A traditional picture of Thanksgiving dinner may include turkey, mashed potatoes and pie. But not everyone at Kennedy has the same idea of the ideal T-day meal on Thursday, Nov. 26.

Shaylynn Deutmeyer, so., is gluten-intolerant, and so is her sister. This means they can’t eat wheat, barley, or malt. This automatically marks stuffing and several other things off the list of foods they’ll grab from the Thanksgiving buffet.

“We often use rice instead of pasta, and chips instead of breadcrumbs or crackers,” Deutmeyer said.

Although her diet doesn’t exclude too many items on her Thanksgiving menu, it causes occasional problems.

“Usually instead of replacing items that aren’t gluten-free I just avoid them,” Deutmeyer said. “It’s easier and gluten-free substitutes often don’t taste the best.”

Kourtney Holzer, jr., is Mormon, and explained that diet-wise she sticks to healthy eating habits as her religion avoids several caffeinated drinks and other foods that might lead to an unbalanced diet.

“We won’t have coffee, tea that isn’t herbal, or alcohol,” Holzer said.

Some families pull out the wine for a toast on Thanksgiving Day, but not Holzer’s.

“The first time I even saw alcohol in real life is when I went to one of my friend’s houses and saw it in the fridge,” Holzer said.

Overall, Holzer says most of her dietary practice is just trying to balance everything she eats. She tries to include a little bit of everything healthy in her diet.

“Almost everything is fine in moderation,” Holzer said. “Obviously I’m not just going to eat one thing for the rest of my life.”

Camber Ostwinkle, fr., describes herself as a very picky eater. She doesn’t like liquid-like food, some meat, or her food touching each other. This calls for some substitutes on Thanksgiving.

“I don’t like turkey because there are bones in it and cartilage,” Ostwinkle said, “and I can’t pick stuff off because that makes me sick.”

Ostwinkle says her family “bothers” her about her eating decisions, but she chooses to do what she prefers.

“I’ll eat corn, bread, and sometimes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because there’s nothing else to eat,” Ostwinkle said.