Cranberry Raspberry Relish from Eatingwell.com
I had so much fun with the Thanksgiving Menu Planner that I am very excited about creating menu planners for the coming holidays as well!
So excited, that I am actually going to create both a Holiday Menu Planner as well as “Just Desserts” recipe booklet for people on limited diets.
I grew up celebrating Christmas, but if this is not the holiday you celebrate, these menu planners and recipes could most likely work for any festive celebration and holiday.
I think for many families, having a nice breakfast on either Christmas morning or another special day during the holidays is very common. So I decided to include a breakfast menu to the holiday menu planner as well as a dinner menu.
Once again, the menu planner is going to be free of the following foods, so that it can work for almost any limited diet:
no dairy – (butter may be used in some recipes but there is always another option that is dairy-free)
no wheat or gluten – all grains and products containing gluten
no grains
no sugar – only natural sweeteners will be used, such as raw honey and maple syrup
no soy – no soybean oil, lecithin, and other soy products
limited starches
no corn
no beans and legumes
egg-free options
What kinds of foods will be used:
Chicken, eggs, vegetables (non-starchy), nuts, seeds, fruit, honey, coconut, and other whole food ingredients.
So far, this is the menu I have, but it is subject to change, based on feedback I get:
Breakfast:
Egg Frittata
Apple Clafoutis
Egg-Free Banana Muffins or Fig and Nut Spice Bars
Festive Fruit Salad with Almond Crème
Snacks:
Squash Fries
Holiday Pecans
Egg Nog or Almond Nog
Dinner:
Pomegranate Mandarin Salad with Creamy Poppy seed Dressing
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Cranberry Raspberry Relish
Steamed Green Beans with Sliced Almonds
Roasted Veggies with Honey Mustard Glaze
Coconut Rolls
Dessert:
Spice Cake with Butter Cream Icing
Egg-free option (TBA)
I got a little carried away with the desserts on the Thanksgiving Menu Planner that I decided that for the holidays, I would create a booklet of holiday dessert recipes.
I think when anyone thinks of Christmas and food, sweets come to mind. I grew up with my mom making peanut brittle, peppermint bark and lots of other delicious desserts. These made great gifts for friends and family and we also really enjoyed them!
I already have a long list of candies and desserts that I want to include in the booklet. And they’re all going to be free of refined sugar, wheat, gluten, grains, soy, corn, and dairy. Most of the desserts will also be free of chocolate but I may include one or two for people who can eat chocolate. Here are the ideas I have so far for the Just Desserts Recipe e-book:
Candies and Nuts:
Holiday Pecans
Rosemary Walnuts
Toffee Candies
Almond Brittle
Almond Joy Coconut Bark
Peppermint Patty Coconut Bark
Honey Caramels
Cinnamon Truffles
Almond Rocca
Fudge
Cookies:
Gingerbread Men and other Christmas Cut-out Cookies
Christmas Cookies
Cookie Press Cookies
Coconut Macaroons
Fig and Nut Spice Bars
Cakes:
Christmas Fruit and Nut Cake
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Spice Cake with Butter Cream Frosting
Walnut Torte
Flourless Carrot Cake
Pies, crusts and toppings:
Berry Almond Pie Bars
Berry Pie
Coconut Mousse Pie
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Almond Pie Crust
Coconut Pie Crust
Coconut icing
Coconut whipped Cream
Cashew Cream
Butter Cream Icing
Free Give-Away of the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book!
Last time for the Thanksgiving Menu Planner, I offered it free to people who offered ideas and recipes for the planner that I ended up using. Thank you to all who participated and gave me your ideas!
For the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book, I am offering a FREE give-away to 5 people who would love to receive them for their holiday planning. That means, five people will receive both the Holiday Menu Planner as well as the Just Desserts recipe e-book for FREE!
How to Enter the Giveaway
There are 7 possible entries
- Take a look at the menus for the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book in this blog post and then leave a comment telling us what you think about them and why you’d like to win them.
- Twitter about this giveaway. Link to (http://bit.ly/7lTKeh) and mention me @Heartofcooking so I can track it.
- Follow me, Sarah Schatz, on Twitter: @heartofcooking.
- Share a link to this give away post on Facebook. (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)
- Send an email to a friend about this giveaway. Give them the URL to this post. (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)
- Subscribe to my blog via email or blog reader.
- Blog about this giveaway. Refer your readers to this post: (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)
As you complete each item, come back here and leave a comment letting me know. You can also leave one comment saying everything you did.
Who Will Win?
Five readers will win FREE copies of the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts Recipe e-book .
Menu Planner Release and Free Giveaway Dates
The Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book will be available for pre-order starting the first week of December. People who pre-order will receive them in their email the day they are uploaded to my website, the 16th of December. They will be complete and available for purchase on Wednesday, the 16th of December.
The deadline for the Free Give-Away will be Monday, the 14th of December. The winners will be announced by the 16th of December. So, you have over two weeks to share and spread the message of the Holiday Menu Planner and Just Desserts recipe e-book for a chance to win a copy of each for your holiday planning.
So, let’s get going! Have fun and Happy Holidays!
Sarah
oooh,i loved your thanksgiving menu and used the pumpkin pie recipe with success as well as the pecan pie recipe. i’d love to see the recipes for the candies, especially the almond joy bark!
i already subscribe to your blog!
I now follow you on Twitter. I already get your newsletter. I am thinking of maybe subscribing to your menu mailers, yours are the only one I know of that has Traditional food that is also appealing to me and to my boys. Thanks for all you do.
I follow you on Twitter and twittered about the giveaway. I shared link on Facebook. Sent an email to two friends about this giveaway. I already subscribe to your blog via email.
I am so excited about this holiday menu. Every year I love to bake for the holidays but this year I want to continue with my commitment to preparing healthy REAL food. I really want to make healthy holiday dishes & desserts to show my in-laws this Christmas that healthy foods can still be tasty and enjoyable.
Thanks so much for this giveaway!
Blessings!
I am a terrible cook and need all the help I can get. We are in the process of limiting foods, which is not easy, especially for someone who is terrified of the kitchen. Your menus are wonderful, easy to comprehend and not overwhelming.:-)
Thanks, so much!
The Thanksgiving menu planner was a great success and we were able to use many of the recipe’s. The preview of the Chritmans menu planner sounds fabulous.
The GAPS friendly recipe’s have been a blessing to our family and we look forward to the upcoming holidays menu’s to give us more options for health and delicious eating.
Paul
We always have roast chicken for Christmas Eve, but I love the idea of having a nice breakfast Christmas morning. I definitely would like to get the baking guide, I have to make gluten-free treats for a holiday party and I never have good ideas for cookies.
I subscribed to your blog.
Oh please, please, please let me win one of these! I must learn your recipe for dairy-free eggnog. Also, cranberry raspberry relish served alongside rosemary roasted chicken sounds like a “must try” as far as I’m concerned.
I blogged about your giveaway (it did a pingback thing but I am posting to let you know just in case).
I would love to win your giveaway. (As would everyone else) 🙂 It is so hard to find good recipes that actually do your body good. Altering recipes most of the time can be quite challenging and searching websites and blogs to find all of the good recipes takes so much time. Your recipes sound so good and the ingredients that you use are so nourishing!
I just found your web site and would love to win your giveaway. I’ve been GF/SF for a few years, and now my doctor wants me to be DF also. While I love to plan menus and cook, keeping up with my needs while feeding the other six people in the house is a challenge. Your menu plans sound wonderful. I’m looking forward to trying the sample and hopefully signing on.