Award-winning public speaker, New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned health expert, Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD (aka The Paleo Mom) believes the key to reversing the current epidemics of chronic disease is scientific literacy. She creates educational resources to help people regain their health through diet and lifestyle choices informed by the most current evidenced-based scientific research.

This post was written by my assistant Tamar.

Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah, come light the menorah

Let’s have a party, we’ll all dance the horah

Gather ’round the table, we’ll give you a treat

Dreydles to play with and latkes to eat.

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This all sounds good to me! Well, as long as the treat is Paleo and the latkes are made with sweet potatoes and fried in a healthy fat. I was raised as a yellow challah, slimy gefilte fish, oily matzah ball eating Jewish girl! What’s that saying? The story of all Jewish holidays can be generally summarized as “They tried to kill us, we won, now lets eat!”. And boy do we like to eat!

I have many fond memories of celebrating various Jewish holidays with specific foods. In fact, to this day when I hear the beginning of Adon Olam I can practically taste the gefilte fish and horseradish. Shabbat Shalom indeed! Of course the best part of attending Shabbat services is the oneg that is served after the congregation President makes their announcements, am I right? At least that’s what my kids will say. Let’s not forget eating Haman’s hat (hamentashen) on Purim, dipping apples in honey for Rosh Hashanah, and enjoying Hillel’s sandwich on Passover. I could go on and on. But I’ll stop there because after all, this post is about Hanukkah! Or Channukah, depending on how you spell it.

So how does one reconcile the way they ate as a child with they way they eat as an adult? I’ve been involved in the Paleo world for a while now, and my parents still don’t quite understand what it is. What they do understand is that I usually bring my own food to events, and that I had meals made specially for me on a recent cruise. They’re supportive, because after all they want their little bubbaleh to be happy.

Let’s get this out of the way first: I don’t really cook. I mean, I do prepare food with heat, but it does not get much more complicated than that. Ground beef and carrots. Hard boiled eggs and squash. Eggs scrambled with spinach. Simple meals are my favorite!

But let’s just say I did cook. And let’s also say I wanted to prepare a fun, delicious, kid-friendly Hanukkah meal. What would I prepare for this meal? The following recipes look great to me!

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Before we get to the food we should discuss the other items needed to complete any Hanukkah celebration: a menorah for adults (this one is pretty), a Hanukkah play set for the kids, gelt (check out these allergy friendly chocolate coins), and dreidels. I love that it’s actually part of the holiday to enjoy chocolate coins! In fact, I’d say it’s a mitzvah!

Chag Sameach Paleo friends! Leave a comment and let me know how you celebrate Hanukkah Paleo style!