We almost always have to travel for the two major holidays at the end of the year. While we enjoy being with family, dealing with the stress of having to take enough food to cover all your needs in a non gluten-free house is not always welcome. What works well for me is to do almost all my holiday cooking before I ever hit the road. Below is what's 'on the menu' for me in a few weeks.
Christmas eve dinner: gluten-free lasagna, Italian side salad and garlic bread. I make a small batch (that offers two nice sized servings for me) ahead of time and freeze it. If I'm in a generous mood after I'm good and full, I'll give the left overs to the husband.
Christmas morning breakfast: Pancetta and Gruyere cheese egg casserole and pumpkin muffins. Again, I make two servings ahead of time and freeze. When I get where I'm going, I put previously frozen items in the fridge and they're ready to heat up by the time I need to eat them.
Christmas dinner: turkey (no gravy as I don't care for any type of gravy with or without gluten in it), cornbread dressing, green bean casserole (homemade onion rings last for two weeks in air tight container), sweet potato casserole, whole berry cranberry sauce (from a can) and last, but certainly not least, pecan pie!
To make sure my food stays gluten-free from cooler to table, I make sure and follow my own protocol to prevent cross contamination. These tips work well any time of year.
Christmas eve dinner: gluten-free lasagna, Italian side salad and garlic bread. I make a small batch (that offers two nice sized servings for me) ahead of time and freeze it. If I'm in a generous mood after I'm good and full, I'll give the left overs to the husband.
Christmas morning breakfast: Pancetta and Gruyere cheese egg casserole and pumpkin muffins. Again, I make two servings ahead of time and freeze. When I get where I'm going, I put previously frozen items in the fridge and they're ready to heat up by the time I need to eat them.
Christmas dinner: turkey (no gravy as I don't care for any type of gravy with or without gluten in it), cornbread dressing, green bean casserole (homemade onion rings last for two weeks in air tight container), sweet potato casserole, whole berry cranberry sauce (from a can) and last, but certainly not least, pecan pie!
To make sure my food stays gluten-free from cooler to table, I make sure and follow my own protocol to prevent cross contamination. These tips work well any time of year.
- Take your own butter in a labeled container so no one puts their crumb laden knife it it.
- Take mini foil sheets (I get them at Dollar Tree) to line pans and racks in oven or toaster ovens when heating bread, muffins, etc.
- Take small packs of snacks and sweet stuff so you don't feel deprived having to pass on a dozen gluten-filled desserts.
- Don't apologize for the fact that you can't indulge in Aunt Amy's cake or pie or dressing. Doing so implies that you have a choice in the matter - if you're gluten-free because you can't eat gluten that's far from true.
- Don't feel bad if you can't share your expensive gluten-free food (like donuts, cheese straws, cookies or pie) with others. If they're not sharing with you (because they don't have gluten-free foods to share), you don't owe them anything.
- Do enjoy the holiday and all your fabulous gluten-free food!
Happy Holidays Y'all!!
