I enjoyed a delicious keto-friendly low carb thanksgiving meal on Thursday. But even better than the food… was the company & conversation! ❤
That’s what I love MOST about having finally overcome my binge eating issues, and living a life that totally focused on and revolved around FOOD.
Now I actually ENJOY the people and the occasion itself, which has improved my quality of life dramatically – in ways food never could. 😉
Interestingly I shared Thanksgiving with two other people (my son and his girlfriend) so there was a Carnivore, Keto and Vegetarian all cooking in the kitchen together.
And it worked out beautifully for everyone!
It was a gorgeous 🌞 Thanksgiving day in Tennessee! Slim (my old man dane) was feeling frisky that morning, out romping in the leaves that I really need to clean up.
That made for a fun start to the day! 😉😁🍂🍃🍁🐾🐾
Part of the FUN of any holiday is cooking together. 🙂
My son was making the turkey, and his girlfriend was making some vegetarian sides (including starches and carbs I knew I wouldn’t be eating), so I found that nice insulated picnic style bag Aldi sent me awhile back… and packed up some veggies & groceries to add some vegetarian-friendly low carb side dishes to the meal.
What’s in the bag? A variety of things from two quick trips to the grocery store earlier this week…
I was planning to make a simple cucumber tomato feta salad on a bed of fresh baby spinach. And also roast a variety of vegetables: asparagus, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower & snap peas.
The cherry tomatoes & snap peas are higher carb vegetables (for me) but not too terrible, so I had just a few. 😉
I also picked up a few things at Kroger: 2 avocados, asparagus, fresh baby spinach, frozen & fresh raspberries, fresh blueberries, and coffee of course! 😍👍
The avocado and berries are for a new Raspberry Vanilla Keto Shake I want to try making this weekend.
I whipped up some cheesy eggs for breakfast while I packed up my Thanksgiving bag.
I wanted to eat SUPER low carb for breakfast but something filling enough to fuel me through the road trip & then the cooking fun. 😉
Remember those huge sugar free iced coffees I get at Starbucks? I rarely ever finish them all at once. They’re HUGE! 😉
I put them in the fridge and finish them the next day usually. I enjoyed the rest of this one on the road to spend Thanksgiving with my son and his lovely girlfriend. Still delicious! ❤
A nice treat on the 2 1/2 drive for sure… plus it held me over all afternoon with all that Heavy Whipping Cream in it! 😉
Once I arrived I made the cucumber salad first. I simply peeled & diced cucumbers then added diced tomato, crumbled feta cheese, salt & Dukes Mayo. It doesn’t take much mayo, maybe a heaping tablespoon is all. 😍
The salt makes the cucumber “sweat” so it doesn’t take much mayo. I always make this first and then put it in the fridge as it’s better once it all sits together for a bit. 😉
Next I dumped all the veggies onto a foil lined baking sheet and drizzled them with olive oil. It’s: broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, green beans & minced garlic – sprinkled with a little garlic powder too. ❤
You can use any low carb vegetables you prefer, of course. I baked them at 400° to desired roastedness. I toss them a few times to get them browned evenly.
Sometimes I like them lightly browned, other times I like them crisped! 😁❤
Here’s a video of the deliciousness:
My son made the turkey, his FIRST ever, and it was seriously impressive! Even more so because I’ve never made a turkey in my entire life. LOL
It was seriously the most tender, flavorful & juicy turkey I’ve EVER eaten. 🙂
I had my eye on that beautiful wing and drumstick. 🙂
Morgan made some traditional vegetarian friendly sides too so we all had a delicious plate full of foods! Mine included a huge turkey wing with roasted veggies, cucumber salad & a deviled egg.
I went back for more cucumber salad and another deviled egg too!
There was tons of food leftover as usual, so I made a nice big dish to bring home with me. 🙂
My meals this weekend are all about the huge turkey thigh & drumstick, turkey wing and roasted veggies! 👍❣
My day ended back at home with some treats for Slim… including a new fuzzy Christmas blanket to keep him warm on these cold nights. He loves it!! 🐾❤🐾
On the topic of cooking, check out this GORGEOUS colorful kitchen knife set!
I scored us a 30% OFF DISCOUNT for these too. Use code: A2GXIXUR 🙂
I just got mine – they’re really pretty, and UNIQUE! And of course they’d make a great gift. 🙂
I had such a FUN holiday this week, and I love how EASY it is for people of different “food religions” (preferences, lol) to cook and eat together.
That wasn’t an issue at all, because we all focused on ENJOYING the conversations & prep together in the kitchen, the quality time, and the meal together.
As it should be. 😉
I admit I was tempted by Morgan’s green bean casserole, and her portabello mushroom gravy too! But I was set on “keeping it keto” to avoid inflammation and the pain that causes me – and to avoid the dreaded Keto Flu this coming week, because I have entirely too much lined up to be feeling like crap. 😛
I’m off to heat up some more of that turkey…
How are things going with you?
I’d love to hear how your holiday week went!
Leave a comment and let’s chat.:)
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler





So glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love your honesty and openness. I wish you a wonderful holiday season π Your vegetables looked amazing. I am going to try that myself.
Thank you, Sue! π I really love roasted vegetables, always a hit with anyone – and so easy to make. Enjoy!
Danget Lynn I immediately had to go buy those knives LOL. I did need new knives anyway and that was a fantastic price so thank you for the code and suggestion π Your Thanksgiving looked lovely and it sounded very relaxing. Mine was disappointing only in that my family didn’t like the things I made and my brother even said “all the food was awful”. I made a keto Green Bean Casserole that I thought was good, but it wasn’t the traditional so of course it wasn’t liked. I also made keto biscuits and a cheesy alfredo spaghetti squash dish which I think people thought were cheesy potatoes so again, not impressed. I ALSO brought deviled eggs…My mom had the turkey, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, ham and gravy so I guess I’m unsure why everyone seemed so disappointed in the meal we made them. It left me feeling very sad and if not for my mom hosting I would actually not want to go for Christmas. I need to get over that. I need to respect that my family doesn’t eat how I do and I guess it just leaves me not wanting to have to bring anything that I won’t eat so maybe just deviled eggs. Just hard because I love cooking and contributing. Sorry to go on and whine it was just a disappointing day by the way everyone acted and seemed so unappreciative. BUT BESIDES MY WHINING! lol I ate fantastically and felt great at the end of the day. My mom is on board w/ Keto and she said she felt great too. Oh yeah I also made Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, keto of course so I was able to have dessert. Next time I can just go and eat the meat and eggs π Who cares. Moving on. Happy Thanksgiving! Yay pretty new knives!
Those knives are beautiful aren’t they?! π
I am so sorry you had a tough holiday, and especially that your family gave you a hard time about your dishes! They sound FABULOUS.
Family can be hardest on us, or the people we’re closest too (blood kin or not). I suppose because they feel comfortable enough to do so – meaning they don’t worry you’ll cut them off or stop loving them for it. The same reason our kids can be mean/rude sometimes, lol. Still, NOT fun. π
I’m glad you ate great and FELT great about it! Very cool that your mother is on board with keto too. At least you had a little support! π
It was really nice to share a meal with my son and his girlfriend, but to be honest… that’s the first “real Thanksgiving” I’ve had in so many years I don’t even remember how long it’s been.
Last year I was home alone. The year before I took my great dane out for a hike and we had a picnic in the woods. I know family isn’t always the greatest… but the alternative isn’t always either. π
I’m not complaining, just saying sometimes it helps ME to embrace the “this isn’t so bad, it could definitely be worse” attitude about things. lol
Hi – I added grated Parmesan cheese to the cucumber/tomato salad, only because I did not have Feta. It turned out scrumptious! FYI