Thanksgiving Essentials



Next week is Thanksgiving and I am soooo excited! Thanksgiving is basically all of my favorite things in one day – chilling in pjs watching the parade, delicious food, family time, and shopping! For the past few years we have gone our for Thanksgiving because the condo was not wheelchair friendly for my grandmother and my dad moved out of town but this year we’re going back to having Thanksgiving at home and while I’m sad we won’t have my grandma this year I am excited to be cooking the Thanksgiving meal again.

 

In my humble opinion Thanksgiving is no time for healthy eating and since everyone has their own favorites I say bring on the carbs – this is what my menu this year will be:

 

1. Champagne Turkey

2. Stuffing

3. Green Bean Casserole

4. Sweet Potato Casserole

5. Mashed Potatoes

6. Peas

7. Corn Soufflé

8. Broccoli

9. Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

10. Cranberry sauce (from the can of course, I hate it but my family tells me this is the only way to have it)

11. Pie

12. Martinili apple cider – I might drink a whole bottle on my own.

 

I know that sounds like a lot and not doable for one day but that’s another thing about Thanksgiving – a lot of the food is either easy to make / pre made or can be made in advance. Here’s my plan of attack:

 

1. Cook the Turkey slow and low – it gets put in the oven 10pm Thanksgiving Eve

2. I’m a weirdo – I LOVE stovetop stuffing and find homemade dressing to be gross. I usually chop up an onion, an apple and some celery and stuff inside my Turkey – I use this chutney with the Turkey juice to make my stuffing have real flavor rather than just use boiling water.

3. make the casserole the night before and refrigerate until time to bake

4. But a premade sweet potato casserole -the homemade version is a PITA to make and taste no better, in fact the buy and bake ones are delicious!

5. Peel potatoes the night before

6. Frozen peas just need to be warmed day of

7. mix the corn soufflé the night before and bake day of

8. Frozen broccoli get steamed

9. Pop the dough and bake the rolls day  of

10. Chill in fridge and service from can day of – if you want to be super fancy slice before serving

11. Buy pie from Sam’s Club – they are really good and really affordable

12. Drink all the apple cider! Keep in garage or back patio to chill and save fridge space.

 

See, doesn’t that sound easy?

 

To get into the spirit I have a few harvest decorations around the living room, kitchen and dining room and I couldn’t resist this hostess pack from Charming Charlie – it was only $10 with a $30 purchase and includes the banner, grocery list pad, paper placemats (If I’m feeling ambitious I might laminate), place cards and cocktail napkins. The perfect finishing touches for my perfect Thanksgiving day!