Thanksgiving Meal Preparations – The Primal Way

With holidays just around the corner I want to share some familiar Thanksgiving recipes with a new twist. This time of year is laden with feasts of traditional dishes that invoke the spirit of home, familiar comforts and the sweetness of rich desserts.

What happens when you leave all that sugar behind, set down the booze, and let go of cooking your holiday meals?

You start to feel more grounded and relaxed yet at the same time you might feel a little lonely. Our culture revolves around the importance of these celebrations and food has always brought people together. Even though many of our friends aren’t on the Primal Diet they kindly offer us the same courtesy, respect, and consideration that the majority of gluten-free, vegetarian and vegans are now afforded at the table. This wasn’t always the case. It takes time, repetition, and culinary inspiration. As people become familiar with seeing your contributions to their meal it helps broaden perspectives and inspires them to try something new, because it’s delicious.

Whether you’re flying solo and starting to figure out how to navigate the Primal Diet, letting go of social pressures and taking a break from the holiday’s for a while, or feeling curious about how to make some deliciously raw dishes that you can proudly contribute to Grandma’s buffet table, we’re here to support you.

Taking a break can be really helpful. It allows you to re-calibrate, it provides space for your healing and it encourages the development of your own sense of tradition and meaningful culture. It also gives you time to try out new things and build your confidence so you can show up authentically in the midst of family dynamics and cultural expectations. 

A great way to sidestep social pressures and differing food choices is to skip the meal, eat at home before you go and arrive fashionably late while everyone is socializing and eating dessert. When you walk through the door holding a raw cherry cheesecake or persimmon pie that tastes just like pumpkin topped with raw whipped cream, you just might win some folks over with this raw food thing. Top it off with a rich and creamy homemade egg nog and you’ll have people begging for your recipes. Just let them know they will have to wait until you make it again next year. The joy of savoring the experience will be a wonderful gift as you cultivate new family traditions. 

Desserts are a wonderful contribution to any holiday party or potluck. This is definitely a gateway that is most appealing for non-primal dieters. However, introducing raw meats needs more delicacy and attention to the presentation and flavoring. 

For many years I would host potlucks where I would prepare cooked foods for my guests and also offer raw dishes for them to try. I would cook up a huge turkey for everyone that was slathered in butter inside and out and stuffed with my family’s signature french meat stuffing. We would also cook up a smaller bird for ourselves that was rubbed with butter and spices then broiled on the outside so it was warm. When we sliced into the breast meat it was tender and juicy with the rosy colored flesh still vibrant. We got some raised eyebrows and I can imagine with each bite people were just waiting for us to fall over dead. 

Watching us thrive helped to normalize the experience for people and gave them the courage to try primal for themselves.

Another hybrid recipe I’ve made for folks is a Thai Steak Salad. I shaved romaine lettuce onto a platter and then added a light layer of store bought organic sweet Thai Chili Sauce or Primal Spicy Thai Sauce p.81 (Recipe for Living Without Disease). Then I quickly seared a large steak which was cut into thinly sliced sections and layered across the bed of spicy lettuce with ground pepper and fresh cilantro sprinkled on top. As long as the first millimeter of flesh was seared on that steak no one batted an eye at eating it. As a matter of fact it was one of my most popular dishes and was devoured rapidly with no chance of anyone being able to go back for seconds. It was pretty much raw meat and everyone loved it! 

Now coming up with some turkey recipes for Thanksgiving that are truly raw has been a challenge for me. It’s just not the same and I can’t pretend it is something it’s not. Let me know if y’all have discovered a way to do this. Same thing for stuffing and attempting to make anything delicious out of raw pumpkin, I just don’t think it can be done. Prove me wrong! 

But lucky for us Aajonus came up with a brilliant alternative for pumpkin pie on P.140 in Recipe for Living Without Disease. If you haven’t tried it do yourself a favor and get some native or Japanese persimmons and give it a go. Our friends affectionately call this one “Persimmkin Pie” and Asa has requested I make one for his birthday this year. When celebrating special occasions, our family’s tradition is to serve up healthy and delicious raw pies. With each version I make, Phoenix says “It’s the best one yet!”. I’ve been improving the texture and taste and now find myself using little to no dates for the filling and add in more eggs and butter to create a custard.

I have made a tasty turkey salad that incorporates all the savory thanksgiving spices which gives it a wonderful seasonal flavor. I added a little bit of raw cranberry sauce, finely chopped celery and a dash of red onion and it was my best rendition so far. I also received a lot of positive feedback about the salt-free raw coleslaw and pickles I made for the Primal Diet Conference. The pickles were too spicy for Asa so I adjusted the recipe and added only a tiny amount of each spice, minus the peppercorns, so it works really well for kids.

To be honest, I’m not the best at following recipes.

I improvise and adjust ingredients based on my intuition, sense of smell, who I am making it for and the texture quality I am desiring. These recipes are offered as a guide and can be modified to suit your individual taste. I was recently asked where I purchased the organic vanilla powder I use in my pies and homemade ice cream. You can find it online from a company called Natural Zing. It’s pricey but lasts a long time so I feel it’s well worth the investment. 

I hope these recipes inspire you to reclaim the beauty of the season and to nourish yourself and your own traditions.

In optimal health, 
Avyanna

Old Fashioned Egg Nog

Ingredients

• 12 medium egg yolks
• 1.5 cups raw honey
• 4 cups full fat raw milk
• 2 cups heavy raw cream
• +/- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• +/- 1 teaspoon ground vanilla powder

Equipment Needed

• Blender
• Large mixing bowl
• Whisk

Instructions

• Place egg yolks and raw honey into blender. Blend for 2 minutes or until mixture thickens. Pour yolk-honey mixture into large bowl, whisk in milk and cream. Continue mixing until honey has completely dissolved. Sprinkle in nutmeg and vanilla, mix until well incorporated. Taste and adjust nutmeg if desired.
• Chill until ready to serve. Sprinkle ground cinnamon over each cup before serving. 

Yield: 8 servings 

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups raw honey (steep spices in honey for 3 days prior to preparing)
• +/- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• +/- ¼ teaspoon ground clove
• +/- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoon fresh orange juice
• 12 oz. Fresh cranberries

Equipment Needed

• Blender
• Small mouth quart mason jar
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Small mouth half pint jar

Instructions

• Set aside 2 oz. fresh cranberries in half pint jar. Blenderize 2 oz. cranberries until finely chopped. Set aside. Place remaining fresh cranberries, 2 tbs fresh orange juice and 1.5 cup spiced raw honey in quart mason jar. Blenderize until smooth. Add finely chopped cranberries to the quart jar. Blenderize on low/stir. Mix until well incorporated. Taste and adjust spices if desired.
• Chill until ready to serve.

Yield: 10 servings / ¼ cups

Turkey Salad – Savory

Ingredients

• 4 cups raw Turkey breast
• +/- ¼ teaspoon fresh thyme
• +/- ¼ teaspoon fresh sage
• +/- ¼ teaspoon fresh rosemary
• Optional ground black peppercorn
• Optional finely chopped celery
• Optional finely chopped red onion
• 2 teaspoons fresh cranberry sauce optional
• 2 cups fresh squeezed lemon
• 2 cups raw honey
• 1/3 cup raw cream

Equipment Needed

• Lemon press or reamer
• Strainer
• Small mouth pint jar
• Large mouth quart mason jar
• Measuring cups and spoons

Instructions

• Cut up Turkey breast into small bite sized pieces. Place in large mouth mason jar. Squeeze lemons. Strain into pint jar. Fill halfway with honey and blenderize. Pour over Turkey breast and shake well. Make sure Turkey is completely covered in lemon honey juice. Add spices and shake vigorously. Set aside in fridge for 24 hours. Strain and gently rinse meat in spring water. Place back in mason jar. Add cream, celery, red onion and cranberry sauce as desired.
• Chill until ready to serve

Yield: 4 servings 

Coleslaw

Ingredients

• 1 Red Cabbage
• 1 Green cabbage
• 2 Carrots
• ¼ teaspoon celery seed
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 3-4 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon raw cream

Equipment Needed

• Grater
• 2 half gallon large mouth or 1 gallon
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Small mouth half pint jar
• Large mixing bowl

Instructions

• Grate carrot, red and green cabbage. Mix together in bowl. Set aside. Blenderize honey and RACV together in half pint jar. Add celery seed and stir with spoon. Fill jars with cabbage and carrot. Pour honey/RACV over top. Shake well. Add cream. Shake well.

• Chill until ready to serve.

Yield: 40 servings / 1 gallon

Sweet Pickles

p.143-144 Recipe for Living Without Disease

Ingredients

• 4 pickling cucumbers
• 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons raw honey
• 1/4 cup natural mineral water or spring water

Equipment Needed

• Blender
• 4 large mouth mason jars

Instructions

• Blenderize vinegar, 1 oz water and honey together in an 8 oz jar for 10 seconds on low speed.
• Slice cucumbers lengthwise into quarters. Slice the quarters into halves horizontally. Stuff cucumbers in a 16 oz jar, pour in blenderized mixture into jar. If more water is needed to cover cucumbers, add it now. Cap and gently turn jar upside down and back several times. Let stand in refrigerator for 24 hours. It will keep in the refrigerator 2 months.  

Alternative: Add garlic or ginger slices, or any other spice before adding water to cover cucumbers.

Added Picking Spices

• ¼ teaspoon mustard seed
• ¼ teaspoon coriander seed
• ¼ teaspoon celery seed
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 2 fresh bay leaves

Yield: 2 gallons

Cheesecake

p.143-144 Recipe for Living Without Disease

Ingredients

• ¾ pound no-salt raw cheddar cheese
• 1 pound unsalted raw butter
• 1 cup either raw pecan, walnut or pumpkin seed
• 3 tablespoon raw honey
• 1 pinch vanilla powder

Topping (optional)

• 1 1/3 cups raw cream
• 1 tablespoon raw honey

Equipment Needed

• Glass pie pan
• Food processor
• Blender

Instructions

• Let cheese and butter stand at room temperature to warm for 4 hours before making cheesecake.
• Slice cheese into 1/8 inch slices. Into each of the two 16 oz. jars, warm half of the cheese, half of the butter and 1 tablespoon honey immersed in a bowl of mildly hot water while making the crust.

Crust: In a food processor (not blender), place nuts, two tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon honey. Blend ingredients until they become a large ball. Butter bottom and sides of an 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Evenly spread nut mixture and press onto bottom of pie plate. Chill in freezer while making filling.

Filling: When butter is nearly liquid, blenderize both jars of butter/cheese/honey mixture on high speed for 60-90 seconds or until ingredients are smooth, not grainy. Do not get it too hot while blending. Pour both jars of filling into chilled piecrust and refrigerate for several hours. (If making a topping, place it back in freezer while making topping.) 

Topping:  Blenderize 5 ounces cream and 2 teaspoon honey in 8 oz jar on low speed until it is fluffy and stiff. Repeat two more times, each time with 5 oz cream and 2 teaspoons honey in an 8 oz jar.

Remove pie from freezer and top with whipped cream. Let stand in refrigeration for at least 8 hours. The flavors blend better when it stands for 20 hours. 

Alternative Topping: Choose fruit with low carbohydrate, such as cherries, berries, and/or unripe fruit. Remove seeds or stones. Chop fruit, if necessary, and blenderize 1 cup of fruit and 1 tablespoon honey in a 12 oz jar on medium speed for 10 seconds. Spread over chilled cheesecake. 

Yield: 10 servings

“Pumpkin” Pie

p.140 Recipe for Living Without Disease

Ingredients

• 3 ripe persimmons
• 6 non-steamed dates, remove stone and chop
• 3 tablespoons raw honey
• 1 cup raw walnut, pecan or pumpkin seeds
• 2 tablespoons unsalted raw butter
• 15 ounces raw cream

Crust: In a food processor (not blender), place nuts, two tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon honey. Blend ingredients until they become a large ball.

Butter bottom and sides of an 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Evenly spread nut mixture and press onto bottom of pie plate. Chill in freezer while making filling.

Filling: Blenderize half of chopped dates and 1 ½ persimmons in a 12 oz jar on high speed for 40 seconds. Repeat with remaining dates and persimmons in another 12 oz jar. Remove crust from freezer and pour in persimmons mixture. Return to freezer while making topping. 

Topping: Blenderize 5 ounces cream and 2 teaspoon honey in 8 oz jar on low speed until it is fluffy and stiff. Repeat two more times, each time with 5 oz cream and 2 teaspoons honey in an 8 oz jar.

Remove pie from freezer and top with whipped cream. Let stand in refrigeration for at least 8 hours. 

Yield: 8 servings