Christmas Eve Planning

So, my best friend's husband called me last night.  He's cooking a Christmas Eve feast, and since yours truly is invited, he wanted to go over the menu with me.  What an awesome guy, right?

Well the conversation started out with "So, what can you eat?"  What a loaded question.  I can eat tons of things.  I pretty much told him that.  So he followed up with, "OK, well then what can't I cook with?"  Another loaded question.

I tried to break it down for him, so folks it goes a little something like this...

When you're working on a meal plan with someone who has any type of food restriction or allergy, the best bet is to figure out your plan in advance.  Gather the recipes that you want to make so that you know what products you want to use.  Make sure you have any ingredient lists available for products that you already have on hand.  Once you've done all that, go ahead and talk to the person with the restriction.

Unless you're making something whose primary ingredient is the restricted food, in most cases, you will only have to slightly tweak the recipe.

So, the plan for Christmas Eve?  Roasted Lamb using Olive Oil and McCormick's salt, pepper and garlic powder.  No changes there as everything on that list is safe.

Scalloped Potatoes.  This one is tricky because it involves a creamy cheese sauce.  We'll use corn starch instead of flour to thicken the sauce.  I'll also be buying the cheese to make sure it is GF (some of the brands put wheat starch - modified food starch - into shredded cheese to keep it from sticking).

A huge green salad.  They won't be using croutons and the dressing is on the side, so we're safe there.  I'm even bringing some of my homemade vinaigrette, so we're good to go.

See how much easier that was, than to simply try to list all of the things you can't eat or can't use?  I find that my friends and family are far less overwhelmed if we focus on what I can eat, rather than the plethora of items that I can't.

I hope you all have a wonderful time planning your Holiday Meals this year.  As long as your friends and family involve you in the planning, it is possible to have a safe and healthy Holiday.