A Very Un-Paleo Thanksgiving

One day, stuck in traffic, I became obsessed with knowing what percentage of the time I follow my dino-chow diet. I’m seriously math-impaired, but Dave was there to help, and we came to the conclusion that I follow my plan about 97% of the time.

Since July, I’ve had two 4-week periods when I went completely no-cheat, and when I’m not doing that, I generally eat, like, one corn tortilla on Saturday morning and maybe have a glass of wine on a Saturday night (discounting the once-a-year tipsy Karaoke Apocalypse gig).

So I didn’t hesitate AT ALL when making the decision about whether or not to indulge on Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday, and I keep myself on a short lease 97% of the time, so I can let the food beast on Turkey Day. I also do all of the cooking in our house – ALL of it – so tomorrow will be a super treat for me: delicious food cooked by someone else with no clean up.

I’ve already looked at the menu and decided which foods are worth the indulgence: andouille jalapeno cornbread dressing is on my ‘yes’ list, along with paté, beet and duck confit salad, and sweet potato and pecan brulée. I think the cheese plate is a ‘no go’ for me. I’m a brave, strong girl, but I’m not too proud to admit that after almost six months dairy free, cheese scares me.

This year’s Thanksgiving celebration would be incomplete without the aforementioned bacon bourbon brownies, which I intend to enjoy immediately upon waking from my post-Thanksgiving dinner nap.

Luckily, there are others out there who are flying their Paleo flag high tomorrow. Here are some links for you, to help balance the bacon bourbon brownie recipe and photos I’ll be sharing over the next few days. (And should my indulgence in delicious poison leave me in a blubbering heap of misery, I’ll be sure to share that, too, as a cautionary tale.)

The Label Says Paleo
Check out this group of Austin-based CrossFitters that are in the midst of a 30-day no-cheat Paleo experiment. There’s plenty of good advice, recipes, and confessions. Word on the street is that this weekend, they’ll be sharing tales of their paleo Thanksgiving feast.

Jen Cardella: How to Fool a Family
Jen is a CrossFit Central coach and she shares recipes you can steal and use on your own family to trick them into eating healthy Thanksgiving treats.

Elana’s Pantry
The gluten-free maven shares her favorite 2009 Thanksgiving recipes.

And finally, a silly distraction, should you need something to take your mind off food:

Mental Floss: Turkey Day on the Tube Quiz
How much do you know about the terribly awesome (awesomely terrible?) TV specials of yore? I got only five out of 11 correct, scoring a pathetic 45%.

Gobble, gobble, y’all!