Stuffing and Gravy

Since being gluten-free (and dairy free for quite a few years), the one thing that I have missed is bread stuffing smothered in gravy, one of my most favorite parts of a roast bird dinner. I have had gluten and dairy free gravy, but the stuffing, was sadly missed. Until this year.

One of the assumptions with going gluten-free is "just get the gluten-free" bread. To be hip-shooting honest here, it's a carbohydrate overload that tastes like sawdust and if I don't like the sad excuse for bread outside of stuffing, I sure am not going to like it inside of stuffing so I'll do without thanks. However for some reason I decided to search out Primal/Paleo bird stuffing to see what I could find. Lo and behold I found a recipe that was quite similar to what Mom made  and used Paleo bread, not the high carbohydrate stuff. That got me thinking because there is a Paleo bread that I do like and I wonder if it will work with stuffing. Only one way to find out so I baked a loaf, dried the crumbs, and tried the recipe. (Oh FYI: Paleo/primal is high protein, moderate fat and very low carbohydrate using nuts, eggs instead of rice and other grains.)

My hunch paid off and the stuffing looked, acted, and tasted very similar to the one made by Mom. Topped with safe gravy, I was in feasting heaven. Here's the bonus: no "urp", overstuffed, bloating feeling after the meal. I was satisfied, happy, and content even after a couple of good healthy servings which speaks volumes. I do notice that people wrongly blame the turkey for the overstuffed, bloated feeling after the feast. Sorry folks, it's the carbohydrates, not the turkey.

Another surprise came this year when I found a replacement for the dark Toblerone bar that I also missed since going dairy-free. Even dark Toblerone has dairy and I wasn't willing to pay the 6-figure price of consumption, so again, I did without until this year. I found out that Superstore come out with their version of dark Toblerone, called Suisse in a blue box, that is made with out dairy. There were 4 boxes on the shelf and within a flash, there were none as they were all in my basket. Not as smooth as the original, but a darned fine replacement. Again a hunch that paid off.

What does this have to do with Kung Fu? A couple of things. One is that we are what we eat and how we feel after we eat tells a huge story, but many are not willing to listen. However that's for another day and anther blog or ten. The other thing is that if we want something bad enough for long enough, are willing to keep looking, and willing to try something new and maybe something different, we will get what we are looking for and it may be even better than what we imagined. Right now it's how I'm viewing my pushups as I am longing to do a plank pushup again after my shoulder injury with the difference being that how I did pushups before is a thing of the past, I have to learn new, trust, and build from there to have my pushups stronger and better than what they were before. One hunch at a time.
Sherri Donohue
My Blog