Winner-Winner Pot Luck Dinner!

The holidays are here, y’all! People are either excited or really annoyed. I consider myself to be a glass is half-full kind of girl so I have learned to fully embrace all things holiday-related. To help you spread a little more holiday cheer, and less holiday fear, I wanted to give you all a gift. The gift of food!

Now, unfortunately I cannot give you food via the internet, but I can give you some delicious recipes that you can take with you to any potluck in town AND BE PRAISED for how delicious it is! Now, since it is the holidays I have 4 simple rules that I am following to make these recipes a true blessing.

Rule #1.

First, they must be delicious. That goes without saying

Rule #2.

Second, these recipes need to be EASY! No meticulous work involved AT ALL! Therefore, all four recipes have 6 ingredients or less.

Rule #3.

Third, CHEAP!!!!! Because it is the holidays and we need to save our money for more important stuff like gifts! Now quality of your food is going to vary the overall cost, but I wanted to keep the ingredients lower (6 ingredients or less) to keep the cost low.

Rule #4.

Fourth, the most important rule I have. These recipes must keep in the theme of The Functional RD. Meaning, these recipes are all gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, paleo, AIP and capable of being low(er)-carb.

Here are 4 different recipes to choose from to win everyone over at your holiday potluck.

Appetizer:

Pumpkin Dip: Who says pumpkin is only an October/November treat. Keep the pumpkin theme going through Christmas because almost everyone love it!
Combine 1, 15 oz. can of organic pumpkin, 1 can of full-fat coconut milk, ½ cup coconut sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 tsp of cinnamon. Serve with fresh fruit like apple slices. 10 servings = 8.4 carbs each not accounting for fruit. (Go easy if you are strict low-carb). Plus great for any vegans!

Entrée:

Crock pot BBQ Chicken: In a large slow cooker, arrange 4-6 chicken breasts and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with ½ of a jar of Wellebee’s Honey BBQ Sauce. (You can DIY your own paleo BBQ sauce but this one is super clean and very easy!) Put the lid on the crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours. Remove from crock pot and shred with 2 forks. Return shredded chicken to the crock pot and mix together with remaining sauce. 12 servings = 4.5 grams of carbs each.

Side Dish:

Bacon, Cranberry, & Almond Green Beans: Cook 4-5 bacon slices until crispy and set aside. Place 2 pounds of fresh green beans in pan with bacon grease and saute until heated through. Place cooked green beans in a medium baking dish. Add in bacon, 1/4 cup dried cranberries, and ½ cup slivered almonds with some salt and pepper to taste.
AIP – remove almonds,
Low carb – ¼ cup cranberries = 46 grams of carbs for entire dish or eliminate cranberries.

Dessert:

3 ingredient cookies: Preheat oven to 350F. Mash up one VERY right banana and add in ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Once banana is fully mashed and mixed with vanilla add in ¾ cup of finely shredded unsweetened coconut. Section cookies off (about 2 tbsp mixture per cookie), roll them into balls and then mash them flat with a fork. Bake for 11-13 minutes until browning around edges. Once browning on the edges, switch the oven to broil and cook for 2-4 minutes until slightly toasted on top. Makes about 8 cookies (5 grams carbs each)

So there you have it. It probably took you longer to read these recipes than it does to prepare them… THAT’S how easy these recipes are! That means, Paleo-friendly food that is not only delicious, cheap, and easy, but also big crowd pleaser! I promise, people won’t believe you when you tell them they’re healthy!

I hope you all have a marvelous holiday season. If you or anything you know is struggling managing their type 2 diabetes, shoot them over this link to my Diabetes Crash Course for managing diabetes with good food and great nutrition!

If you are needing more guidance on surviving the holidays, hit me up! I am currently doing sessions on preparing an awesome Holiday meal around your food sensitivities, preferences, and macros!

Also, check out my post on keeping it healthy at all your holiday parties!