As I ate my steaming bowl of cheddar cheese grits this morning, I recalled an online group I had seen once before...G.R.I.T.S. Nothing to do with dieting of course, just celebrating what makes a southern girl unique.
I myself am a southern girl born and raised...And being such, I know things are a little different down here. We learn that you can deep fry just about anything and eat it. Butter is good for you. Passing up on seconds is a sin. If you aren't thick, your momma didn't raise you right LOL.
So I am creating this group for all of us southern girls...This diet thing can be a whole new world for us. Here we can discuss all of the circumstances that make us stand out as well as the obstacles we face living in the south when it comes to dieting.
So I am not sure how they do Thanksgiving everywhere else, but in my family there is always enough food to feed about 5x's as many people as there are attending the meal, and as many desserts as there are entrees.
We had chicken dressing, duck dressing, duck gravy, turkey, cajun turkey, brisket, rolls, english pea salad, sweet potato casserole, a carrot medley, jalepenos filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon, fruit salad, vegetable platter with onion dip, salsa veggie salad, pound cake, Neiman Marcus Cake, peanut butter cake, blueberry pie, pecan pie, 7 layer chocolate pie...and some other desserts I don't even know the name of LOL. We were actually light on the food this year because my mom didn't come and she usually brings the deviled eggs, buttermilk pie, macaroni and cheese, garlic bread, and sometimes jumbalaya.
Hey there! I'm not from the South (my husband's family is though, Ponchatula [sp?], LA), but I did have grits and cheese this morning. Never had them this way before (usually I add sugar and cinnamon--my husband always gags, lol). They were yummy and I'll be eating them this way from now on.
Anywho, as far as the Thanksgiving menu, typically we overdo similar to what you described. But this year less of us were getting together so we had a simple roasted turkey, sausage/bread stuffing, steamed broccoli (missed making my collards), baked potatoes, candied yams, mac and cheese and sweet potato pie.
Southern girl here born & bred... and LOVE IT. In fact, I'd love to move further south but my husband is completely anti-south even though he's lived in the same area I have his entire life.
We had turkey, dressing, mustard potato salad, cole slaw, mac & cheese, sweet potato casserole, green beans, corn, rolls and deviled eggs. Dessert was chocolate pie and banana pudding. That was just at my dad's house.
If I had eaten at my father in law's, they were having turkey, dressing, ham, corn pudding, corn, green beans with salt pork, deviled eggs, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, rolls and pumpkin pie. I went to help them cook but didn't stay and eat. They fixed their turkey in a bag with sweet potatoes... never heard of it & am not sure how it turned out but her turkey is usually nasty anyway so I wasn't keen on trying anything new there.
I actually didn't eat as much as what I thought I would so that was a plus. And I actually do think that dieting can be a huge obstacle for us southern girls because if it ain't fried, I didn't eat it growing up. And covered in gravy was pretty much an absolute must. Bacon grease is a food group all it's own and so are fried potatoes. I'm trying to adapt to grilling and baking but it just isn't the same. I can't eat fish that hasn't been breaded & fried... grilled fish... And dessert was always around at my mammaw's house.. usually some kind of cake that she baked with jello or ice cream. But, it's a learning experience.
And I actually do think that dieting can be a huge obstacle for us southern girls because if it ain't fried, I didn't eat it growing up. And covered in gravy was pretty much an absolute must. Bacon grease is a food group all it's own and so are fried potatoes. I'm trying to adapt to grilling and baking but it just isn't the same. I can't eat fish that hasn't been breaded & fried... grilled fish...
Amen. I don't know how to cook anything healthy LOL.
LOL! I'm right at home in here! Been living in KY for a while, but have moved around a bit so I am aware of eastern style of food as well.
However, did most of my raising in KY and Tennessee, and all of the foods you described above could've been my house! I am trying to make things lighter though.....
My Thanksgiving fare was this....
mashed potatoes (with butter ya'll)
marshmellows with yams
sweet potatoes with honey, pecans, and bananas
green beans in bacon grease (no way would my mother have accepted it merely steamed)
cranberry
dressing & gravy
deviled eggs
pumpkin pie with cream cheese on bottom (trying something new this year...learned that I need to make my own crust as the store bought pie crusts were just too small to hold everything...)
apple/pear pie
blueberry pie (never ate this because my brother, when taking it out of the oven, actually DROPPED it........)
pumpkin pie
pecan pie
ham with pineapples
I have been good about not frying everything, but there are some things that just don't taste as good baked....so for the most part, I'm trying to do moderation and just exercise in private, cause we all know sweat on a southern gal just isn't proper!
LOL, Okay, I'm raising my hand. I beg my mom to cut down the menu every holiday. This year, my sister and I planned the menu and we still had to have way too much food. After arguing the last couple of years over how we didn't need so much food, I just gave up arguing this year.
We had a turkey
ham
chicken tenders
sweet potato casserole - one regular and one lower calorie (I was a rebel this year and did it without the pecan/brown sugar topping - The family wasn't happy)
deviled eggs
green beans casserole
broccoli rice casserole
fruit salad
corn
butterbeans
blackeye peas
cornbread dressing
cranberry sauce
vegetable plate and dip (one of my contributions of course)
chocolate pie
german chocolate cake
sin (a cream cheese, cool whip, pecan desert)
Now, this was for four adults, and five kids! Back when my grandparents were alive and all of the aunts and uncles and grandchildren would get together, the food was astounding. The desserts always had their own (2) tables.
Nemesis, how do you do the sweet potatoes with bananas? I've never heard of that but it sounds good!
Maggie, Sugar and cinnamon on grits?? Yuck, grits aren't supposed to be sweet . My husband, who isn't a southerner - he's from Oregon, has to put sugar on them before he will eat them. I can't even bear to watch it. I agree with your husband.
Kyfriedchick, my mom used to hoard bacon grease while we were growing up. Even then, I never knew why we needed to keep cans of it in the kitchen. That was disgusting. I still like the taste of things cooked in bacon grease, but I don't keep cans of it!
My granny & mammaw kept cans of it as well. Big ol' Crisco cans full of bacon grease. And they used it for EVERYTHING. Corn bread, fried taters, green beans... oh and of course, lettuce & green onions! I LOVE lettuce & green onions with fresh bacon grease poured over them! I haven't had it in years though...
Tammy... I have never heard of Sin dessert. How in the world do you make it? Now that I look at the way you described it, it sounds like my aunt's fluff... with marshmellows in it too.
I'm anxious to hear about the sweet potatoes with bananas as well.
Nemesis... what part of Kentucky are you from? I'm with ya... I am cutting back on normal foods so that I won't feel so limited and rebel. And I *only* exercise in private -- usually with my daughter by my side. You don't know how often I was told growing up not to sweat in public. LOL I couldn't figure out how to STOP sweating.
Wow! A group just for me. I'm a total southern chick who's totally used to fried food, delicious carbs, and oh man, pie. I think the only healthy southern food I eat is like... Blue crab... And ****, thats usually doused in butter and worcheshire sauce. My thanksgiving was actually pretty decent since I went up to Virgina for thanksgiving and we had all that northern healthy food. Southern food is so incredibly delicious... Why am I dieting again?!
LMAO....alright, alright....my sweet potato with bananas, honey, and pecans were actually something new this year for me. I'm trying out new recipes every so often, and saw this one on the Food Network channel...link is included below....my overall impression of this was you could definitely taste the bananas in this, plus it was almost too rich in the taste, so be sure you serve yourself a little portion of this at first. Definitely a keeper though!
kyfriedchick: I'm currently in Elsmere, which is about 10 mins outside of Cinncinnati, Ohio over the border. There is a town way down south of me where I am literally related to every single person....trust me, dating is SO not an option...LOL
Sweet Potatoes with Honey, Pecans, and Bananas
You can roast the potatoes and bananas ahead of time, then put it all together just before serving. Then heat it up in the oven.
5 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
4 bananas, unpeeled
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
Kosher salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, put them in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes. Toss the bananas into the pan and continue roasting for 10 to 15 minutes, until both the bananas and potatoes are very soft. Remove the pan from the oven but don't turn the oven off.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl. Peel the bananas and add them to the bowl along with 1 stick of the butter, and the honey. Season with salt and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until everything's well combined and the mixture is fluffy. Spoon into an oven-proof serving bowl and smooth the top. In a separate mixing bowl, use your fingers to rub together the remaining stick of butter, the brown sugar, flour, and pecans until the mixture is the consistency of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the sweet potatoes and return to the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the crumbs are golden. Serve hot.
Wow... I'll definitely have to try that. It sounds wonderful.
I had a horrible day, y'all... seriously. I overdid the eating & haven't worked out yet & don't think I'm going too tonight. I didn't sleep well last night & am exhausted... hey, I just had a thought. (Could you see the lightbulb go off right then?) That could've been part of my reason for messing up so badly today... not sleeping well last night? True? Okay okay... no... it was me. It was all me. Let me show you what I ate... which was a considerably less amount that what I ate before changing my eating habits.
Bfast -- two hardboiled eggs -- had to have protein or else I eat all day long,
two cups of coffee
Drank water all day
Lunch -- went to Golden Corral with the boss man -- ate small'ish salad -- about a half cup lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers; two or three bites of chicken noodle soup; hamburger patty -- plain, no bun, no condiments, no cheese; ten or twelve shoestring fries; a tablespoon of stuffing; plain baked sweet potato; a roll; a cup of broccoli with a teaspoon of melted cheese; and a tiny slice of new york cheesecake; 1 1/2 diet pepsis
Had vowed not to eat anymore the rest of the day because that consumed all of my calories for the day, I'm sure. Took the kids to the in-laws so that I could go to class & SMIL (step mother in law) said "Stop & get pizzas on the way back & we'll have pizza since you didn't eat with us on T'giving." GRRRR... so I did. I had two slices of pepperoni pizza and one piece of cheese bread from Little Caesars.
Okay... so seeing it all written down it doesn't look as bad as what I had myself convinced that it looked like but I still hate that I ate that much. I know... tomorrow is a new day & I'll do better. I know that... I just hate that I messed up!!
G.R.I.T.S. ----->Girls Raised in the South
And dessert was always around at my mammaw's house.. usually some kind of cake that she baked with jello or ice cream. But, it's a learning experience. 
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. My husband, who isn't a southerner - he's from Oregon, has to put sugar on them before he will eat them. I can't even bear to watch it. I agree with your husband. 
