Thanksgiving Ideas

Fayve

Hi all!

I'm going home to my parent's for thanksgiving on Monday the 10th, and my mother is super supportive of my efforts to eat more natural foods, and less fat/sugar/high calorie foods. She thought that since we didn't have any formal plans for thanksgiving yet, we could try and take a different approach from the roast turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing lathered in gravy.

We're going to go out and look for an organic chicken or turkey (small) to roast, probably some roasted sweet potatoes instead of mashed potatos. I'm thinking of some sort of "natural" pumpkin bar with a low-fat cool whip topping.

Any other ideas or recipes that might go along with this theme? I was also thinking maybe some butternut squash puree, and maybe asparagus? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - the lower calorie/more natural the better. I'm not afraid of a little preparation when it comes to the food either (we're considering making a pumpkin dessert by roasting raw pumpkin, and starting that way, but not sure yet). I imagine we'll omit the gravy, or at least I will.

Thanks in advance!

NoAdditives

Honestly, Thanksgiving isn't all that terrible for you as long as you don't overdo it. I've been doing Thanksgiving dinner for about three years now and it's always amazing. I roast a turkey with a little butter and a lot of herbs stuffed under the skin. I make a super delicious stuffing with whole wheat French bread, leeks, walnuts, and celery root. I steam green beans and then lightly sautee them with butter, garlic and salt and pepper. I make my secret cheesy mashed potatoes which really is the only high calorie part of the meal, but they're so worth it! They really are to die for. And I make yummy cranberries with orange and cinnamon. When it's just my husband, me and our kids I don't even make a dessert. This year my Dad and Grammy are coming to visit so I have to make it a little more special. I'll be making individual regular and pumpkin cheesecakes, but an apple crumble would be healthier and in my opinion, yummier. But that's only because I crave baked apple desserts when I'm pregnant. (Seriously.)

So there's really not much you have to change in order to make Thanksgiving healthy. The potatoes are the biggest thing. And, Cool Whip isn't natural or healthy.

quietlywinning

Think veggies, veggies, veggies! I have a tendency to go overboard on the food because it is so much fun!

Our typical Thanksgiving day menu, now that it is just me and the kids, is a whole turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes that are whipped with fat free chicken broth rather than with milk and butter, broccoli, cauliflower, raw veggies to munch on, pickles, and cottage cheese that we top with fresh pineapple. When dinner is over, I pick the turkey off the bones and freeze most of the meat, leaving a little for the next day or two, then boil the carcass to make broth that I also freeze for later. I get a large package of mushrooms and fill those with stuffing and bake them for a meal the next day, and freeze the mashed potatoes to make potato soup later. The rest of the leftovers get pulled out for the day after, along with a little of the meat and the stuffed mushrooms.

We skip dessert since we realized we're never hungry for it after dinner, anyway.

tanyaMax

BUMP

Pockyjo

I usually cook thanksgiving and also have been trying to find recipies with a healthier alternative. I came across a cranberry sauce on the trivia website. I haven't made it yet but can beat 10 cal a serving.


2 cups cranberries, washed
½ tsp cinnamon
¾ cup water
3½ tbsp Truvia® natural sweetener spoonable*

* or 12 packets Truvia® natural sweetener


1. Assemble all ingredients.
2. Place cranberries in cooking kettle; add Truvia® natural sweetener, cinnamon and water; cook over medium heat for 25 minutes; stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat; allow to cool for 25 minutes.
4. Transfer into bowl; cover; serve warm or refrigerate.


Calories 10; Total Fat, 0g; Saturated Fat, 0g; Trans Fat, 0g; Cholesterol, 0mg; Sodium, 0mg; Total Carbohydrate, 5g; Dietary Fiber, 1g; Sugars, 0g; Erythritol, 3g: Protein, 0g; Vitamin A, 0% DV; Vitamin C, 4% DV; Calcium, 0% DV; Iron, 0% DV.

LisaMariaCallow

I tried green beans lightly steamed & "sauteed" (no oil!) with slivered almonds with sugar-free apricot preserves last year-it was a much lighter version of the "green bean casserole" and everyone liked it. Just remember this...no one is responsible for what you eat but YOU!! My family does bring the mashed potatoes & heavier sides, but I do the turkey & dressing (I only have 1 small bite as it's a family recipe & so good!) plus mashed yams (with a bit of apple cider & splenda-I top it with chopped walnuts & broil them for a minute to brown them!), plus a HUGE salad. Anyway, hope I gave you some ideas...it's funny because I should ask you for advise-you're the culinary girl!! I just pretend to be!!

Hope you're doing well sweets-btw...did I ever tell you my daughter is a culinary student too?

Lisa :happy:

stroken96

Cauliflower mashed instead of mashed potatoes.
Also check out skinny crock pot for ideas.
They are working on a pumpkin butter