thanksgiving day shortcuts

godblessourhome

what shortcuts do you use to make thanksgiving easier? examples would be buying a pre-cooked spiral-cut ham instead of cooking/cutting it yourself, boxed stuffing instead of drying homemade bread, instant mashed potatoes instead of peeling, dicing, cooking mashing yourself, package mix for gravy instead of making your own rue, cooking the turkey from the frozen state instead of thawing, using cool whip instead of actually whipping heavy cream, etc. how do you balance 'healthy' eating versus 'convenient' shortcuts during the holidays?

trazrene

i don't mean to sound snarky but i try to stay away from as many "conveniences" as possible. they are loaded with extra sodium and chemicals. plus, i get satisfaction when everyone is sitting around like full little turkeys and my cooking did it to them!

christine24t

I don't cook our thanksgiving dinner, but my parents take no shortcuts except for buying brown and serve dinner rolls...and our meal is amazing. Instant potatoes have nothing on homemade mashed. My roommate was just talking about instant potatoes and i was appalled. lol

tmarie2715

Healthy eating and versions of fatty meals is something I'm always thinking about, so I'm going to lighten up everything as much as possible by subbing in milk or light cream for heavy, using almond milk in my sweet potato casserole instead of milk, butter spray or spread instead of real butter.

I usually just spread out the cooking. I'll make cornbread a day or two ahead, boil the sweet potatoes and potatoes ahead of time, and prep dough for the rolls, too. I'll bake the pie the day before. The only thing I want to focus on during the actual day is turkey and popping things in and out of the oven.

sarabell619

My family all kind of split up the meal so I can't speak for everyone else. I allow myself to cheat as much as I want on Thanksgiving and Christmas, then workout in the evening, so I don't worry about it too much. I know I personally don't have the willpower to stay away from all of those favorites on that one day so I know I'll be way over on my calorie count and just accept it.
I make a gluten free pumpkin cake every year (my husband has Celiac disease) and I use a cake mix and canned pumpkin in that, but otherwise I almost only use "fresh" or "real" ingredients. I love to cook though, and I don't have any little ones running around trying to get my attention while I work on it, so I don't expect anyone else in my family to feel the same way.
Enjoy your holiday! =]

bstamps12

I take the shortcut of still going to grandma's house for Thanksgiving :embarassed:

Although this year it looks like my grandpa may be in the hospital for Thanksgiving so we would have dinner at my mom's house, meaning I have to help cook. :grumble: In which case, I'll be taking as many shortcuts as possible short of just buying the entire meal cooked & ready from Kroger.

NoAdditives

I don't use any shortcuts. I find that planning everything ahead of time allows me to have enough time to get everything done. I do my Thanksgiving shopping a few days in advance so that I can brine my turkey, dry my bread, etc. My thanksgiving meal isn't terribly complicated though. I roast a turkey, make delicious cheesy mashed potatoes, sautee green beans, make a yummy leek and celery root stuffing and make a cheesecake from scratch. This year my Dad and Grandmother will be visiting so we'll be having another vegetable side dish (not sure what). My husband takes on a lot of the turkey responsibilities, but other than that I do it all myself. With careful planning I don't have to spend the entire day in the kitchen by myself, there isn't a terribly huge mess, and we're all happy that we get to eat a homemade, healthy meal.

godblessourhome

Although this year it looks like my grandpa may be in the hospital for Thanksgiving so we would have dinner at my mom's house, meaning I have to help cook. :grumble: In which case, I'll be taking as many shortcuts as possible short of just buying the entire meal cooked & ready from Kroger.

we bought everything from costco one year when my dad was in the hospital. everything was great! some things were not how we would have made them (specifically the stuffing), but it was still a good solution for us to have a traditional-type meal.

godblessourhome

shortcuts i am taking this year:

orange juice instead of squeezing the oranges
boxed stuffing (with fresh additions)
instant mashed potatoes from costco (these taste better than 'real' in my opinion)
using jarred alfredo sauce and pre-shredded cheese
canned green beans and canned cream of mushroom soup
frozen cool whip

Meggles63

I can't make gravy to save my life, so I will sub out jarred gravy. Will prolly buy the boxed stuffing, too, but the brined turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie will be homemade.