This meal plan week 43 is Thanksgiving in Canada. It is a lot earlier in the fall due to the weather and when our harvests usually are. I really like that we have a big holiday in October and then a month off until we do it all over again at Christmas.
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We have had many Thanksgivings with our kids and their allergies. It can be a tough time to navigate safely. From our experience as a family with food allergies we find hosting the dinner our safest option that works for us. Check out our Easy Allergy Friendly Thanksgiving Recipe Collection.
We have put together a Recipe collection of some of our favourite recipes from other sites that are top 8/9 allergy friendly. Check it out for your own autumn gatherings.
We also highly recommend checking out the recipes on the Food Allergy and Research Education Site, as well as the tips that are found here on the Boston Children's Hospital about navigating Thanksgiving safely with food allergies.
Meal Plan Week 43
Monday - Turkey and Gravy, Gluten Free Stuffing, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
Tuesday - Hot Turkey Sandwiches and Leftover Sides
Wednesday - Turkey Noodle Soup
Thursday - Mulligatawny Soup
Friday - Spaghetti with Tomato Free Sauce
Saturday - Hamburgers and Air fryer Fries
Sunday - Leftovers
Meal Plan Week 43 In-Depth and Top Tips
Monday
Meal Turkey & Gravy, Gluten Free Stuffing, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
This is the usual Canadian Thanksgiving we will be making with all the trimmings. We find it easier to make it at our place, rather than have it at another home where we aren't 100% confident of the allergen controls and cross contact.
Dishes:
The dishes we will be serving will be a Roast Turkey we picked up frozen. We haven't decided if we will brine it this year or not. The recipe we will use is our Gluten Free Roast Chicken recipe, though we will lay the turkey on a bed of mixed veg that will become the gravy.
The mashed sweet potatoes will be done with our Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes recipe but with sweet potatoes and a splash of maple syrup.
The other recipes will follow our family favourite Thanksgiving dishes. If we can muster the energy there will also be a salad, probably the Avocado and Apple Pear Salad.
Top Tip:
We will freeze some of the leftover meat to make the mulligatawny later this week. Usually the cooked meat is only good for around 72 hours and one reheating so we do not want to risk keeping it out.
Tuesday
Meal Hot Turkey Sandwiches and Leftover Sides
We will use gluten free buns slathered with cranberry sauce. Then stack a few slices of leftover turkey breast served over a scoop of reheated gluten free stuffing and smothered with gravy. The sides will be warmed up sweet potatoes and leftover salad. Hopefully, there will be pie leftovers.
Brand We Have Found:
Buns
Top Tip:
Heat the meat up in the gravy for added flavour and to make this a proper warm sandwich.
Wednesday
Meal Turkey Noodle Soup
We make our Turkey Noodle Soup the same way we do our Chicken Noodle Soup. If we are not feeling like using noodles we may swap them out for rice. This is a great way to use up the smaller bits of dark turkey meat.
Brand We Have Found:
Top Tip:
Use the turkey bones to make the stock and get the most out of the bird. This will help stretch the budget and be a fantastic allergy friendly stock that is worry free.The stock can be made and frozen for other meals. It can be used anywhere chicken broth is used.
Thursday
Meal Mulligatawny Soup
We have a family recipe we will be digging out from our recipe binders and adapting to be top 9 friendly. The kids have been asking for it as it was one we used to have all the time after we'd make a big turkey dinner for a holiday. When we have our family recipe adapted we will post it. This soup is usually fairly spicy when others in our family make it but we tone it down a lot to work for the kids' more tame taste buds just as we will in this meal plan week 43.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
For school we send the soup reheated in an insulated container. We heat the soup up on the stove as it stays warm longer than if microwaved. The container is best when filled with hot water and then dumped out before the warmed soup is put into it. Make sure the soup won't be too hot, if it is hot it may burn the kids when opening it at lunch. Send it with a spoon. We like to send Made Good Crackers with our soups for lunch.
Friday
Meal Spaghetti with Tomato Free Sauce
We have a couple of acorn squashes that need to be used up and this Tomato free pasta sauce recipe is perfect for it. They will be roasted and then made into a tomato-less pasta sauce that tastes just like a regular bolognese sauce. It is a bit more work than opening a jar of safe tomato sauce or Nomato sauce but we will freeze half for another dinner later in the year. You can always use premade sauce to make it an easier dinner.
Brand We Have Found:
Top Tip:
This can be made with any ground meat or none at all for a vegan dinner. If making this a vegan sauce use lentil or chickpea noodles for protein, if they are safe for you.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
This is also heated in a pan on the stove and put into a prewarmed insulated container for lunch. This meal we send a spoon, a fork, and a bunch of napkins for the kids.
Saturday
Meal Hamburgers and Air Fryer Fries
Burgers are one of our kids' faves. We make them on the BBQ and we are expecting a bit of gorgeous weather so we can cook outside one last time. The buns will be the same ones from our Turkey Sandwich dinner.
The toppings will be avocado, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, ketchup, and vegan mayo. Sometimes we fry up mushrooms and use Daiya Cheeze Sauce with a piece of bacon to make a bacon cheddar melt - just like Wendy's does.
The fries will be Russet potatoes we soak in salted cold water for 30 mins to draw the starch out. They are laid out on clean kitchen towels, dried, tossed with a bit of avocado oil and cooked in the air fryer for 28 mins. We shake the fries up at the halfway point for airfrying. Salt them when they come out and they make the best fries! Sometimes we use seasoning salt to make them a bit special.
Brand We Have Found:
Top Tip:
Store the buns in the freezer to keep gluten free buns on hand and in good order. Pull them out of the freezer a couple of hours before dinner. Toast the buns in the oven under the broiler. Watch them closely so they do not burn. Gluten free bakes goods tend to taste better toasted. It also can help the buns from crumbling and falling apart.
Sunday
Meal Leftovers
This is the day we will be finishing up any leftover foods from the last 2 days to help and ease the work we have to do this week with making dinner and the holiday.
Top Tip:
If we don't have enough leftovers there will be a soup we made a few extra portions of that we can quickly thaw and serve. This is one trick we use to save time cooking.
We have to remind everyone that we are not medical professionals or dietitians, so these meal plans are not balanced for nutrition, they are for information purposes only. Please discuss any dietary concerns, changes, or proper meal plans with your medical team.
Always check the labels for any products to make sure they are right for you. We also encourage you to contact the manufacturers in addition to checking that the process of manufacturing is also safe for you, and that there aren't shared lines. One product or ingredients may be safe for one person but not another. Always check the products and ingredients before purchasing.
Sanora says
Hi there! Do you use Twitter? I'd like to follow you if that would be okay.
I'm undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to
new updates.
Katherine Evans says
Hi Sanora,
Thank you. We do have a twitter/X account but are not as active on it as much as we are on other social media sites.
You can find us here:
https://x.com/TheAllergenFree
Katherine
Issac Dalgleish says
Hello theallergenfreekitchen.com administrator, Thanks for the well-written and informative post!
Katherine Evans says
Thank you! We hope the meal plans help you get ideas for delicious meals while navigating food allergies.
K