Thanksgiving - is anyone going to try staying clean?

[JellyBean32882]

I'd like to make a kickin' meatloaf, but my mother gags to onions and garlic and basically anything in a meatloaf. Oh well.

[cottagebythesea]

I'm going to give Ruth her first taste of Tofurkey.

[weezle]

OOOOHH!!!! Make sure to take pictures, cottage!!!!!

[weebleswobble]

Originally Posted by CyndiM

Thanks Weebles! I make pretty good sausage with gluten but haven't tried mace. I'll pick some up this weekend and give it a try.
I but Unsweetened Vanilla Galaxy Granola. Apparently they bake it in applesauce which makes me curious. Might have to experiment.

I'm sure my crazy scientist way of cooking might drive you nuts, but here's what I do....

I set aside everything I want in my granola...like
oatmeal
flax seed
wheat germ
sunflower seeds
sesame seeds
walnuts
almonds

I take a mixing bowl and mix the "flavoring"...it's going to be strong, that's ok. make it what you like.
cinnamon
nutmeg
splenda (I use the packets because I'm cheap and I'm not using it for volume)
vanilla

then whisk in the glue...egg whites! That's what's going to make the cinnamon-sweet taste stick to the granola, and what's going to make it CLUMP!

What works the best for me is to take the dry ingredients and put them in a big lidded container, like a stock pot. Then, I take the eggy flavor mix, and pour it through the dry ingredients, shaking until it's all damp. If the proportions aren't right, you can always add wet to dry, but you can't take it out.

Then, I put the granola in pyrex pans an hour or more (until crispy) at about 375-400, turning with a spatula when I notice it's getting golden brown. The smell is wonderful.

This is SO CHEAP, very low fat, and you're in control of the funny chemicals...and the egg whites make the granola clump just like sugar does...I swear, my kids don't notice the difference!!!

You should probably keep it in the fridge. I usually keep it in an oatmeal canister in the cupboard (it seems to be the same makeup as a cookie, so I don't see why it should not be kept in a cupboard, but I would tell you to keep it in a fridge).

[CyndiM]

ah you cook like I do I will definitely have to try this. I love the Galaxy Granola but it's super expensive.

[beachgal]

Wonderful ideas in here!

A couple reminders:

• Please post recipes in the recipe forum. If you want to put them in a thread, just provide a link to them. That way, once this thread drifts on to the 2nd (or 5th or 12th) page, those great recipes won't be lost.
  [p]
• The Emergency Handbook for the Holidays! thread in the FAQ has links to tons of threads that discuss strategies for getting through the holidays while staying OP. Feel free to add to the thread!
  [p]
• Check out the Holiday recipe threads in the Recipe Forums for tons of great ideas for Thanksgiving and Christmas, along with other holidays.

As for the original post, yes, I definitely plan to have a clean Thanksgiving, and a clean Christmas, too. I realize that some people may feel that it works better for them to go off plan in some ways, but for me, it works best if I stay on plan and find ways to eat SBD-safe food during the holidays. I also work hard on focusing on the things I love about the holidays that aren't food-related (you mean there are fun things during the holidays that don't center on food? Trust me...it took me a long time to realize this was true! ). The one concession I make at Christmas is to use phyllo dough (which is technically a P3 thing), but I used whole wheat phyllo if I can find it.

Here's our traditional Thanksgiving menu since I started SBD. I love it!

• Turkey breast (if it's just us) or regular turkey (if we're with the fam). We brine, use healthy fats, and put the stuffing inside if it's a whole turkey.
• Sourdough Stuffing with Pears and Sausage
• The green bean casserole recipe from the SBD cookbook (or the SBD holiday cookbook...I always forget which one it is!)
• Something creative made from acorn squash (DH usually makes this and it often involves roasting and nuts)
• We usually just avoid potatoes, but if you wanted to have them, you could either use sweet potatoes, or roast little new potatoes (okay about once a month according to the GFGCG) with olive oil and rosemary
• homemade cranberry sauce (DH makes this from fresh cranberries, SF jams/marmalades, fresh oranges/peel, a little SF syrup, and nuts)
• homemade gravy (I sometimes cheat a little and add a wee bit of Wondra flour to make this thicken since I'm gravy-******ed. Sad, but true! )

This is usually wayyyyy more than enough food for us. If we're visiting family, sometimes other things get added in, like a veggie or fruit tray, mixed nuts, and maybe some kind of salad.

For dessert, our tradition is to have this Ginger-Hazelnut Pumpkin Tart. It's divine and I've often had family eat it in place of other offerings, such as cheesecake. I love that other people like it too!

As for granola, I make this recipe: Lisa B.'s Fantastic Granola, SBD Style We got it from the wife of one of Sean's fraternity brothers, and it's truly fantastic, even SBD-ized. She says her husband and his friends eat almost all of it before she can even store it away, and I figure that's a heck of a great endorsement!

[weebleswobble]

Thanks, beachgal. I used to be an admin on a big website...and the most frustrating constant truth was...the newbies never looked at the stickies.

and here I am living proof.

So I've been looking at the stickies today, there's some great stuff there!

Thanks,
Weeb!

[femmecreole]

I don't "stay clean" for either Thanksgiving or Christmas...I'm traditional Creole on those days. (We don't do mashed potatoes and gravy, it's more turkey, stuffed mirletons, stuffed eggplant, cornbread dressing, oyster patties, oyster soup, gumbo, bread pudding, creme brulee etc) BUT I'm in maintainance phase and even when I wasn't, I found I didn't over eat...just a little of this and a little of that and I got full pretty fast. The next day it's back to normal eating. Those are my only 2 really "cheat" days a year and I don't feel the least bit guilty.

[weebleswobble]

Yaay! my parents just called from the all-inclusive resort they are at in Mexico. They would be MORE THAN HAPPY to be on the South Beach diet on Thanksgiving.

Other than maybe having to "cook" a small bowl of instant mashed potatoes for my 15-year-old son (and maybe get him a quarter pie or something from the grocery store) I don't think I will need to COOK off plan at all!

Now all I need to do is practice saying no to all those killer church ladies...and what's worse, it's nearly Christmas.

Yaaaaay!

Weeb

[jandaman]

unfortunately will be skipping thanksgiving this year---i say unfortunately after having read all those mouth-watering suggestions....yummeroonies!

[Lexxiss]

I'm reviving this thread since I'm thinking of Thanksgiving again. I saw a recipe today for a waldorf salad made with greek yogurt. I'm going to use honeycrisps, organic grapes, pecans and serve on a bed of iceberg lettuce.

After my Pumpkin Pie experiment last week, I'm stopping at the restaurant supply tomorrow for individual ramekins. I'm going to skip the crust this year. My samples last week looked so beautiful and were very tasty.

I haven't decided on my main course yet....hmmm

[Heidi58]

The thing I love most about the South Beach Diet is that one meal won't make you or break you......

We have a huge family gathering at our house every Thanksgiving and some travel quite a ways to be here. My parents come up from Massachusetts, my adult children fly home and they're all looking forward to our traditional dishes and desserts. I'll go all out with the cooking and baking to please them and let them know how happy I am that they're here. I get more fun out of feeding them than I do out of eating the stuff myself, anyway.

I'll be sensible about what I eat but I don't expect to stay on plan that day. I'll be right back on phase 2 Friday morning though.