A very Miller Holiday Season

Holiday traditions can really screw with you when you've completely changed your diet. I'm not talking "on a diet" I'm talking lifestyle change.

Christmas with the Millers has some pretty great traditions when it comes to food. Get up with a great cup of coffee and watch the kids with the stockings and Santa gifts. When everyone is assembled, break out the gift exchange and ooh and aaah. Then sit down to Bagels and Lox and stuff yourself silly.

This is usually followed by some schmaltzy TV movie or parade, a nice brisk walk, and then the dinner preparations begin.

In honor of the Grinch, a good Roast Beast is always on the menu. Accompanied by Yorkshire Pudding, which, for those of you who are uninitiated, is a popover made with the drippings of said beast. There's salad, veggies and wine as well. 

And Dessert? Always the Yule Log. My mom makes it. It's fabulous. The cake is just a thin chocolate layer designed to hold the filling. Which is so awesome as kids we used to sneak into the freezer to find the leftover filling tub in the middle of the night.

So, now we don't eat grains or sugar. Our kids are grown. Candy Crush has replaced the Parades. And getting anyone to sit down long enough for a full meal is close to impossible. Pretty much knocks the crap out of our traditions. Or does it?

Yeah, it does. Sorry. So we did a modified menu. One we could all live with, and walk off. And we created new traditions.

First, at the bagel store... order them thin sliced. Instead of cutting in half, they cut the in thirds and you really won't mind. Slather on the cream cheese and lox and you're good to go. Much less impact on your system. Some bagelerias have gluten-free, so if you need that make sure to call ahead. We did skip the orange juice. Some things aren't worth it.

The Roast Beast, the salad, the veggies... all good to go. No issues. 

The Yorkshire Pudding? I know, you really want me to tell you how I accomplished these beauties without the flour (the only bad thing about them).

Yorkshire Pudding

I wish I could. They are stunning aren't they? But alas, they weren't a healthy choice at all. We ate them anyway and will pay for it today.

Here's a healthy choice... homemade Nutella. I tried this so many times using hazelnuts and cocoa... bleh. All the foodie  bloggers with their "aha!" nutella recipes... they suck, to be honest. Grainy. eeew. I wanted smooth and creamy. Here's what I'm talking about... You could fill an empty Nutella jar and noone would know. Misleading, yeah, but healthy. 

Homemade Nutella

One of those "no really I don't need anything gifts" under the tree? A Magic Bullet from my family. So I tossed some Blanched Hazelnuts in, added just a square or two of Green & Black's 70% Organic Chocolate, and a tablespoon of Swerve. Oh my. Trés yummy. About 20 seconds in the magic machine and I had my Nutella. Of course we had no idea what to do with it. We don't eat bread. So we made chocolates and filled them. Came out a bit like truffles. Works for me. 

And then there's the ever present demand for my Chicken Parmigiana. That's usually between Christmas and New Years. I've made it unbreaded, sure, but it's not the same. So, using a few alternate techniques along with some Chickpea Flour, here it is in all it's glory. Same recipe, using Chickpea Flour instead of wheat flour and organic sauce without all the sugar. When using the Chickpea flour, dredge before egg and after.

Chicken Parmigiana

Tasted better than it even looked. So, while I haven't solved the Yorkshire Pudding tradition, I have mastered a few other things to make the holidays complete-ly healthy. 

But wait... the Yule Log. Surely I have a solution there! No, I don't. And my name isn't Shirley.

But I'm working on it. We did get the Icing down, and what's cake without icing? Though nothing is perfect, and we did have to scrub the food coloring out of the tile. And there was quite a mess on the counters as well. But what's a holiday without a mess? 

Now it's on to New Years. Oh dear... not sure how that'll turn out but stay tuned.

For exact recipes, stay tuned for the book... later this year, or... message me. I'll be happy to send them.