Elevating Expectations of What Healthy Food Can Be

Healthy Food for Lifestyles, Full of Flavor

One of the core beliefs at GfreeDeliciously is that gluten-free and healthy  do not have to mean flavorless. AND… Cooking a nutritious meal shouldn’t mean spending hours in the kitchen. Because of that belief, we feel it’s essential to offer healthy, budget-friendly recipes perfect for making flavorful meals FAST…!

We get it. Many days, it’s hard to make it into the kitchen. It would be great if you had affordable, healthy meals to cook to get them to the table in 30 minutes or less. So here are easy ways you can ditch takeout and eliminate cupboards and drawers full of pre-packaged products and ingredients to cook healthy meals at home that add flavor and beat boredom at the table.

Enjoy these recipes that make life super simple. We’ve also combined some of our favorites into free meal plans when you sign up with a member pass at GfreeDeliciously. The meal plans are in the member downloads area of your account dashboard, where they are only a click away when it’s convenient for you!

So check back often for new healthy recipes perfect for making even when life gets busy. Every day, seasonal and themed meals are always free from gluten, nuts (excluding coconut), artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and hundreds of other harmful ingredients.

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Home » All Posts » All Recipes » Recipes By Diet » Dinner & Sweet Treats | December Home-Cooked Holiday Dinner & Menu Ideas

PUBLISHED: December 1, 2020

Dinner & Sweet Treats | December Home-Cooked Holiday Dinner & Menu Ideas

Feasting, food, festivities, and YIKES, December already!!
If you’re like me, you’re wondering how Christmas got to be only 25 days away! Thank goodness for these gluten-free holiday dinner ideas in the Home Cooked Holiday Collection!

These holiday recipes for 2020 include a meal plan for homemade holiday dinner ideas and sweet treats for making your holiday bright!

Meal Plan Includes: Busy Day Lasagna, Cranberry Chicken Salad, Creamy Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup, Meatball Skillet Bake, Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Apples & Parsnip Puree, S’mores Cookies, S’mores Ganache Tart & Winter Scallop Salad

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December’s Live Schedule:

Cranberry Chicken (or Turkey) Salad – Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Apples & Parsnip Puree – Wednesday, December 9, 2020

S’mores Cookies – Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Winter Scallop Salad – Wednesday, December 23, 2020

BONUS Creamy Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup – Wednesday, December 30, 2020

We believe cooking should be fun, but we also know it can sometimes be intimidating, especially when cooking gluten-free. That’s why we strive to help home cooks of all levels learn, practice, and grow their basic skills through easy (always gluten-free) recipes that make cooking an enjoyable experience. Follow us on Facebook to be among the first to watch!

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We’ve decided to discontinue our partnership with Wildtree. While we are still a fan of the company and its products, we feel we can offer our gluten-free audience healthy, affordable solutions and inspiration for fulfilling meals, cooking classes, and experiences more tailored to its interests apart from being an affiliate of the organization. We hope you’ll continue to find the products, meal solutions, and inspired recipes we’ve shared from their website – welcome additions to your kitchen and family’s table.

The Home-Cooked Holiday Cooking Collection...

Eight Days of Comfort & Joy...

Apart from the flurry that December brings, it’s a fantastic time to enjoy rich, cozy foods. Think flavorful meat entrées, root vegetables, elegant holiday dinners, and desserts that look fancy but require little effort to prepare.

This month, you can enjoy eight days of comfort and joy with the December Home-Cooked Holiday Cooking Collection and meal plan. These recipes offer healthy, nourishing dinners and incredible desserts to carry you through the end of the year.

Super nourishing dinners, healthy holiday-ish salad, cozy soup, s'mores-inspired chocolate desserts…

Note: The recipes in this collection include Several Wildtree seasonings and spice blends that we love and are unaffiliated with. However, you can always substitute any similar favorites you may already have in stock.

Weeknight meals made easy...

Warm up your house and the oven with Busy Day Lasagna—flavor-filled and perfect for that busy day when you have tons of holiday tasks on your plate! The Hearty Spaghetti Sauce Blend season’s tomato sauce. Add it to the ground beef with onion, milk, and cream cheese for a delicious, flavorful, satisfying sauce baked into a creamy pasta casserole. Then, top it with mozzarella cheese to become bubbly and brown before serving.

I love this Meatball Skillet Bake recipe. You’ll start with a meatloaf mix (veal, pork, beef blend) or just ground beef. Add eggs, milk, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, minced garlic, and a few other seasoning staples with Hearty Spaghetti Sauce Blend to the meat for genuinely good meatballs.

Cook them up in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat until browned on all sides, then remove them from the skillet. Using the same skillet, sauté the peppers and onion for about five minutes before stirring in a can of tomato sauce with a little more Hearty Spaghetti Sauce Blend and bring it all to a simmer.

Finally, return the meatballs to the skillet and gently toss them in the sauce. Cover everything with mozzarella cheese and bake until the cheese melts and the meatballs are cooked (165°F). Serve it up with crusty bread for an easy Italian-inspired dinner. Now that’s a GOOD meatball!!

Light Up Your Lunch...

Light with a lovely cranberry flavor, this classic sandwich for Cranberry Chicken (or Turkey) Salad couldn’t be more enjoyable! Grab that leftover turkey breast meat you froze from Thanksgiving, or start from scratch by cooking up one pound of chicken breast to make this yummy sandwich. After that, combine the chicken with grapes, celery, and almonds and mix it all with a Cranberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette and mayo dressing. Oooh, it’s so tasty for lunch or dinner!

Meals for A Healthy Holiday...

Find comfort and joy in this low-stress dinner after a wildly busy day. You’ll love this five-star Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Apples and Parsnip Puree recipe! And if you love surprises this time of year, the first delicious surprise you’ll unwrap for this recipe is the Herbes de Provence Blend. The aromatic blend lends a unique, delicious flavor to the pork chops that pack in flavor inspired by a region in Southern France known for its mixture of dried herbs.

To make this dish, you’ll pan-sear the herb-coated pork chops until they form a beautiful brown crust on the outside and become succulent inside. Then, serve them with a sauce made with apple and shallot alongside a parsnip puree.

But that’s not all. Above all, the real surprise is the nutritional punch from the apples, parsnips, and pork that makes the meal excellent for adding to your healthy diet and meal plan!

Make sure you return to get the recipe and read the post following the #CookingGfreeDeliciously Live later this month to learn about the nutrition and high-quality rich proteins you’ll get when eating this meal.

Christmas Eve is In The Bag (Pun intended). So please mark your calendar for December 23^rd and join me on #CookingGfreeDeliciously Live to make this delicious Winter Scallop Salad. First, we’ll make candied pecans, slice up seasonal pears, toss them with lettuce and Cranberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette, then pan-sear scallops to serve on top. After that, I’ll reveal my holiday wine picks to pair with this tasty salad, perfect for an easy and elegant Christmas Eve dinner, a light holiday meal, or a starter salad to enjoy this New Year’sEve.

Comforting Soup to Warm You Up...

You can make this creamy mushroom and wild rice soup in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop. This bonus episode of #CookingGfreeDeliciously Live is on December 30^th!

We’ll be cooking onion, carrot, celery, baby Bella mushrooms, and nutty-tasting wild rice flavored with Herbes de Provence Blend and combining the mixture in a buttery, creamy milk sauce for a comforting mushroom soup with crumbled bacon and thyme.

You’ll want to make some for winter evenings to warm up before cozying up with your favorite blankie and a movie!

S'mores Inspired Chocolate Desserts...

The best cookie EVER! Melty marshmallows, crunchy graham crackers, loaded into a chewy chocolate cookie with more S’mores flavor (especially with my addition of milk chocolate chips, too!) – Believe me, life does not get much better! You’ll love this recipe for S’mores Cookies using the S’mores Dessert Blend (available for a limited time in the December Home-Cooked Holiday Collection).

Simple and luxurious, this S’mores Ganache Tart has all the flavor you love in classic S’mores in a grown-up dessert-done holiday style!

Made with heavy cream, dark chocolate, and S’mores Dessert Blend simmered until melted and smooth, then poured into a buttery graham cracker crust.

When set, sprinkle the tart with flaky salt and slice. Top it for serving with peaks of heavenly whipped cream flavored with more S’mores Dessert Blend. What else can I say but YUM, YUM, and YUM!!

This easy chocolate tart will have everyone singing Hallelujah praises this holiday season!

A dazzling line-up of delicious eats...

Make the most of the season’s dazzling line-up of delicious eats for December from the Home-Cooked Holiday Collection.

Plan to eat your fill of S’mores Inspired Sweet Eats before the limited-time S’mores Dessert Blend is gone.

Then, fall in love with the Herbes de Provance Blend for a salt-free multi-purpose seasoning to make wild-game, braised, and pan-fried meats extra savory; try it as a rub for grilling or give roasted root vegetables and mashed potatoes an extra oomph of taste.

Most importantly, if you’re looking for more inspiration, peek through the filmstrip at the top of every page on the site to discover more recipes for cooking GfreeDeliciously!

For those who cook and those who eat…

That wraps up this month’s December Home Cooked Holiday Collection, which includes eight recipes that help you explore just how simple and delicious holiday cooking can be.

I hope you make them all. They’re super delicious, and just because you’re eating healthy shouldn’t mean that you don’t deserve to feel like you’re sometimes splurging, so every one of these recipes lets you check that box, too!

As always, I love helping you enjoy the satisfaction that cooking brings. Thanks for reading and supporting the companies I partner with, which allow me to create even more unique content and recipes for #CookingGfreeDeliciously. All opinions are always my own.

When you make our recipes, snap a photo, post it, and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram with #CookingGfreeDeliciously, @gfreedeliciously. Enjoy, xo!

If you are celiac, gluten-intolerant, or following a strict gluten-free diet, substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend instead of whole-wheat or gluten-containing flour. Always check the ingredient labels and swap out any products that may include wheat, barley, or rye for certified gluten-free versions when making recipes not explicitly tagged gluten-free.