Our Thanksgiving Menu

Thanksgiving is Thursday — and it’s my most favorite holiday of the entier year!

Yes, even more than Christmas.

I love Thanksgiving food; I love that the holiday is about being thankful, giving back, and not necessarily GETTING anything; I love our Thanksgiving church service; and I love getting together with all our extended family. I have SO many memories of spending all day with cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, etc. We’d eat, play, watch movies, look at the Black Friday ads, eat some more, break out the cards, munch on leftovers… you get the idea.

So much fun!

Well this Thanksgiving, we’re headed to my aunt and uncle’s house with a massive amount of relatives from my mom’s side of the family {I think the count is 48 this year}. Even though we most definitely won’t go hungry, I also wanted a chance to make my own Thanksgiving meal — especially since last year, we ate Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital 🙂

So last week, I shoved a 14 lb. turkey in the oven, made up all our favorite side dishes, and we ate way more than we should have! None of the foods I made were fancy, all of them had simple ingredients, but the meal tasted so good… and it was well worth spending most of the afternoon in my kitchen!

If you’re still wondering what to make for Thursday’s festivities, here are a few “recipes” from my ALL-TIME FAVORITE (and also quite simple) Thanksgiving menu.

Turkey:

We’re traditional, so we always have turkey on Thanksgiving, ham for Christmas and Easter.

I’ve actually cooked many turkeys in my 6 1/2 years of marriage and they’ve all turned out fabulous. I’m fairly  confident it’s because I use these Oven Bags to prevent them from drying out.

Here’s my “recipe”:

• Remove the packaging from the turkey; remove the neck, gizzards, etc.
• Shove one chopped onion, 1 rib of celery (also chopped), and 3 cloves of garlic inside the turkey
• Rub the skin with oil, sprinkle with salt, peper, basil, garlic, and poultry seasoning
• Cook according to the package directions based on the weight of your turkey (usually 2-3 hours)
• Let the turkey rest on the counter for at least 20 minutes before cutting
• Eat and enjoy!

If you don’t want to use these Oven Bags, then you can try using my recipe for Roasted Chicken — and just adjust the cooking time for a larger bird.

Mashed Potatoes:

We REALLY love potatoes around our house… any type of potatoes. But when we eat a traditional meal like turkey, ham, or a roast, we almost always make mashed potatoes.

Here’s my “recipe” for really yummy mashed potatoes:

• Wash, peel, and chop as many potatoes as you need (usually 1 large potato per person)
• Put potatoes in a large pan, cover with water, add salt to taste, and bring to a boil
• Boil for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain.
• Add milk, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, or whatever else you want — you can’t mess this up, so just keep tasting it until you have the right combination  (or add nothing at all)
• Mix with a hand mixer or potato masher until relatively smooth.

After my potatoes are mashed, I scoop them into a large, covered casserole dish and put them in the oven until we’re ready to eat so they stay nice and warm.

Stuffing:

I’ve already posted my most delicous recipe for Sausage Stuffing. It’s my dad’s recipe and he’s a really good cook.

And you can’t have Thanksgiving without stuffing!

Sweet Potatoes:

I love sweet potatoes — but I’ve never been a huge fan of the marshmallow topping. I’ll eat it, but it’s just not my favorite. So I always make my sweet potatoes with a brown sugar topping — similar to a “crisp” topping (think apple crisp but just replace the apples with sweet potatoes).

It’s really good and it has helped me transform Dave into a lover of sweet potatoes 🙂

Here’s the recipe:

• Peel, cube, and boil 6 c. of sweet potatoes (usually only 2 large potatoes) until they are very soft (about 20-25 minutes)
• Drain potatoes and add 1 egg, 1/3 c. milk, 1/3 c. sugar, and 1 t. vanilla
• Mash until everything is combined
• Pour mixture into a greased baking dish
• Cover with your favorite “crumbly topping” — I use 1/3 c. brown sugar, 1/3 c. flour, and 1/3c. cold butter
• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until topping is crispy

This recipe is NOT exact and I honestly never measure anything. It would be really hard to mess this one up — and even if it doesn’t come out looking pretty, it should still taste delicious 🙂

Vegetable Bake

I’ve already shared my Vegetable Bake recipe — and it’s actually one of the more popular recipes on my blog. It’s so simple, and uses vegetables (and other ingredients) that are really easy to find this time of year… plus almost everyone I know loves it!

Carrots:

If you want to go more “traditional” and just have carrots and corn, my mom has a really simple carrot recipes (that you can make in the microwave).

The Recipe:

• Place 2 lbs. of chopped carrots and enough water to cover them in a microwave-safe dish (baby carrots work really well for this)
• Cover and microwave on high for 5-9 minutes or until carrots are very tender
• Add 1/4 c. butter (1/2 a stick), 1/4 c. brown sugar, and 1 pkg. Ranch Dressing mix.
• Stir until butter melts and all the carrots are evenly coated
• Eat and enjoy

I know it sounds like a crazy combination of ingredients, but it’s good — REALLY good!

 

Homemade Applesauce

I just posted this recipe last week — and honestly, we don’t eat many meals around our house without applesauce on the table (don’t worry, Dave thinks it’s a little weird too).

However, even if you don’t eat applesauce every day, your Thanksgiving table won’t be complete with out it!  Plus, you can whip up my homemade recipe in just a few minutes… totally worth it!

Caramel Apple Salad

Someone always makes this well-loved “salad” for Thanksgiving — and as long as you’re not allergic to peanuts, I just know you and your family will love it too!

You could also add a bunch of chopped Snickers bars and turn it into a Thanksgiving dessert!

And speaking of dessert…

Here are a few of my favorite Thanksgiving dessert — just click on the titles for the recipes!

• Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie
• Bumbleberry Pie
• Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Pie Delight Dessert

Are you hungry yet?

What would you add to my menu?

Visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family friendly, recipes!