Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for the Allergy Crowd

I am putting the final touches on my Thanksgiving menu plan.  My fibromyalgia symptoms have been in remission for almost a year now so making sure I have plenty of whole healthy foods for everyone to enjoy is important to me.  I recovered from my severe chronic illness when I eliminated chemicals from my environment, stopped eating toxic processed food, and started eating real, whole foods rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.  I want to keep right on feeling great during this wonderful food-centered holiday.

Dealing with my personal food needs is not the only obstacle I face in planning our Thanksgiving dinner. I am looking forward to having four generations of my extended family gathered around my table.  There will be laughter, hugs, long talks, games, and plenty of counting our blessings.  But there will also be enough of us in the room that have food allergies and food sensitivities that we could do group Public Service Announcements for the National Allergy Board.  One or more people in my family cannot eat dairy products, gluten, beef, nuts, corn, foods with a lot of roughage, bananas, spicy food, shellfish, pork, citrus fruits, kiwi, avocados, soy, or anything prepared in a facility that also prepares peanuts.  It's a good thing I like creative cooking and relish a challenge.

I want to encourage you that you can make healthy meals even during the holidays.  If I can prepare a delicious Thanksgiving meal for my food allergy bunch, I know that you can come up with some smart choices for you and your family too. You can eat healthy foods every day of your life for the rest of your life if you make eating well a priority. 

Here are a couple of ideas if you are cooking for a crowd that has food limitations.  

***Have one entree that everyone can eat and plenty of side dishes so that everyone can choose at least two additional foods.  If I tried to make every single dish something that every single person could eat, we would mainly spend the day sitting around the dining room table imagining what dinner might look like because it would be pretty much invisible.  

***Enlist some helpers.  My daughter is making two side dishes and a dessert.  And my mother is bringing four loaves of her wonderful homemade Portuguese country bread.

Thanksgiving Menu 2013

Roasted Turkey.  I fill the cavity with apple slices, onion, garlic and spices and baste with olive oil and everyone can eat it.

Crockpot macaroni and cheese.  The lactose intolerant folks have to pass on it but all of my grandchildren adore it.

Portuguese country bread.

Portuguese Country Bread

Baked sweet potatoes.  I serve them plain with a choice of toppings that include butter, soy- free dairy-free butter substitute, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger.  

Squash casserole without the cheese.

Fruit plate with enough choices that everyone can eat at least one of the fruits.

Salad greens with kale, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Apple, pear, cranberry crisp with oatmeal topping but no nuts.

Brownie pie with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Chocolate almond pie that is dairy free, soy free, and gluten free.

Gluten Free Chocolate Almond Pie

And there you have it:  a Thanksgiving feast we can all enjoy.  Oh, and by the way, my family will be here from Wednesday until Sunday so I will be cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the allergy crowd for five days.  And I will love every minute of it.  Because spending time with people you love is a gift.  And Thanksgiving is the perfect day to smile and count your blessings.

3 Great Green Cleaners You Can Make at Home

Green Clean Green

Getting chemicals out of my home environment sounded like a great idea to help me move toward recovery from chronic illness.  Never cleaning my house again sounded like a good way to get my home condemned by the health department.  I figured there was a solution out there somewhere.  I started searching the web for chemical free cleaning options. There are some non-toxic manufactured products that you can buy but they can be expensive, some have added scents which are unhealthy, and these products aren't always easy to find in my little rural corner of the world.

So I started experimenting with cleaning products I could make at home out of cheap readily available non-toxic ingredients. Now my house is sparkly clean and I am sparkling with health.

Here are three of my favorites:

ALL PURPOSE CLEANER

Mix equal parts of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle.  

Use this mixture to clean countertops, mirrors, appliances, chrome, faucets, and anything else you would normally clean with a commercial all-purpose cleaner.  Spray the solution on the surface you want to clean. Wipe it off with paper towels or a micro fiber cloth.  No rinsing needed.  Be sure to use a micro fiber cloth when cleaning mirrors and chrome. It will leave them clean and shiny without leaving behind paper residue.  You can buy large jugs of inexpensive vinegar at any big box store or supermarket.  

Interesting factoid:  Vinegar contains 5 % acetic acid which kills bacteria and viruses. Vinegar is such an effective germ killer that it is used in many hospital high risk neonatal units to protect vulnerable newborns from exposure to both germs and harsh chemicals.

FLOOR CLEANER

I have beautiful quarry tile floors in my kitchen, den, and sunroom.  I love the natural swirly look of the tile that makes me feel like I'm walking across stones on a creek bed.  I don't love that they need heavy duty cleaning because this area gets a lot of foot traffic. I experimented with various combinations of ingredients and this one keeps my floors cleaner than any commercial product I have ever used.

Mix 1 gallon of warm water with 1/2 Tbs of mild dish detergent, 1/2 c vinegar, 1/2 c baking soda.  Be sure to add the dish detergent to the water before you add the vinegar and baking soda to keep the solution from fizzing over the top of your mixing container.  Stir well.  Store in a plastic 1 gallon pitcher with a lid.  I use a mop that has a pump sprayer, a container to add your own cleaning solution, and a micro fiber cleaning pad that can be tossed in the washing machine after use.  It is easy to fill the mop container with the solution since the pitcher has a pouring spout.  Put the lid on the pitcher when you are done and store any leftover solution for your next mopping task.

Clean kitchen floor. (Until I start cooking and spill something)

WOOD CLEANER 

This mixture is great for cleaning and restoring scratched wooden surfaces.  Use it on tabletops, furniture, door frames, or any wooden object in need of a little TLC.  I have used it to make 30 year old rocking chairs look brand new and erase all the scratches on a dining table I purchased at a huge discount because it had been a floor sample.  I just used some of the wood cleaner today on the inside of a closet door that was covered in scratches.  The scratches disappeared as soon as I put the solution on the door.

To make the wood cleaner:  Mix 3/4 of a cup of canola oil with 1/4 of a cup of white vinegar. Apply to the marred wooden surface with a clean rag, micro fiber cloth, or a paper towel.  The wood will soak up the mixture so there is no need to wipe it off after applying.

Closet door before I applied the wood cleaner

Closet door two minutes after I applied the wood cleaner 

Getting chemicals out of your home environment is just one step in the recovery process for fibromyalgia and other chronic illnesses.  I got rid of chemicals in cleaning products, cosmetics, personal grooming products, and scented products.  I also stopped eating processed food which is full of all kinds of toxic chemicals.  I started eating whole foods that are rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.  I have been symptom free for almost eleven months. I learn something new every day about how to help my body stay healthy.  And every single day I am thankful for this blessing.