By now you’ve probably put together your Thanksgiving menu. I love this time of the year and am so excited to spend it with my family!
I am not in charge of the meal this year… that goes to my mom; but I was the host last year and managed to put together not only a great tasting meal but also a healthy Thanksgiving meal that even my southern parents loved.
Waiting to dig in!
So just incase you’re still on edge on what to cook here are some of the things I made last year:
Appetizers:
- Pesto crostinis
- Bruschetta crostinis
- Mixed olives and wine
The Big Thanksgiving Dinner
- Baked turkey (of course)
- Orange cranberry sauce
- Short grain, brown rice
- Green beans with an almond topping
- Sweet potatoes
- Stuffing (this was my dad’s contribution and was not clean)
Hummingbird Cake
Putting it all together:
Table set... waiting for food! Menu cards set on each plate!
For the turkey, I found a great recipe from Alton Brown on the Food Network. I had never brined a turkey before but I heard this was the best way to get a juicy baked turkey, so went for it and it turned out amazing! Here’s the recipe.
The cranberry sauce, I love cranberry sauce but I didn’t want to use the gelled canned version, I wanted a 100% homemade. It was really easy and I loved it! But I will say that everyone else thought I could have used less orange. Plus the left overs are awesome over oatmeal!
This recipe is at The Art of Weight Lifting, but I am going to share it here!
The rice, I got from Whole Foods, cooked it up, sauteed garlic and onions and stirred it all together. I topped it off with stirring in some rosemary and thyme.
The sweet potatoes I baked them, cut them all open and drizzled a mix of agave nectar, pecans and cinnamon. A great alternative to the normal casserole we always had in the past.
Hummingbird cake... not too heavy. It proved to be the perfect dessert after a big meal. Great with coffee.
And last… the Hummingbird cake. This was my favorite! It was so clean and light. I enjoyed it for breakfast a few mornings in a row. The recipe is at The Art of Weight Lifting: HummingBird Cake Recipe Here.
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