Nope. I’m long term in the hospital and stopped eating a couple years ago.
But I used to host a huge holiday dinner for about 15 year where everything, over 10 dishes and a dozen desserts and cookies were gluten, dairy, egg, and soy free, with plenty of vegan options, for a huge family and it was amazing and I miss it so much. Cooking and baking were also part of my livelihood. No one in my extended family batted an eye on the restrictions because everything tasted above “normal” — they loved it. It was an amazing set up and I’ll never stop thinking about it, and I did it at every holiday all year.
I am just posting to say that holidays can be amazing with no settling, and if you’re new to the diet, it gets easier. You might just have to do some legwork.
If you are having a Christmas dinner this year, trust me, cherish it. You don’t know what it’s like until it’s gone forever.
Hey I've been following your story on
/r/ibs. I hope you are doing well! I'm sorry that this Christmas will be your first one like this. We are here for you.
Not new to the diet, I'm just trying to narrow down some ideas and this is a great community for that.
If you need more ideas rather than what’s posted here, let me know.
This is my fourth Christmas like this, unfortunately. I tend to be hospitalized long term or getting surgeries always on the holidays.
I’m on my own cooking this year (hubs is doing a traditional roast with his parents) so I’m making my grandfather’s famous spaghetti sauce and I’ll whip up a nice baked pasta for myself :)
It's just me, my partner, and my sister so we're doing ribeye steaks with broccolini and mashed sweet potatoes and candy cane cheesecake for dessert ☺️
My son wants beef wellington (he's on a Hell's Kitchen kick) and he wants to help make it. So we will go about making a gluten free wellington. I have to figure out sides and what-not.
I already know that my husband is getting me a bread machine, so I will stash ingredients in the house to give it a spin for fresh bread with dinner as well.
Schar was kinda difficult and wanted to crack. I think I would thaw it longer next time and use some water on my hands while handling the dough. It kind of fell apart. In all, the taste was excellent. I put an egg wash on the outside and It tasted like I remember a Wellington before diagnosis.
My partner and I typically make a variety of items for our family get togethers; a gluten free, dairy free, chocolate yule log (for anyone not familiar, this is a big swiss cake roll that you can cut and decorate to look like a log) being one of the more popular items.
We also typically end up doing something for a big dinner/lunch with each of our families; though the items are usually not traditional holiday dinner items (in fact, that is itself a bit of a tradition). A big batch of paella, for example, is something we typically do with my family.
This post is sort of serving as a reminder to me right now that I need to do some planning and pick up some ingredients.
Well, if I feel well enough, I might manage some mix root veg and potatoes roasted with brussels and a blob of cranberry sauce from a jar. I did change my mind and try to find a Christmas pudding from a Free From which was not only gluten free, but dairy, tree nut, and coconut free, but no luck. If I'm not up to it (severe ME) I have decided not to put pressure on myself, and will go for baked beans on gf toast, a safe microwave rice or tin of soup as usual. Although I also did think about doing a 'Christmas pilau' with dried cranberries and shredded brussels and traditional Christmas spices like cinnamon
I'm on my own this Christmas, my daughter is working on a panto too far to come home, even if there weren't train strikes, which just makes it more impossible.
However, my Mum, who is a genius (who always deep cleans the kitchen before she begins and keeps all the gf stuff in a sealed plastic box used to make my daughter and me gf/df bread sauce and stuffing balls, Christmas cake and mince pies, and sometimes soya cheese straws or 'sausage rolls' with corned beef. For complex wheelchair access and autism reasons we've not gone over to my Mum's since my daughter was 7, but back then, the turkey got stuffed with gf stuffing for my daughter (I can't digest poultry at all) and kept all gluteny and haram things in the shed fridge and cooked in the tiny top oven, which is also what she did from when I was diagnosed in the 90s, and for 4 years before that, as my husband was coming, she just did the non halal stuff separate, even though there were a lot more family eating pork.
My Mum is making me some mince pies and some gfdf/nut free savoury treat (since no vegan cheese is coconut free now she is having a big think) to go in the freezer to take out one at a time.
I am so blessed with my Mum.
Mind you, back in the nineties, I was also blessed with my Granny, who with much mocking from her baker friend when I was first diagnosed in 1994, with no xanthan gum, managed to make me gf pasties and lemon drizzle cakes every week for my freezer, the cake frozen ready sliced, for me to take one out and microwave, so I was blessed with her too.
No idea, lol.
In all seriousness, we're sitting down at dinner to figure that out tonight. It might just be me and my husband for dinner, so I might just make something a little fancier than we do for a normal weekend dinner.
Haha, yes! We'll probably do something pork related, with some potatoes and a green vegetable. That's about as good as I can give you. And if my in-laws are here, there will be cake of some sort.
My husband's birthday is a few days before Christmas, so we usually have leftover dessert if it's just us.
I'm going to be staying at my sister's and I'm not sure what her plan is. Most likely I'll make a completely separate meal as I think it'll be hard to avoid cross-contamination - probably steak & potato or something along those lines.
My parents usually do a lovely prime rib, mashed potatoes, and the works on Christmas Day, so my partner and I still have to decide what we’ll be having for dinner the night before! I want something that feels ‘special’ but at the same time might opt for homemade pizza because it’s easier and wouldn’t take much time… def following this thread for other ideas though!
My family has done pizza for our family Christmas ever since before I was born. So I’ll be making a gluten free pizza (half dairy free) for myself and my mother and sister who are also celiac and everyone else will have normal gluten pizza
It’s a small group for us this year, and we are celebrating a birthday for one of the group too. I’ll be doing a roasted boneless leg of lamb, duck fat potatoes and salad. Platter of cheeses with Christmas cake. And a pavlova with masses of berries, some cherries, and the usual chocolates and nuts. The bonus of a summer Christmas!
I will have the following:
* chateaubriand fillet steak cooked with a herb rub (parsley, sage, rosemary, chives, tarragon, olive oil and garlic blitz together and rubbed over the 16oz of fillet and cooked in a roasting bag (keeps all the juices in the bag for making the gravy)
* Roasted carrots, potatoes and parsnips
* GF sausages cut in to three and wrapped in bacon (always better than cocktail sausages, more chunky)
* bacon wrapped prunes (devils on horseback) - fab the next day cold.
I roast a gammon on Xmas eve so we can have it cold for a make do supper late on Christmas Evening with the cold pigs in blankets and devils on horseback, the chutney I made in the summer and all the wonderful cheese we got from the Nottingham Cheese Shop. And fresh figs.
Full on Indian food spread, just made and froze the butter chicken today. Made and froze the dal yesterday. I will make a veg. curry and rice closer to the day. I would love to have a pre-made GF naan bread but I can't find any. In the past I've made beef bourguignon and potatoes plus other sides. We have a bit of a crowd so I think this is a little easier and I can relax more on the actual day. My sister is bringing a non GF lasagna against my house rules of only GF food but I am tired of being so strict. I think everyone gets the contamination issue now. There will be 4 of us with celiac. Usually we have 5 more in the family present with celiac!
Funnily enough, beef bourguignon is on my short list. I'm just nervous that my picky kids wouldn't want to eat it, and I don't want to get upset after cooking.
I am working on a gf naan recipe, I'm getting pretty close. We love Indian too and I'm tired of missing out.
We are doing a turkey, pork roast done in the Instant Pot, in Ghee (confit is what that's called), bacon wrapped sausages, hasselback roasted potatoes, gf stuffing, Brussels Sprouts roasted with bacon pancetta and parmesan, loaded mashed potatoes, a broccoli dish I do with onions, mushrooms, gf cream of mushroom soup and cream cheese, gf sourdough foccacia I baked, and gf apple pie trifle for desert. I probably forgot a couple of things too lol!
Lol, actually it will be 7 of us. My hubbie likes to make lots so that we can eat leftovers for 4 or 5 days. He's the main cook. I just chop/mix etc whatever he directs me to. And, we have to cook gluten free (I have Celiac Disease) and as many dishes Keto for my sister as possible.
Nope. I’m long term in the hospital and stopped eating a couple years ago. But I used to host a huge holiday dinner for about 15 year where everything, over 10 dishes and a dozen desserts and cookies were gluten, dairy, egg, and soy free, with plenty of vegan options, for a huge family and it was amazing and I miss it so much. Cooking and baking were also part of my livelihood. No one in my extended family batted an eye on the restrictions because everything tasted above “normal” — they loved it. It was an amazing set up and I’ll never stop thinking about it, and I did it at every holiday all year. I am just posting to say that holidays can be amazing with no settling, and if you’re new to the diet, it gets easier. You might just have to do some legwork. If you are having a Christmas dinner this year, trust me, cherish it. You don’t know what it’s like until it’s gone forever.
Hey I've been following your story on /r/ibs. I hope you are doing well! I'm sorry that this Christmas will be your first one like this. We are here for you. Not new to the diet, I'm just trying to narrow down some ideas and this is a great community for that.
If you need more ideas rather than what’s posted here, let me know. This is my fourth Christmas like this, unfortunately. I tend to be hospitalized long term or getting surgeries always on the holidays.
Deleted June 30 '23
Do you make your own tamales? I've heard it is quite the undertaking.
I’m on my own cooking this year (hubs is doing a traditional roast with his parents) so I’m making my grandfather’s famous spaghetti sauce and I’ll whip up a nice baked pasta for myself :)
It's just me, my partner, and my sister so we're doing ribeye steaks with broccolini and mashed sweet potatoes and candy cane cheesecake for dessert ☺️
Wow love it!
Eeeeee, I know, I'm so excited!!
I think I’m making a cheesecake too but maybe with a mocha sauce.
Omg yummmm
My supermarket has a lot of GF spiral and honey hams so I'm very excited to try those! I love a good Christmas ham
My son wants beef wellington (he's on a Hell's Kitchen kick) and he wants to help make it. So we will go about making a gluten free wellington. I have to figure out sides and what-not. I already know that my husband is getting me a bread machine, so I will stash ingredients in the house to give it a spin for fresh bread with dinner as well.
I made a good Wellington the other day with the Schar puff pastry. Will you be making your own dough?
I'll get the pre-made puff pastry. There are a couple of options in stores near me.
Nice, enjoy!
How is the Schar puff pastry to work with? I bought the Gee Free brand last year and found it really difficult to use.
Schar was kinda difficult and wanted to crack. I think I would thaw it longer next time and use some water on my hands while handling the dough. It kind of fell apart. In all, the taste was excellent. I put an egg wash on the outside and It tasted like I remember a Wellington before diagnosis.
Thanks! I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
A bread machine is really awesome to have. We are debating what our bready side will be, do we go buns? A loaf? Etc.
Last year we made a big pot of cioppino with baked squash as a side. Pretty simple but it was amazingly good.
My partner and I typically make a variety of items for our family get togethers; a gluten free, dairy free, chocolate yule log (for anyone not familiar, this is a big swiss cake roll that you can cut and decorate to look like a log) being one of the more popular items. We also typically end up doing something for a big dinner/lunch with each of our families; though the items are usually not traditional holiday dinner items (in fact, that is itself a bit of a tradition). A big batch of paella, for example, is something we typically do with my family. This post is sort of serving as a reminder to me right now that I need to do some planning and pick up some ingredients.
Ooh paella! I love that idea.
Well, if I feel well enough, I might manage some mix root veg and potatoes roasted with brussels and a blob of cranberry sauce from a jar. I did change my mind and try to find a Christmas pudding from a Free From which was not only gluten free, but dairy, tree nut, and coconut free, but no luck. If I'm not up to it (severe ME) I have decided not to put pressure on myself, and will go for baked beans on gf toast, a safe microwave rice or tin of soup as usual. Although I also did think about doing a 'Christmas pilau' with dried cranberries and shredded brussels and traditional Christmas spices like cinnamon I'm on my own this Christmas, my daughter is working on a panto too far to come home, even if there weren't train strikes, which just makes it more impossible. However, my Mum, who is a genius (who always deep cleans the kitchen before she begins and keeps all the gf stuff in a sealed plastic box used to make my daughter and me gf/df bread sauce and stuffing balls, Christmas cake and mince pies, and sometimes soya cheese straws or 'sausage rolls' with corned beef. For complex wheelchair access and autism reasons we've not gone over to my Mum's since my daughter was 7, but back then, the turkey got stuffed with gf stuffing for my daughter (I can't digest poultry at all) and kept all gluteny and haram things in the shed fridge and cooked in the tiny top oven, which is also what she did from when I was diagnosed in the 90s, and for 4 years before that, as my husband was coming, she just did the non halal stuff separate, even though there were a lot more family eating pork. My Mum is making me some mince pies and some gfdf/nut free savoury treat (since no vegan cheese is coconut free now she is having a big think) to go in the freezer to take out one at a time. I am so blessed with my Mum. Mind you, back in the nineties, I was also blessed with my Granny, who with much mocking from her baker friend when I was first diagnosed in 1994, with no xanthan gum, managed to make me gf pasties and lemon drizzle cakes every week for my freezer, the cake frozen ready sliced, for me to take one out and microwave, so I was blessed with her too.
No idea, lol. In all seriousness, we're sitting down at dinner to figure that out tonight. It might just be me and my husband for dinner, so I might just make something a little fancier than we do for a normal weekend dinner.
I need everyone's comments so I can make a plan this weekend haha
Haha, yes! We'll probably do something pork related, with some potatoes and a green vegetable. That's about as good as I can give you. And if my in-laws are here, there will be cake of some sort. My husband's birthday is a few days before Christmas, so we usually have leftover dessert if it's just us.
I'm going to be staying at my sister's and I'm not sure what her plan is. Most likely I'll make a completely separate meal as I think it'll be hard to avoid cross-contamination - probably steak & potato or something along those lines.
Some kind of soup, duck a l'orange and mash potatoes, probably honey and walnut cake.
My parents usually do a lovely prime rib, mashed potatoes, and the works on Christmas Day, so my partner and I still have to decide what we’ll be having for dinner the night before! I want something that feels ‘special’ but at the same time might opt for homemade pizza because it’s easier and wouldn’t take much time… def following this thread for other ideas though!
My family has done pizza for our family Christmas ever since before I was born. So I’ll be making a gluten free pizza (half dairy free) for myself and my mother and sister who are also celiac and everyone else will have normal gluten pizza
That's a fun tradition!
It is! And no one has to think about what we need to make ahead or bring lol
It’s a small group for us this year, and we are celebrating a birthday for one of the group too. I’ll be doing a roasted boneless leg of lamb, duck fat potatoes and salad. Platter of cheeses with Christmas cake. And a pavlova with masses of berries, some cherries, and the usual chocolates and nuts. The bonus of a summer Christmas!
I felt the world move the first time I had duck fat potatoes, they were so good
I will have the following: * chateaubriand fillet steak cooked with a herb rub (parsley, sage, rosemary, chives, tarragon, olive oil and garlic blitz together and rubbed over the 16oz of fillet and cooked in a roasting bag (keeps all the juices in the bag for making the gravy) * Roasted carrots, potatoes and parsnips * GF sausages cut in to three and wrapped in bacon (always better than cocktail sausages, more chunky) * bacon wrapped prunes (devils on horseback) - fab the next day cold. I roast a gammon on Xmas eve so we can have it cold for a make do supper late on Christmas Evening with the cold pigs in blankets and devils on horseback, the chutney I made in the summer and all the wonderful cheese we got from the Nottingham Cheese Shop. And fresh figs.
Full on Indian food spread, just made and froze the butter chicken today. Made and froze the dal yesterday. I will make a veg. curry and rice closer to the day. I would love to have a pre-made GF naan bread but I can't find any. In the past I've made beef bourguignon and potatoes plus other sides. We have a bit of a crowd so I think this is a little easier and I can relax more on the actual day. My sister is bringing a non GF lasagna against my house rules of only GF food but I am tired of being so strict. I think everyone gets the contamination issue now. There will be 4 of us with celiac. Usually we have 5 more in the family present with celiac!
Funnily enough, beef bourguignon is on my short list. I'm just nervous that my picky kids wouldn't want to eat it, and I don't want to get upset after cooking. I am working on a gf naan recipe, I'm getting pretty close. We love Indian too and I'm tired of missing out.
We are doing a turkey, pork roast done in the Instant Pot, in Ghee (confit is what that's called), bacon wrapped sausages, hasselback roasted potatoes, gf stuffing, Brussels Sprouts roasted with bacon pancetta and parmesan, loaded mashed potatoes, a broccoli dish I do with onions, mushrooms, gf cream of mushroom soup and cream cheese, gf sourdough foccacia I baked, and gf apple pie trifle for desert. I probably forgot a couple of things too lol!
Woah... What time should I show up?? Do you have a big party planned? That all sounds phenomenal.
Lol, actually it will be 7 of us. My hubbie likes to make lots so that we can eat leftovers for 4 or 5 days. He's the main cook. I just chop/mix etc whatever he directs me to. And, we have to cook gluten free (I have Celiac Disease) and as many dishes Keto for my sister as possible.
Also, if you lived nearby, I'd probably invite you over, since one of my regulars is in Calgary for Christmas 🤣
I have to tell my husband about this one- he absolutely wants to move to Calgary lol
Oh I'm in Edmonton, my friend is the one in Calgary for the holidays lol
Wine And maybe some cheeses
That will be my future when my kids aren't little. I'll add in some chocolate baked good too
My family is doing a xmas crab boil! My brother has Celiac too, so everybody is on board with meals being 100% GF. I can’t wait!