The aim of the whole week is to save enough room in your belly for Sunday. Thanksgiving - a meal that you may think is difficult to tackle but if you are ok with not making every little thing from scratch (and quite frankly I like the taste of Stove Top Stuffing...) then it's actually pretty straight-forward -especially with all my mom's great tips below - so invite some friends and family over - unless you have a really new born baby, in which case, be nice to everyone this week and see if you get an invitation to someone else's dinner (although note, not mine, we're already full up!).
And at the risk of sounding overly sappy, I just want to declare officially that this whole week will be about me thinking about - and maybe randomly proclaiming - how thankful I am for Archer (and trying not to start balling uncontrollably when doing so). He was a little miracle that we thought would never happen and now we can't imagine what life would be like without him. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Monday - Chicken soup
Tuesday - Stirfry of your choice –beef pork tofu etc
Wednesday - bs chicken breasts sautéed in a small amt of butter & oil then pour some balsamic vinegar over to glaze them – don’t overcook. Serve with spinach & br rice
Thursday - order in/eat-out
Friday - Family may invite you for dinner if they are visiting for Thanksgiving. If not you may want to do a ready made pizza or similar if you are cooking a big dinner on the weekend
Saturday - Veg chilli (St Ives mock beef)
S Thanksgiving dinner as follows:
Turkey (some may choose to use the President's Choice frozen stuffed turkey which my mom has heard good things about; if you're buying frozen and big, you pretty much have to start defrosting tomorrow and if you're ordering fresh, order it at your butcher tomorrow)
Stuffing
Gravy
Cranberry sauce - I use the canned stuff – we seem to prefer it
Mashed potatoes
Green bean casserole
Another veg - Frozen mixed is easiest but carrots & honey & butter is nice -your choice
Perogies ( for the Ukrainians or Ukranian wanna-bes)
Pumpkin pie & whipped cream
Stuffing: Sautee chopped onion & celery in butter. Pour into bowl that has a box of seasoned stuffing (Such as Brownberry). Add enough warmed chicken broth to make it mushy but not too wet). You can make this the day before , refridgerate until 1 hr before stuffing. As soon as the turkey is stuffed it must go into the oven . Follow direction for roasting the turkey from a cookbook or the internet regarding temps & time. I like to chop another onion coarsely , put in the pan & put the turkey over it. I also keep adding broth to the pan so that there is about ½ in of liquid at all times. This is the base for your gravy. When turkey is done, transfer to a cookie sheet or large cutting board & cover loosely with tinfoil. Let it rest for at least 20 before carving.
Now make the gravy. Put pan with liquid on stove top & bring to a boil. Turn heat down to simmer, loosening all the bits in the pan. Mix more broth ( cold) with flour ) about 2 c. broth & ¼ c flour til smooth & pour into simmering liquid. Stir til thickened & then strain & pour into smaller pot. Reheat when using. Don’t forget to season.
The mashed potatoes could be done in the morning & reheated in oven later.
Green Bean Casserole (corny but a fam tradition for us) 1 c. French style green beans drained1 c.French’s French fried onions (these are cans not cups)1 c. cream of mushroom soup; Dash worchestershire sauce; Combine the beans, soup , w sauce & ½ the onions crumbled. Pour into buttered casserole Sprinkle remaining onions on top & bake @ 350 til bubbling. This recipe can be doubled.
I’d say buy the pie this yr but use freshly whipped cream to cover the pie with. Can do this the day before.
Grocery List
Turkey
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 chicken cut up
Meat or tofu for stirfry
St Ives ground round
1 c kidney beans
1 c other beans
1 lge c tomatoes or tomato sauce
French’s fr fried onions
Br rice
Chilli pwdr
1 pkg Brownberry sage stuffing mis ( or sim)
1 c cranberry sauce
Worch…sauce
1 c Fr style green beans
1 c. cr mushroom soup
Ingredients for corn casserole
3 litres chicken broth
Soy sauce
Celery
Onions
Spinach
Carrots or other veg
Cabbage
Whipping cream
Pumpkin pie
And at the risk of sounding overly sappy, I just want to declare officially that this whole week will be about me thinking about - and maybe randomly proclaiming - how thankful I am for Archer (and trying not to start balling uncontrollably when doing so). He was a little miracle that we thought would never happen and now we can't imagine what life would be like without him. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Monday - Chicken soup
Tuesday - Stirfry of your choice –beef pork tofu etc
Wednesday - bs chicken breasts sautéed in a small amt of butter & oil then pour some balsamic vinegar over to glaze them – don’t overcook. Serve with spinach & br rice
Thursday - order in/eat-out
Friday - Family may invite you for dinner if they are visiting for Thanksgiving. If not you may want to do a ready made pizza or similar if you are cooking a big dinner on the weekend
Saturday - Veg chilli (St Ives mock beef)
S Thanksgiving dinner as follows:
Turkey (some may choose to use the President's Choice frozen stuffed turkey which my mom has heard good things about; if you're buying frozen and big, you pretty much have to start defrosting tomorrow and if you're ordering fresh, order it at your butcher tomorrow)
Stuffing
Gravy
Cranberry sauce - I use the canned stuff – we seem to prefer it
Mashed potatoes
Green bean casserole
Another veg - Frozen mixed is easiest but carrots & honey & butter is nice -your choice
Perogies ( for the Ukrainians or Ukranian wanna-bes)
Pumpkin pie & whipped cream
Stuffing: Sautee chopped onion & celery in butter. Pour into bowl that has a box of seasoned stuffing (Such as Brownberry). Add enough warmed chicken broth to make it mushy but not too wet). You can make this the day before , refridgerate until 1 hr before stuffing. As soon as the turkey is stuffed it must go into the oven . Follow direction for roasting the turkey from a cookbook or the internet regarding temps & time. I like to chop another onion coarsely , put in the pan & put the turkey over it. I also keep adding broth to the pan so that there is about ½ in of liquid at all times. This is the base for your gravy. When turkey is done, transfer to a cookie sheet or large cutting board & cover loosely with tinfoil. Let it rest for at least 20 before carving.
Now make the gravy. Put pan with liquid on stove top & bring to a boil. Turn heat down to simmer, loosening all the bits in the pan. Mix more broth ( cold) with flour ) about 2 c. broth & ¼ c flour til smooth & pour into simmering liquid. Stir til thickened & then strain & pour into smaller pot. Reheat when using. Don’t forget to season.
The mashed potatoes could be done in the morning & reheated in oven later.
Green Bean Casserole (corny but a fam tradition for us) 1 c. French style green beans drained1 c.French’s French fried onions (these are cans not cups)1 c. cream of mushroom soup; Dash worchestershire sauce; Combine the beans, soup , w sauce & ½ the onions crumbled. Pour into buttered casserole Sprinkle remaining onions on top & bake @ 350 til bubbling. This recipe can be doubled.
I’d say buy the pie this yr but use freshly whipped cream to cover the pie with. Can do this the day before.
Grocery List
Turkey
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 chicken cut up
Meat or tofu for stirfry
St Ives ground round
1 c kidney beans
1 c other beans
1 lge c tomatoes or tomato sauce
French’s fr fried onions
Br rice
Chilli pwdr
1 pkg Brownberry sage stuffing mis ( or sim)
1 c cranberry sauce
Worch…sauce
1 c Fr style green beans
1 c. cr mushroom soup
Ingredients for corn casserole
3 litres chicken broth
Soy sauce
Celery
Onions
Spinach
Carrots or other veg
Cabbage
Whipping cream
Pumpkin pie
The photo is beautiful. I one of Myron and Marika that is very similar and it's still on display. Have a beautiful Thanksgiving!!
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