A Keto Mom’s Tips for Managing the Holidays on the Ketogenic Diet

Our favorite keto-mom blogger, Dana Haddox-Wright, is back for another guest blog post! In today’s post, Dana shares her tips and recipe ideas for managing the holidays with a child on the ketogenic diet. Thanks for sharing with us, Dana. 

Happy Holidays, everyone!


Happy Holidays

The holiday season is approaching quickly and for most families, this means taking in all of the feasts and treats that come with the territory. Food tends to be a focal point of the festivities as families get together to share in traditions either set by the family or by their religious affiliations.

Having a child on the ketogenic diet can be a challenge during the holidays. It is important to include them in our traditions as much as possible, even if their meals are much smaller than everyone else’s. Infusing keto meals with the holiday spirit requires a lot of thought, but it is not impossible. Though I am by no means an expert keto chef, I do have some ideas for making keto-friendly versions of holiday classics. To keep things simple, and I apologize ahead of time for leaving out any other holidays, I will be focusing on Thanksgiving, Chanukah, and Christmas.

THANKSGIVING MEAL:

Cauliflower and turnip make great substitutes for potatoes. Sweet potatoes may be switched to rutabaga. For our daughter, we make three dishes of the traditional Thanksgiving feast: Turkey breast, cauliflower, turnip, or rutabaga mixed with European butter, and a side of 40% cream (put into the keto calculator to fit your child’s caloric count and ratio). These dishes are easy to prepare and the kids will love to “gobble” it up (pun intended).

For more tips and recipes for Thanksgiving, here are some previous KetoConnect posts on the topic:

CHANUKAH FEAST:

I may not be Jewish, but I have wonderful friends who were willing to share some of their Chanukah favorites with me. Sufganiyot are custard or jelly filled doughnuts typically consumed every day of the Chanukah festival. I have created two types of doughnuts, and although they are not filled with anything (but love), they are delicious. One of my recipes uses ground macadamia nuts, egg, canola oil, frozen berries, a touch of vanilla, and liquid stevia to taste. A second is a nut-free recipe. It includes: baking powder, ground cinnamon, Truvia®, vanilla, coconut flour, xantham gum, egg, canola oil, and European butter. Each of the mixtures can be baked in a silicone mold (bundt shaped).

Latkes and brisket are also enjoyed during Chanukah. Though latkes are typically made with potato, one could create a keto-version with shredded or whipped turnip, a dash of onion powder, egg, olive oil with greek yogurt for dipping. In order to make it a full meal (which would make calculating it easier), one might add cooked brisket and a side of cream.

For more ideas, check out some previous Chanukah-related KetoConnect posts:

CHRISTMAS DINNER:

Some families serve turkey, some roast, and others serve ham. In a similar manner to Thanksgiving, consider substitutions. If you serve turkey, create a meal akin to what I suggested above. For roast, you can serve with butter and cooked carrots or rutabaga (with side of cream). You can also make a ham and cauliflower casserole (ham, cooked cauliflower, cheddar cheese, cream, and European style butter cooked in one pan).

For more Christmas recipe ideas, visit:

HOLIDAY SNACKS:

Chanukah gelt is typically a coin-shaped chocolate treat. An easy way to make chocolate is to melt coconut oil with unsweetened baker’s chocolate, add in liquid stevia and little vanilla. For texture, shredded coconut or whole flax seed can be added. You may be able to find coin molds and foil wrappers. The only catch is that the chocolate must be refrigerated until it is to be eaten.

Cookies can be made for any occasion. I like to keep it simple and make keto sugar cookies. Each batch makes 3 small cookies. Simply combine: melted European butter and coconut oil, mixed egg, coconut flour, Truvia®, a dash of vanilla and liquid stevia to taste. You can use different silicone mold shapes and keto-safe food colorings to make them look a little more festive.

I also make a coconut based candy that includes coconut oil, coconut flour, and shredded coconut. Simply melt the coconut oil and mix in other ingredients, then transfer into any mold and leave in refrigerator or freezer until completely set.

Finally, please try to keep your sanity during the holiday season.  Even if your child does not like certain items in the keto-versions of the traditional meals, they will always have their other favorites to fall back on.  If they like sausage, incorporate sausage.  If they like crunchy vegetables, work those in.  Making keto recipes is all about trial and error.  Feel free to test your holiday recipes beforehand, so that you know what needs tweaking.  I always tell people that I feel like a mad scientist in the kitchen, maybe that is because I am actually a little crazy.

In the end, both you and your kids will be happy that no one was left out.

-Dana

For more holiday tips and resources, visit the following KetoConnect articles:


Read more posts from Dana:

 

 

Holiday Tips and Recipes Roundup

Today’s KetoConnect post is a collection of posts from around the web with helpful tips and recipe ideas for celebrating the holidays with a child on the ketogenic diet. Please comment if you know of any other helpful posts that we should add to the list. Best wishes for a happy, healthy, keto-friendly holiday!

Tips for Celebrating Winter Holidays (Epilepsy Foundation)

Christmas:

Tips for Managing Your Child’s Ketogenic Diet over the Holidays (KetoConnect)

Christmas Survival Guide (Matthew’s Friends)

KetoCal Christmas Recipe Ideas (KetoConnect)

Holiday Baking (KetoCook)

Hanukkah:

Celebrating Chanukah on the Ketogenic Diet (KetoConnect guest blog post)

KetoCal Hanukkah Recipe Ideas (KetoConnect)

KetoCal Christmas Recipe Ideas

Earlier this week we posted tips for celebrating the holidays with a child on the ketogenic diet. If you missed it, be sure to check it out! To go along with these tips, today we have some KetoCal recipes for making keto-friendly Christmas treats and Christmas morning breakfast ideas. If your family celebrates Hanukkah, be sure to check out our previous blog posts on celebrating Hanukkah with a child on the ketogenic diet and KetoCal Hanukkah Recipe Ideas.

As always, consult with your child’s health care provider to adjust these recipes to meet your child’s ketogenic ratio and calorie requirements.  The ketogenic diet for epilepsy should only be used under medical supervision.

Making cookies at christmas time

Favorite Christmas Treat Recipe Ideas:

KetoCal Christmas Cookies:

Make Christmas cookies using our KetoCal Almond Coconut Cookie recipe. These are your keto-version of basic “sugar” cookies (sans sugar of course). They are easy to make and a favorite around the office (people often describe them as tasting like shortbread cookies). You can make these cookies festive by adding carb-free food coloring to the batter before cooking. I like to divide the recipe in half and add red carb-free food coloring to one batch and green carb-free food coloring to the other. Another idea is to add red or green “sprinkles” to your cookies by mixing a small amount of carb-free food coloring into the Truvia before adding it on top of the cookies. You could also use small, Christmas-themed cookie cutters to make different shapes.

KetoCal Gingerbread Cookies

KetoCal Hot Chocolate

Our KetoCal Chocolate Smoothie Recipe can be used to make tasty hot chocolate by simply omitting the ice and serving it warm. This easy recipe uses 3 simple ingredients: KetoCal LQ Vanilla, unsweetened cocoa powder, and vegetable oil. Optional carb-free sweetener can be added to taste. We like to use KetoCal LQ Vanilla for this recipe but you could also use KetoCal LQ Unflavored with additional carb-free sweetener.

Other Christmas dessert ideas:

KetoCal Blackberry Crumble

KetoCal Crème Brulee

Christmas morning breakfast ideas:

KetoCal Cinnamon and Blueberry Toast

KetoCal Pancakes

KetoCal Chocolate Muffins

KetoCal Bacon & Cheese Muffins

KetoCal Blueberry Muffins

KetoCal Cheesy Ham Tart

KetoCal Cheesy Tomato Tart

 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!

-Mallory