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| This is what we're most thankful for this Thanksgiving. |
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
I've been terrible about blogging. I'm working at it... I've got a new motivator to help me along... more on that later. I have to tell you I'm sorry in advance for few photos this time, I was so busy doing it I forgot to stop to take pictures!
This Thompson house is a house that loves our food. Our philosophy is if we're going to eat calories they should be GOOD! (this doesn't mean that it can't be healthy.)
Last year I spent nearly a month searching out healthy Thanksgiving recipes. I'm using a lot of them again this year but I've added a few new ones and I'm getting creative and combining 2 of them to make my potatoes. I thought I'd share the recipes I'm using along with details on the recipes and our reviews.
Here's our menu:
Honey & Thyme-Brined Turkey
Bourbon-Cider Gravy (recipe below)
Mushroom Fennel Quinoa Stuffing
Salad de Maison (from mom, Melanie; recipe below)
combining: Creamy Cauliflower Puree & Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Cranberry Pear Sauce don't forget dessert!
Pie in a Jar these I did in July and had in the freezer... score for me! Less time in the kitchen!
I'll start with Cranberry Pear Sauce... I've learned that home made is a million times better than the canned stuff (though I loved it as a kid, couldn't get enough!) The recipe is from Skinnytaste.com (you'll see lots of this site from me cuz I LOVE everything I've tried from it.) I did it yesterday and put some in 4 half pint jars, one for tomorrow and 3 for later because there's only 2 of us.
Notes: I used regular sugar instead of Agave or honey, but it ended up being 3/4 cup instead of half. The flavor was great!
The salad dressing has to be made 3-24 hours in advance so here's the recipe for that:
Salad de Maison
dressing:
juice of one lemon
1 tsp salt
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
3/4 cup canola oil
mix together
salad:
1/4 lb. bacon, cooked & diced
1-2 heads romaine lettuce torn into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup crasins
1/2-3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup croutons
combine all and toss with dressing just before serving
Notes: We didn't even touch the salad today but we love it and we'll devour it tomorrow!
Honey and Thyme- Brined Turkey notes:
This is Kurt's very favorite turkey, he loves it. The recipe calls for a turkey breast but we used a whole turkey this time. It was a happy turkey, it danced in the sink and took a quick soak then a nice long soak (24 hours long in salty & sugary water) The whole bird worked really well, I thought the dark meat might have been a little too salty from the brine, but Kurt thought it was just fine.. he even had a whole drumstick with cranberry sauce on it.
I found the gravy recipe in the Cooking Light magazine from last November. Here's the recipe:
Bourbon-Cider Gravy
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 shallot, chopped fine
1/2 c. apple cider
1/4 cup bourbon (I subbed sparkling cider)
1 1/4 cup chicken broth, divided
3 tbsp. flour
Pan drippings from your turkey without fat if you can
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (I bet you could skip this if you don't have it already, who wants to buy a whole bunch of parsley just for a tablespoon?)
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add thyme and shallot; saute 2 minutes add cider and bourbon (or sparkling cider;) boil 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Combine 1/4 cup of broth and flour with a whisk. Add flour mixture, remaining broth and pan drippings from your turkey, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes or until thickened. Stir in parsley and vinegar.
Notes: I found this gravy a little sweet for my taste... I'm not sure if this is because of the cider or from the honey thyme turkey drippings. It had good flavor, just a little sweet for me. Kurt thought it was OK. We'll try something new next year.
Stuffing Notes: This is really good. I'll be using the leftovers as a whole meal by adding some sausage to it. The flavors were just great with the fennel and other vegetables. Kurt said it's good, and OK but if I never made it again he wouldn't be upset.
Potato/Faux-tato Notes: Kurt said they were AWESOME. Here's what we did... prepped 2 potatoes as you would for regular mashed potatoes (I always leave the skins on cuz that's where the vitamins are.) We cut a cauliflower into medium chunks, steamed them until a fork goes in easily. From there you treat the two the same. We added buttermilk, garlic, salt & pepper... simple but yummy. Sorry for those of you who would like measurements... we added the buttermilk til it was the consistency we wanted and garlic, salt & pepper until it tasted like we wanted.
We had a very good Thanksgiving together. We wish we could be closer to our family, but for now we get to be just us. We got to eat good food, watch football and basketball, spend some time with new friends in the ward, and make memories together. Kurt and I send love to our family and friends; we hope you are all enjoying your holiday as much as we have!
This Thompson house is a house that loves our food. Our philosophy is if we're going to eat calories they should be GOOD! (this doesn't mean that it can't be healthy.)
Last year I spent nearly a month searching out healthy Thanksgiving recipes. I'm using a lot of them again this year but I've added a few new ones and I'm getting creative and combining 2 of them to make my potatoes. I thought I'd share the recipes I'm using along with details on the recipes and our reviews.
Here's our menu:
Honey & Thyme-Brined Turkey
Bourbon-Cider Gravy (recipe below)
Mushroom Fennel Quinoa Stuffing
Salad de Maison (from mom, Melanie; recipe below)
combining: Creamy Cauliflower Puree & Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Cranberry Pear Sauce don't forget dessert!
Pie in a Jar these I did in July and had in the freezer... score for me! Less time in the kitchen!
 |
| Jarred Cranberry Pear Sauce! |
Notes: I used regular sugar instead of Agave or honey, but it ended up being 3/4 cup instead of half. The flavor was great!
The salad dressing has to be made 3-24 hours in advance so here's the recipe for that:
Salad de Maison
dressing:
juice of one lemon
1 tsp salt
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
3/4 cup canola oil
mix together
salad:
1/4 lb. bacon, cooked & diced
1-2 heads romaine lettuce torn into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup crasins
1/2-3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup croutons
combine all and toss with dressing just before serving
Notes: We didn't even touch the salad today but we love it and we'll devour it tomorrow!
Honey and Thyme- Brined Turkey notes:
This is Kurt's very favorite turkey, he loves it. The recipe calls for a turkey breast but we used a whole turkey this time. It was a happy turkey, it danced in the sink and took a quick soak then a nice long soak (24 hours long in salty & sugary water) The whole bird worked really well, I thought the dark meat might have been a little too salty from the brine, but Kurt thought it was just fine.. he even had a whole drumstick with cranberry sauce on it.
I found the gravy recipe in the Cooking Light magazine from last November. Here's the recipe:
Bourbon-Cider Gravy
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 shallot, chopped fine
1/2 c. apple cider
1/4 cup bourbon (I subbed sparkling cider)
1 1/4 cup chicken broth, divided
3 tbsp. flour
Pan drippings from your turkey without fat if you can
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (I bet you could skip this if you don't have it already, who wants to buy a whole bunch of parsley just for a tablespoon?)
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add thyme and shallot; saute 2 minutes add cider and bourbon (or sparkling cider;) boil 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Combine 1/4 cup of broth and flour with a whisk. Add flour mixture, remaining broth and pan drippings from your turkey, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes or until thickened. Stir in parsley and vinegar.
Notes: I found this gravy a little sweet for my taste... I'm not sure if this is because of the cider or from the honey thyme turkey drippings. It had good flavor, just a little sweet for me. Kurt thought it was OK. We'll try something new next year.
Stuffing Notes: This is really good. I'll be using the leftovers as a whole meal by adding some sausage to it. The flavors were just great with the fennel and other vegetables. Kurt said it's good, and OK but if I never made it again he wouldn't be upset.
Potato/Faux-tato Notes: Kurt said they were AWESOME. Here's what we did... prepped 2 potatoes as you would for regular mashed potatoes (I always leave the skins on cuz that's where the vitamins are.) We cut a cauliflower into medium chunks, steamed them until a fork goes in easily. From there you treat the two the same. We added buttermilk, garlic, salt & pepper... simple but yummy. Sorry for those of you who would like measurements... we added the buttermilk til it was the consistency we wanted and garlic, salt & pepper until it tasted like we wanted.
We had a very good Thanksgiving together. We wish we could be closer to our family, but for now we get to be just us. We got to eat good food, watch football and basketball, spend some time with new friends in the ward, and make memories together. Kurt and I send love to our family and friends; we hope you are all enjoying your holiday as much as we have!
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