Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!  This is one of my favorite weeks, I love baking, cooking and I am looking forward to the time spent around the table with family and friends.  

 One of our Annual Thanksgiving traditions is we attend Praise and Pancakes at our church.  We start our morning in church at 7 AM, we come in our PJ's, no one is fancy, and everyone is welcome.  We sing a few worship songs to God and after worship some get up and share what they are thankful for.  We then have pancakes all together.  It is one of my most favorite Thanksgiving traditions.  
One of the things I am grateful for is YOU! Thank you for supporting my blog in any way that you do.  I appreciate each and every one of you who stop to read a post.  Thank you to all of you who follow over on social media and like, comment and share.  I am extremely grateful for the connections and friendships I've made through blogging.  It always blesses me when people e-mail or message me I love connecting with you all.  I've bonded over motherhood with some, swapped Keto hacks and recipes with others, and I am forever grateful for the many of you who send encouraging notes, you guys are the best cheerleaders.  
After Praise and Pancakes once we are home we put on the Macy's Day Parade while we cook, prep and of course snack all morning long.  My husband being from Michigan you can count on the Lions Game being on as well. We typically have our Thanksgiving meal early around 1 o'clock, we kind of graze so it's lunch and dinner.  

 Over the years we have eaten low carb and Keto style off and on.  This year since January is the first time we have been the most consistent and this will be the first Thanksgiving we decided to stick with our Keto eating plan.  No cheat day for us.  I love how I feel healthier and I am grateful for all the different options that are available with "mock" recipes and so many Keto ideas available on the internet.  You definitely want to try my Keto Stuffing Recipe you can find that here. 
The typical Thanksgiving meal is actually very Keto-friendly.  Turkey, Ham, Veggies, and Salad, the only things that are not Keto-friendly are the potatoes, stuffing and sweets.  I'm so excited about all the Keto things we are eating this year.  I thought I'd share my menu in case any of you are trying to stick to healthier options.  I tried all of these recipes before Thanksgiving week, the only one that I added in last minute is the "mock sweet potato casserole".  Sweet Potato Casserole is one of my most favorite Thanksgiving side dishes.  I have used Trisha Yearwood's recipe for years, but I am sure you know the typical recipe is full of sugar.    

 For this years sweet potato casserole I kind of improvised between these two recipe links below. I am really impressed on how well this turned out.  I already have prepped the casserole part and it's in the refrigerator, I just have to add the pecan topping and bake on Thanksgiving day.  Typical sweet potato casserole uses Yam's which are very high in carbs, so I swapped Yam's out for a combination of Butternut Squash, Cauliflower and a Cup of Pumpkin puree.  
Wholesome Yum's Recipe here.
Life Made Sweeter Recipe here.
I roasted the 1 Butternut Squash (peeled and cubed) and 1 medium head of Cauliflower in the oven tossed with olive oil for about 30 minutes.  Once cooled I put them in our Ninja Blender to smooth.  I put the pureed veggies in my mixer and added in 1 cup of can pumpkin puree, 1 egg, 1/4 cup of Truvia Brown Sugar, a Tsp. of Vanilla, sprinkled in some cinnamon a splash of heavy whipping cream. 

 I'm going to keep my pecan topping pretty basic, with chopped pecans, almond flour, brown sugar Truvia, cinnamon and salt.  Once on top of the casserole I will put some dollops of butter and bake.  I don't have a picture yet with the pecan topping, I'll have to update this post after Thanksgiving.  


Our Keto-Friendly Thanksgiving Menu
Turkey & Ham
Keto Stuffing (recipe link here)
Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash
Green Beans with Bacon
Keto Sweet Potato Casserole
Salad

 Appetizers
Deviled Eggs
Shrimp Cocktail Platter
Bacon Wrapped Smokies (made with Truvia Brown Sugar)
Spinach Dip with Cheese Whisps and veggies for us Keto eaters.

 Desserts
Fruit
Keto Chocolate Cake (my neighbor friend makes this).  
Keto Cheescake
Pumpkin Keto Bars by Wholesome Yum

I will have to come back and let you know about the Low Carb/Keto bread I purchased from a local Keto Baker.  I have not tried her bread before but Thanksgiving would not be complete without day after Thanksgiving Turkey leftover sandwiches, am I right?. I pre-ordered one loaf of her bread and also one of her Pumpkin Cheesecake Loaf's.  You can never have too many Keto desserts right!  You can find her on Instagram @Mels_Low_Carb_Co.

 I hope you have a delicious and relaxing Thanksgiving surrounded by love!  If you have a favorite low carb or Keto-friendly Thanksgiving recipe I would love to hear about it, feel free to comment on this blog post.  You can e-mail me at theblogaboutitall@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram @blogaboutitall.  Happy Thanksgiving!!!