What are all of you US chickies making for Thanksgiving?? Traditional, New, Cutting back on the BAD stuff? Just wondering....

Me I am going new, I think some kind of fish & veggies for me and DH & Sis requested Shepards pie of all things. They are quite sick of turkey. Chocolate covered strawberries, A big spinach salad, and wine

So what is everyone else thinking of making???

Remember to remove the rubber boots before you cut up the shepherd.

I always try to follow whatever healthy eating plan that I am doing for the holidays....no one really ever figures it out.

I converted a traditional Turkey dinner to be more Low carb by removing the stuffing from the turkey, brining it to remove the need for gravy. I roasted veggies and red potatos and then made mashed butternut squash instead of yams with sweetner, butter and cinnamon. I always think outside the dots and most guests have enjoyed the alternative menus!!!

rb

Oh, Ruth.

I LOVE Shepherds Pie, Sflake. I bet it's a dish you can actually make, huh?

Yes sweetie it is one of the few I have in my repertoire

My hubby and I are going on a another ski trip with our club for Thanksgiving.
The hotel in Switzerland is making a traditional American turkey dinner. Great - my anxiety is going up already.
Just how does anyone get through the holiday season without hiding in their house the while time?

GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!


That used to be waht I did at the Thanksgiving table!!

This year I have NO idea what I am going to make, but I am going to have fun looking at some recipes and trying something new and decadent for dessert.

NIBBLE NIBBLE NIBBLE!

ME

We have a big Thanksgiving Dinner in our clubhouse. Many people roast turkeys, stuffing is made separately in the CH kitchen as is the gravy. We sign up in tables of 12, and then each table brings what they want for the rest of the meal. I usually get to make dessert, and I always make sugarfree pies, apple and pumpkin. Since some other people at our table are dieting too, I imagine we will have things that can generally be OP.
so I'll try not to be too otherwise I'll just have to exercise like crazy once the meal is over. Probably I'll be too full and just want to nap. But will try to be very good:: Lizzie

Another trick that I do is have one thing that is traditional so that people don't feel that bad, so maybe I will make stuffing on the side or mashed potatoes etc. Again, most people are wanting to eat healthy and don't want to go into a food coma these days anyhow....

I would love to hear about the SBD cooking guide, and I will try and keep up on the daily dish posts, I am sure they will have lots of holiday tips in threre.

rb

I found a recipe at Foodnetwork.com for a lower carb stuffing/dressing. I haven't tried it yet, so I can not personally verify whether I think it is a good recipe or not, but I am planning on trying it out for Thanksgiving. Since I can't figure out how to paste a link in here. I will paste and cut it to the recipe section. Otherwise, you can find it at Foodnetwork.com and click on the turkey header at the top, then choose low carb menu towards the mid-bottom of the page. It is then listed as Savory Mushroom Dressing. They had some other dishes listed in this section as well, but the dressing appealed to me the most.

We are having traditional dinner, but I was asked to make a veggie dish of some sort to go with dinner, that does not include the raw veggies n' dip at the snack table. YES, we have a snack table along with dinner!!!!

That is a first in general for our family (the veggie at the traditional dinner that is) .

I was thinking dbf and I should go with a few healthier choices for just the both of us, but I don't know how to do it without offending people so I might just slack that day a little but avoid the dinner rolls and frankenfoods that arrive.

Hopefully I have the willpower!

SkinnyDogMom, here is the recipe. I don't know where to find 'reduced carb WHITE bread', though, unless we eat Atkins bread from the health food store. It does make good toast!

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 45 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour
Inactive Prep Time: 15 minutes Yield: 8 servings
8 slices reduced-carbohydrate white bread, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms, such as cremini and shiitake
2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 shallots, sliced
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1/4 cup Cognac, or other brandy
2 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs, beaten
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Trim the dry part from the bottom of the cremini stem and quarter. Stem and quarter the shiitakes. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and rosemary and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften and brown, about 25 minutes. Add an additional tablespoon of butter, if needed, to prevent sticking. Carefully add the Cognac (if working over gas, pull the skillet from the heat), and simmer until the liquid is slightly syrupy. Stir in the chicken broth and salt and bring to a simmer.

Whisk the cream, eggs, and pepper, to taste, in a large bowl. Add the bread, mushroom mixture, and parsley and toss until the bread is moistened. Transfer the dressing to a buttered 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Bake, uncovered, until the dressing sets and the top browns, about 1 hour. Let dressing sit for 15 minutes before serving.

I am worried about staying OP in winter. Summer is easy - I cook on the grill nearly every night, and I eat lots of fresh produce. But winter - ugh! I mean, how much soup and chili can you stand???? How many hard orange tomatos? I think it's gonna be a real challenge, especially when you throw the Holidays in there too.

Anyone else worried? I think we all need to post some recipes that are good for winter, if we have any. Or maybe do some experimenting and see if we can come up with some new stuff.

I am worried about/wondering what to substitute for:

Christmas cookies/candy
Sweet potato/pumpkin pie
stuffing in the turkey
breads, like cranberry-nut bread and banana bread
my famous brown sugar honey ham (said to be the best in the world, lol!)

Maybe we could start a new thread on the recipe boards just for Holiday food????

I'm concerned also. I'm the one who always makes the really good thanksgiving dinner using several pounds of real butter plus all the baked items, pies, breads etc.

The son of a friend of ours says, "you can taste the love when Sarah cooks." I laughed and told him, "No, that's not the love you're tasting, it's the butter, sugar and bacon"

I've read where a lot of people stumble during the holidays and how in winter we tend to hibernate like bears and put on the weight due to increased food consumption and decreased activities. Oh, well. We know it's a possibility and we will do what we need to do to stop it from happening.

I think some of the bread recipes could be converted to more healthy things-half the flour could be whole wheat, you can cut the sugar by half in many recipes without affecting taste much.

Stuffing can be whole wheat bread with more vegetables and hmmm, what to replace the fat with....?

We can find dessert recipes from cultures who don't use as much sugar as ours, I'll keep my eyes open for them. Splenda does cook really well.

I was thinking that I could make a ham. I could separate it into two sections and glaze part of it with brown sugar and part with the Sugar Twin Brown Sugar substitute.

I normally fix a turkey for Thanksgiving too. I already use whole wheat bread for the stuffing, and the broth that goes in it is okay but I would have to use a substitute for the butter that the apples, celery and onions saute in. Perhaps Smart Balance or a similar product.

I plan to be very motivated to watch what I eat and cook during the holidays since my doctor has already said she wants to recheck my cholesterol in January to see if the holidays have caused it to rise.

I would love it if we could get a separate section for holiday recipes but if not, we can easily post them wherever they would fit best. I love altering recipes and I know I could alter my grandma's stuffing recipe.