A different Thanksgiving

 

This is my Thanksgiving Meal.

What's missing??

Yup. No Turkey.

There are 3 people in this house that eat meat, one of those BARELY does, so why should I buy a 12lbs turkey to over stuff ourselves? I shouldn't. One of the people in my house is a vegetarian, so why have a Turkey when we can join him for day? Another reason is that I ran a 5k this morning! Luckily everyone in the house had no issue with going vegetarian for this Thanksgiving day. Honestly, it's kind of nice. I do like turkey, and the one I make for Christmas will be even better. 

I wanted to share what I made for my Thanksgiving meal.

 

The "main dish" was Macaroni & Brie. This was posted on Facebook by my friend Serge. I worked with him back at MindSpring - back in the day - he's definitely a foodie and we seem to have similar tastes. It was a pretty easy recipe and I used some skills I hadn't used in years, such as making a roux and a bechamel sauce (sorry, I can't make the accent). 

I also made a wild rice dish suggested by a local veterinarian friend (she has her own blog -- http://veteranveterinarian.blogspot.com/ ) who took care of our sweet Pixie. It is a lemon infused rice dish. I used a rice mix from the new coop that included wild rice along with other varieties. I will admit I am not a huge fan of lemon flavors BUT it was the perfect compliment to the other dishes. It was like a refreshing change from the other dishes. It's pretty simple -

Lemon Pecan Wild Rice

3 cups chicken broth (I used vegetable Broth)
1 cup uncooked wild rice (I used the rice mix)
1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1) In a large saucepan, bring the broth, rice and butter to a boil.
2) Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes or until rice
is tender.
3) Stir in the onions, parsley, lemon peel and juice.
4) Stir in pecans.
5) Chill for 1 hr before serving.

Serves 4-6 

I also made some stuffing -- from a box. As well as the "log" cranberry sauce.

Finally -- Carrots.  I made 2 versions. Herb Roasted -- olive oil, salt & herbs roasted. Very simple. And some "candied" carrots -- 4 tbsp butter mixed with 1/4 cup butter mixed together, poured over the carrots and roasted. This used to be a hit with the kids, but this year -- not so much. 

Oh, and I need to mention that the drink being served to all was sparkling apple cider from Trader Joes. No, the kids did not have wine! 

I had planned rolls, but failed to read the recipe from Cooks Illustrated that included "refrigerate for 24-48 hours" and "let rise for 6-7 hours". Yeah, damn Cooks Illustrated. I knew it couldn't be as easy as it seemed.

I have to admit that I didn't miss the turkey that much and it was really nice to have a "guilt free" Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Menu

So, I have decided what to have.
Here's my menu.
I will give you all an update on Thursday!

Macaroni & Brie (recipe posted by my friend Serge)
Wild Rice (hopefully a recipe courtesy of my veterinarian friend who cared for Pixie cat)
Cranberry Sauce (nothing special here)
Roast Carrots (my standard roasedt root veggie mix)
Stuffing (nothing special)
Rolls (haven't decided on the specifics yet)









It all sounds so good! I can't wait to make it!

Comfort Food and Holiday Ramblings

One of my old standbys, and forgive me if I have posted this before, is roasted vegetables. Total comfort food in the fall. It's my "go to meal" (yes, meal). I just throw in some veggies (usually root vegetables) drizzling some Olive Oil (EVOO, if you may), some kosher salt and toss in some garlic for flavor (sometimes rosemary too). I usually roast carrots, potatoes, onions etc... this way. Roasting them around 375 degrees seems to pull out the sweetness. When the ends turn brown and start to carmelize, you know they are perfect. I also made some butternut squash this way last night and it was so good. I wish I had made more. I seriously couldn't stop eating it. Never thought I would say that about butternut squash.

As I mentioned previously, I haven't really been cooking many new things. My recent meals have been a lot of the same old same old. I love French Onion Soup. And I love Chili. I am hoping as the holiday time arrives, I will add some new recipes to my rotation. And that bring me to this....

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am facing a dilemma. It's just me David & the kids, and one of the kids is a vegetarian, so a "tradional" Thanksgiving meal just doesn't seem appropriate. I have also lost ALMOST 30lbs in the last year and a half (well, if we must be exact, 27), so I don't want to over indulge. Additionally, I am running my second 5k that morning, so coming home to a huge turkey and butter laden foods seem counter productive. We have entertained the idea of going out, but I still want to cook. I was thinking of going vegetarian with our Thanksgiving meal in a way to attempt to eat better. I don't want the Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes (as good as they are, I need to pass on the whole bar of cream cheese, plus a stick of butter) and I definitely don't need a 12lbs turkey.

What should I make?

I was thinking some of the delicious roasted butternut squash that I mentioned above, perhaps some wild rice, some cranberry sauce. Any ideas or suggestions for me? Please share!