eating...
Gabes Ryan

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Leah
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Post by Leah »

Our Christmas dinner is usually at my house, but this year, it was at my sister- in -law's. I made some GF/SF Chex mix and my brother -in-law made safe guacamole and chips. For dinner, we had ham and I made shaved brussels sprouts with hazelnuts. I couldn't have the mashed potatoes though. My mother-in-law made chocolate chip cookies, so I also brought some GF brownies. I was able to drink some wine ( with the help of a H-2 antihistamine) and was very happy :) Now onto New Years! We are going to an appetizer party, so my husband and i are bringing homemade chicken wings, deviled eggs, spiced nuts with bacon, and GF cookies. Now I know I won't starve. :)
Happy New Year to all!

Leah
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Post by Hopeful »

The parties are about killing me!

At our big extended family XMas party on Saturday, I emailed everyone to see what they were bringing and realized that there was not ONE THING that I could eat. So I made shrimp cocktail (I skipped eating the sauce) and Paleo skewers of roasted sweet potatoes and provencal pork sausage bites. I made sure I got a big plate of them before they all disappeared.

It's not so bad in an hors d'oevres situation where everyone is walking around talking. But we're invited to a New Year's sit down brunch. My friend is a gourmet cook who gets insulted if people try to turn her affairs into pot luck, so I can't bring anything. She knows I have restrictions, so she read the yummy menu to me. Well, at least I can eat the bacon. She said that no one will mind if I'm not eating much - they just like my company. Yeah, but I MIND! It will be hard to sit there for an hour with just bacon on my plate, great conversation or not. I've been putting her off for months so can't refuse the invitation. Sigh...
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Post by brandy »

Hi Hopeful,

I generally eat a full meal at my house before going to any social situation.

Re: the brunch. Since the hostess does not want potluck can you do one of the following: Bring your own personal MC safe hot meal on plate and run it through hosts micro? Or another option.....make a batch of the paleo muffins.....see big thread in recipe section. Put one or two paleo muffins in your purse and put them on your plate and enjoy with the bacon? Or bring a GF turkey sandwich and stick it in your purse. Bring the sandwich out and enjoy with the bacon.

Most times I find the less that I say about my eating requirements the better.

People don't get that we have inflammatory bowel disease.

Brandy
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dfpowell
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Post by dfpowell »

Hi Leah,

Could you share the ingredients of your Chex mix and Chicken wings?

Thanks so much!
Donna

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Hopeful
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Post by Hopeful »

Brandy, these are good strategies and I'm sorry I'm so whiney today!

I found these great little rice cakes called rice thins at Amazon. I'll take a couple of those with almond butter (easy to pack) to eat with my bacon. And bring my Goya coconut milk (no additives) so I can indulge in the coffee. And, since the brunch is at 11:30, I'll have a small meal before I go.

The holidays are almost over - yea!
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tex
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Post by tex »

Chris,

The next time you are in a health food store, look for Rice Snaps (by Edward & Sons). They are excellent for using with almond butter, by themselves, or with other foods. You have to check the label, because several of the flavors contain ingredients that many of us cannot tolerate, but there are several flavors that work well for most of us. The plain unsalted version, for example, should work for anyone who is not sensitive to rice. I like the Brown Rice and Toasted Onion flavor, and the Onion Garlic version. You can also find these on Amazon.

http://www.edwardandsons.com/es_shop_snaps.itml

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by Leah »

Hi Donna.
Sure, I'll do my best to give you the recipes, but place remember that I can eat things that some of us can't.

For the chex mix, I basically follow the Original Chex mix recipe, but I only use rice and corn Chex, GF pretzels and GF bagel chips or corn chips ( or whatever snack you can eat). And instead of butter, I use olive oil.

As for the chicken wings, we just make a dry rub with spices I can have ( which is all of them now) and a little brown sugar …. but you can also just buy a ready made rub. Then we just put them on a sheet pan covered with non-stick foil or parchment in a 425 degree oven for a good hour and a half. They come out very rendered and non-greasy. If you like them less cooked, you can just take them out earlier. These are always popular!

Let me know if you try either recipe
Happy New Year!
Leah
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