On Thanksgiving, and my now GFCF child

With Thanksgiving only a week away, I've been approached by Bloggers and Twitterers seeking assistance with GFCF and Thanksgiving. This will be just our second Thanksgiving since Alex has been on the GFCF diet and once again we'll celebrate with family. True Confession: I have yet to ever cook or host a Thanksgiving meal as we traditionally bounce between the three sets of grandparents. Last year we traveled back to my home in upstate NY and this year we'll celebrate with family here in New Jersey.

2001:
One of the fondest Thanksgiving memories I have is Alex's first Thanksgiving - he was 11 1/2 months old and a happy, healthy boisterous almost one year old child. I have the mental image of him sitting in the booster seat at the end of the "big table" at my Father-in-laws house with the giant (probably 28 pounder) bird. His plate was FULL of turkey, sweet potatoe casserole, veggies, and dressing. He tried it all and even had seconds. I think back and remember, he loved broccoli and sweet potatoes and he was enthusiastic about eating. He ate almost a whole Turkey leg that was as big as his head. Fast forward a little bit, just a few months later (he received the 1 year innoculations, ugh) and then self-selected down to eating so few foods you could count them on one hand - things like chicken nuggets or Kraft Macaroni and cheese. He no longer would touch any vegetable, let alone have seconds of broccoli and sweet potatoe casserole. But, I have evidence that he wasn't always like this. I have that picture of Alex's first Thanksgiving.

This picture. Looking right at the camera with a face full of mush and grabbing for more.

2008:
Now, several years later my son is almost eight years old and is in his second year of the Gluten & Casein Free diet - he is starting to be more adventurous when it comes to eating. He eats things on the "the diet" that he would not have touched during the ages of 2-5 years old. His diet has certainly become more varied, but like any kid he has definite favorites. Traditional Thanksgiving food is not his "thing" and I've made the executive decision that I'm not going to force it on him. Thanksgiving is about family and being grateful for what we do have. For that reason while my family is busy cooking "all the favorites", I'll be making my big little guy up some simple favorites that he likes trying to keep it in line (within reason) to what the rest of us are having.

What my son will be eating:
Instead of chicken nuggets, I'm thinking I'll pre-make some turkey nuggets with organic Turkey. I'm sure he'll dip them in ketchup, I'm not begrudging him the ketchup. For sides, I'll make him a mac & cheese casserole using Quinoa, Organic Brown Rice Pasta and vegan cheese. He'll have a simple fruit salad with apples, grapes and orange slices. Last year he did eat cranberry sauce, probably because it is kind of like jell-o. I also hope to make him some bread in my Gluten Free Breadmaker using one of the recipes from The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread or use this quickbread recipe that Thomas Dzomba from the GFCF Experience blog was kind enough to share with me on Twitter. I'm sure he'll have a few more selections, depending on what the rest of us are having and what is 'safe' or not for him to consume. Sweet Potatoes used to be a favorite but it is a crap-shoot whether he'll eat them or not. I whipped some last week and he didn't touch them, but maybe sweet potato fries since that is french-fry like. For dessert, I'm going to bake up some cookies or brownies that he'll happily devour. Last week I candied up some pears and apples with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins and I made extra and froze them. I'm envisioning them over vanilla dairy free ice cream and actually getting a little hungry!

So, how do you "do Thanksgiving" with your GFCF child?
Does the whole family eat a GFCF meal, or do you make your child's meal separate?
Any favorite dishes?

I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks!