Christmas Menu for Low Oxalate GAPS
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I think the foods of Christmas are the strongest memories from my childhood and the ones I most want to recreate with my own family. Some are much easier than others on the GAPS diet. Of course, then there are the pesky traditions of my husband’s childhood that must also be taken into consideration. Thankfully his family didn’t have any Christmas Eve food traditions so that part is left up to me.
In my memory every Christmas eve day would find us going from store to store to find fresh shucked oysters to make Oyster Stew. I’m sure that some years they were purchased the day before but since this is an ingredient that can’t be bought far in advance it was often a quest for the day it was consumed. My mother grew up having Oyster Stew on Christmas Eve and she tells my father that he did too and so I grew up eating it on Christmas Eve as well. We kids weren’t overly fond of oyster stew so mom made another special dish for us (after we finished our bowl of oyster stew or at least the milk) Waffles! Yes my families traditional Christmas Eve meal was New England Oyster Stew and waffles with real New Hampshire maple syrup. Wasn’t that what you had at your home? I have made Oyster Stew myself many years since I married and wasn’t at the home of my parents for Christmas. I have made it with canned oysters (don’t recommend), coconut milk (not bad) and goat milk (not my favorite). I may yet change my mind but I think that this year I won’t make it. (Oh the horror!) I’m the only member of my family who likes it anyhow and arguing over eating what is served for dinner is no fun and I’ll skip it if I can. I do plan to have Oysters however as Oysters on the half shell with Ginger Lime Mignonette
We’ll also have coconut pancakes from Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife (link to the cook book below) as a nod to the waffles of my youth with some sausage to balance them out. I’ll probably make them myself with this recipe for
Alsatian Christmas Sausage from
Sausage Mania It is one of our favorites and despite having some high oxalate herbs if you use white pepper it has only about 8 mg oxalate for a whole lb of the sausage!
Christmas Eve Menu
Oysters on the half shell with ginger Lime Mignonette
Coconut flour Pancakes
Alsatian Christmas Sausages
Christmas morning is another special meal. My husband had little smokies, waffles and Hawaian Punch every year. My family had a special sausage wheel with spiced apple rings, fresh Stollen made by my mother on Christmas Eve and fresh fruit salad. Since I am doing the
Leptin Reset this year (more about that on a later blog) and I have to eat 50-70g of protein within 30 min of rising that may make it tricky to make anything really special. I think we’ll just have fried eggs, some English Bacon from
The Farmers Larder and I have some Ginger Bread that I made with Goose eggs in my freezer that I have been saving for this occasion. I’ve been asked for the recipe before so I will include it. It is a family favorite. Serve with lots of KerryGold or other grass fed butter for a nutritious treat.
Gingerbread
8 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
about 8 mejool dates
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2/3 cup coconut flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
Put everything but the flour and baking soda into blender and blend until
smooth. If you think your blender needs it put in just the dates and some
of the liquid till they are ground up finely. My vitamix can handle them
with everything in there. Then add the coconut flour and baking soda and
blend again till no more lumps.
Pour into a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and bake at 350 for 55-60 min.
Remove from the pan to cool.
This is based on a recipe found in this cook book.
Christmas Breakfast Menu
Farm fresh Eggs
English Bacon
Gingerbread
Coffee
Egg Nog (Using this recipe from Cheeseslave )
Christmas dinner in the families of our origins was always special and similar to Thanksgiving but we are forging our own way with this one. Goose for Christmas Dinner is becoming a tradition in our home. This is our second year of it and we are really looking forward to it. The girls literally have talked about it with delight for the entire year since we first made it. I base my recipe on the one for Goose with Sherry and Orange Sauce from this cook book.
I’ll round out that meal with butternut squash from the farmer’s market and low oxalate greens sauteed with some bacon and broth to make them extra tasty. Desert will be my Mother-In-Laws famous Cranberry Cake with Hot Butter Sauce, modified to make it safe for GAPS and LOD. I’ll post that recipe once I have it figured out.
Christmas Dinner Menu
Roast Goose with Orange Sauce
Butternut Squash
Sauteed Greens w/Bacon
Lacto Fermented Bubbies Pickles
Desert
Cranberry Cake with Hot Butter Sauce
Hopefully this will inspire some who wonder what they can eat on this diet, and reassure others who feel sorry for us on this terribly restrictive diet. We obviously do not feel deprived. A little bit of planning can make your holiday food dreams come true no matter what restrictions you are facing this year.
Merry Christmas!
Hey Patty! I love seeing your plans! Question-where do you get your mejool dates?
@Amy- Lots of places have them. Trader Joes (I think in the refrigerated produce section), Whole foods, and Costco are the sources I usually use.