Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope your Thanksgiving is great!  I will be spending time with Ken, the kids and Ken's coworkers.  

Get out after dinner for a walk {I know we will}, and remember, moderation when it comes to dinner {and especially dessert}

Thanksgiving

Here are the recipes I plan on using for my Thanksgiving dinner.  

Main

Meatloaf

I'm altering Martha Stewart's All-American Meatloaf to be vegetarian.  

 

Photo from:  Martha Stewart

Ingredients

3 slices reduced calorie wheat bread

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1 celery stalk, roughly chopped

1 onion, quartered

2 garlic cloves, peeled

.5 cup tomato sauce

3 {12 oz} bags of veggie meat (thawed)

2 t dry mustard

1/2 cup egg substitute (equivilent to 2 eggs)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 and spray a 9x5 loaf pan with pan spray
2. Process bread in food processor.  Place in mixing bowl
3. Process carrots, celery, onion, and garlic until they are minced.  Add to mixing bowl
4. Add ketchup, dry mustard, veggie meat, and eggs.  Mix with your hands until everything is mixed tgether. 
5. Bake for 35 minutes.

Sides

Peas and green beans with sauteed mushrooms and pearl onions
Ingredients
16 oz frozen peas
16 oz frozen green beans
16-24 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 bag pearl onions

Directions

1. Saute mushrooms until soft, set aside
2. Cook peas and green beans according to package directions.  Add pearl onions into one of the vegetables
3. Toss everything together.

Mashed potatoes
1 lb of potatoes per person
Sour cream
Skim milk

Directions

1. Boil and mash potatoes as you normally would
2. Use sour cream in place of the butter normally used and use skim milk instead of whole milk or cream

Mashed sweet potatoes
{Follow same directions as with the mashed potatoes}

Gravy
There are 2 ways to do your gravy.  They are both super simple and easy
For both recipes
16 oz mushrooms, sliced
1-2 onions, diced
2 cloves of garlic, either minced, or sliced

Directions

1. Saute onions, mushrooms and garlic until the vegetables are soft, and the onion is translucent

#1
Ingredients
Vegetable broth
Cornstarch 
Water

Directions

1. Bring desired amount of broth to a boil
2. In a seperate bowl mix together 1 T cornstarch and 1 T water per cup of broth
3. Whisk cornstarch slurry into broth, bring back to a boil and simmer until thickened.  If it isn't as thick as you'd like it then mix together another tablespoon cornstarch with a tablespoon water and whisk in.  
4. Mix in mushroom, onion mixture

#2

Ingredients

Lipton Mushroom Onion Soup Mix

Directions

1. Follow directions on box.
2. Add in mushrooms and onions

Stuffing

Ingredients

Approx. 18 slices of bread, cubed
1 cup of onions, diced

2 cups of celery, sliced small

1/2 lb of (veggie) sausage [optional]

1 T poultry seasoning

1 T ground sage

1/2 cup egg substitute

1 cup veggie broth 

Directions

1. Sautee onions and celery until soft (if you're using regular non-vegetarian sausage you want to cook it too at this point)
2. Place all ingredients in a big bowl and mix together (use your hands, it works the best.  Don't be afraid to get messy!)
3. Place in a baking pan and cover with tin foil. 
4. Put into a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes
5. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.

Dessert

Pumpkin Cheesecake

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/almost-famous-pumpkin-cheesecake-recipe2/index.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-cheesecake-recipe/index.html

I'm sorry I didn't give you more definate measurements.  The measurements will honestly depend on how many people you are cooking for.  If you need help deciding how much to make here are a few good links.  

Hufffington Post
Foodista
Cooking For Dummies

Happy Thanksgiving!

I saw on Facebook that many people were doing something that they are thankful for every day this month.  I decided that since today is Thanksgiving I'd post them all today.

 

 1.  My Kids 

I love them and I couldn't imagine life without them

2.  My wonderful husband

Like I've said a million times.  He's my biggest supporter and my best friend

3.  My Family

I love them, they rock.  There's just no words (or way too many words) to describe how thankful I am for them

4.  My Health
I have amazed myself this year by the things my body can do.   

5.My Education

I love the I have the opportunity to go back to school to pursue a career in something that I love

6.  Food
I love food.  I love to cook it AND eat it.  But more importantly, I am thankful that I have it. 
 

7.  Friends
My friends have helped me through some rough times.  I am so thankful I have them in my life.  They may be 1000's of miles away but, they're still close to my heart

8.  Florida Winters

 I love the fact that the lowest temps are usually around 50.  My body cannot deal with cold temperatures anymore.  I'm thankful I don't have to deal with snow and extreme cold anymore. 

9.  Goals 
I believe that goals are what keep you going sometimes.  I'm thankful to have quite a few to keep me going.

10.  PB2
I couldn't live without peanut butter.  This stuff is a god send with only 1.5 grams of fat per serving.  You can learn more about it HERE 

 11.  Farmers Market
Where else can I feed a family of 5 for roughly $20 a week?  Not the grocery store!  Plus I get local produce and help the local economy.  The farmers market is good for the wallet, good for the waistline and good for the soul.
  

12.  Beach

It's my zen place, it's my gym, it's my playground,it's just plan GORGEOUS.  I'm so thankful I get to live near it and see it every day.

13.  Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

 I absolutely couldn't live without my fresh fruits and veggies.  I'm so thankful that they're available year round

14.  Mio
I love Mio.  It keeps me away from soda 99% of the time.  Find out more about it HERE

15.  Korean Food
I could move to Korea and be perfectly happy.  I love Mr. Amazing for introducing me to it.
 

16.  Monster
I drink this instead of coffee.  I couldn't wake up in the morning without it.

17.  Mr. Amazing's Job
Jobs = Money.

18.  My Car
It gets Mr. Amazing to work and gets us from one place to the other.  My car isn't the most awesome thing but I love it because it does what I need it to do.

19.  Social Media
I couldn't keep up with most of my friends in Virginia without Facebook.

20.  Calculators

They make math class so much easier.
21.  Coats
Winter would be awful without one

22.  My house

I love my house.  It's perfect.  But mostly I'm thankful that I have a house.  There are so many people in this world that don't have a place to live.

Fat Free Thanksgiving Menu

The countdown to Thanksgiving begins!  Since I know people are starting to figure out Thanksgiving dinner I'm going to give you my Thanksgiving menu.  I still need to run the calories on these since one of my goals is for Thanksgiving dinner to be under 500 calories.  I'm not 100% certain if I'll make it but I think I might be close. 

Main Dish (Meat)  
 Turkey Roulade stuffed with homemade stuffing
(Courtesy of Publix FamilyStyle Magazine)

Ingredients

Approx 2 cups stuffing
2 (1.5 lb) boneless turkey breasts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Butterfly turkey breast (follow the instructions from the top picture above)
3. Remove the plastic wrap and spread half the stuffing on each of the turkey breasts.  Make sure to leave space on either side of the breast.
4. Roll it up starting with the long end.  Make sure the skin is on top when you end
5. Tie with kitchen twine every 2 inches
6. Brush with melted butter, or olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
7. Place on a shallow baking pan and cook for 45 - 55 minutes until the internal temperature is 165 degrees (use a meat thermometer for this)
8. Take it out of the oven and cover loosely with tin foil and let it rest for 15 minutes.
9. Remove twine before serving.

Main Dish (Vegetarian)

 

 Butternut Squash with Wilted Spinach and Blue Cheese

{My alteration:  I'm going to add sweet potatoes and acorn squash to it and use fat free feta instead of blue cheese}

Sides 

Mashed Potatoes

{Boil a few pounds of potatoes until soft, drain then return to pan.  Use a potato masher to mash, add fat free sour cream and skim milk to the potatoes and continue mashing until smooth and creamy} 

               

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

{Follow the same directions as the previous recipe except substitute sweet potatoes for the white potatoes}

Gravy

Ingredients

4 cups fat free vegetable broth

1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions

1. Bring 3 1/2 cups of broth to a boil in a medium saucepan
2. In a seperate bowl mix together remaining 1/2 cup of broth and cornstarch
3. Add cornstarch mixture to saucepan and stir continuously until it comes back to a boil.
4. Reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Potato Rolls  

I'm using this recipe for the bread for my stuffing also.  

I'm going to substitute cream cheese for the butter 

 Green Beans with Mushrooms and Onions

I'm not a fan of green bean casserole so, this is a perfect substitute for my table

            
Stuffing
This is my mom's recipe.  I've used it the past few years.  I love this stuffing.  I normally double (or triple) it because Kay could eat a whole pan of it by herself.  I've altered it slightly to be vegetarian.  You can substitute the veggie sausage for regular, the egg substitute for 2 eggs, and the vegetable broth for chicken or turkey broth.  I'm also using the same bread I'm making the rolls with for it.

Ingredients

Approx. 18 slices of bread, cubed
1 cup of onions, diced

2 cups of celery, sliced small

1/2 lb of (veggie) sausage [optional]

1 T poultry seasoning

1 T ground sage

1/2 cup egg substitute

1 cup veggie broth 

Directions

1. Sautee onions and celery until soft (if you're using regular non-vegetarian sausage you want to cook it too at this point)
2. Place all ingredients in a big bowl and mix together (use your hands, it works the best.  Don't be afraid to get messy!)
3. Place in a baking pan and cover with tin foil. 
4. Put into a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes
5. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.

Brussel Sprouts
Here's a great link on prepping brussel sprouts: VeganYumYum

Ingredients

Brussel Sprouts (however many you want to cook is up to you)
Garlic (to taste)
Pan Spray

Directions

1. Trim and cut your sprouts
2. Heat oven to 400 degrees
3. Lay out a sheet of tin foil large enough to hold all the sprouts and spray with pan spray
4. In a separate bowl toss the brussel sprouts with garlic
5. Place sprouts in the middle of the foil and spray with more pan spray
6. Fold tin foil around sprouts and fold closed so no steam can escape
7. Place in oven and bake for 35-50 minutes until soft.

Dessert 

Pumpkin Cheesecake
{Alterations:  I'm not putting a crust on it.  I'm using fat free cream cheese and sour cream instead of full fat and I'm going to use egg substitute instead of actual eggs.}