Is it too early to talk Thanksgiving?

Gisel2015 wrote: »

Chef_Barbell wrote: »

Gisel2015 wrote: »

Yes, it is too early to talk Thanksgiving, at least in the USA! Let the turkey "live" a little bit longer and don't worry so much about something that it is two months away. Planning is good, over planning...not so much.

It's never too early for pie.

That is if you like and eat pie..

Giggity.

For the past two years, I have stayed under my daily calorie goals on Thanksgiving.

I do not do the traditional turkey dinner. I rarely have, over the years.

This years menu is:

Pan Seared Pork Tenderloin with Root Vegetables
Spinach Salad
Not sure what wine, yet
Pumpkin Pie

This photo was an appetizer, one year. Seared Scallops.

I'm trying to focus less on the food and more on the plan that my son, DIL and grandson are coming for a visit. More of a focus on family and conversation, less on eating so much that I am concerned about the calories. Focusing on being thankful that I even have food to eat. That is how I am approaching the holidays this year.

I'm basically going to quote myself from previous thread where someone else was discussing the upcoming holidays and possible weight gain:

"I looked at my "records" for Halloween to New Year's from last year. I went to two Halloween parties, a Thanksgiving gathering, a Christmas gathering and a New Year's Party. I ate/drank what I wanted on those *five* occasions. I also averaged my calories per week and not by the day (still do), so I was able rearranged/shift my calories around for the parties. I was 18 lbs lighter at the beginning of the new year than I was at Halloween and I didn't feel like I missed out on anything. It's all in the planning. As someone else pointed out, it's not every single day of those few months that you are having to deal with parties/food being thrown at you. Just a handful spread out. Easily balanced if you are just aware and take a moment to plan."

I'll be cooking and will make healthier options, but in general I try and build up a bigger deficit the days prior and just watch my portions the day of.

Nope, not too early. Thanksgiving is over already! (Bwahahah)

I think I am going with a Hawaiian themed Thanksgiving:

Kalua chicken
Spicy ahi poke
Hawaiian sweet rolls
Baked sweet potatoes
Ginger wasabi chips
Some type of green salad to balance out the meal
Fresh pineapple
Hawaiian beer

Passionfruit Island Lava
Salted caramel pie (assuming Fred Meyer is still selling this - only buy at Thanksgiving)
Irish cream on the rocks

The first time I made kalua pork, it was with a proper bone-in pork shoulder cut. It was out of this world delicious. I decided to try it the next time with pork loin because calories. Yeah, that was absolutely nowhere near as good. It was a waste of meat. Now pork is not an option period for this meal (long but doesn't have to do with calories - outside the scope of MFP). I can forget chicken breast, will dry out and not be as flavorful because it is basically the same as pork loin in terms of fat/connective tissue content. Bone-in chicken thighs though should be able to stand up to the long cooking time, be moist and flavorful.

I've made spicy ahi poke with ff mayo before. It tastes the same to me because a lot of the flavor is coming from the sriracha and sesame seed oil, not the mayo itself.

Hawaiian sweet rolls, this is what it is. I'll probably make this with half AP/half WWW flour, but otherwise, keeping to the recipe.

The baked sweet potatoes are going to be just pressure cooked in the IP and served with kosher salt and butter (both regular and ICBIINB Light). These are not going to be candied or covered in marshmallows or whatever.

Island Lava is so, so good. Going to splurge and pay the outrageous price to get it shipped to me if the Hawaiian store a few towns over does not have it.

This is my fourth weight loss maintenance Thanksgiving. Planning on again not calorie counting, but making sure I get in my 10k steps (probably will do this first thing in the morning). Assuming I even want to eat the next day, back to the old grind. NBD.

This is a recipe for loaded potato bites. They're the size of a golf ball. Even though the recipe is vegan you could easily just make it with traditional ingredients. Out of all the appetizer recipes I've made lately this is one of the lower calorie options per serving.
https://richbitchcooking.wordpress.com/2016/12/03/6-vegan-appetizers-for-parties-potlucks-holidays/