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What are you having for Thanksgiving dinner?

Matata

Matata

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Messages
9,980
We just got reservations at Capital Grille and are leaving the next day for a cruise!
 
This Thanksgiving, we're going with home-made lasagna, steamed broccoli, lettuce/tomato/cucumber salad, and garlic bread ... to be followed with home-made pumpkin pie :appl:
 
thanksgiving already.... what the heck happened to this year? i went to a store the other day and they had xmas decorations out :/

we're staying home, just 2 of us, so we will pick up a medley of prepared food from the "fancy" grocery store deli. they do up all the holidays. fun & easy. =)
 
It's just two of us. I decided I was going to eat better, exercise daily and lose weight before a big birthday recently. This will obviously extend beyond the birthday!

So, for that reason, no Thanksgiving meal for us.

I will make a normal dinner on Thanksgiving. Probably skinless chicken breast and vegetables only. It's way too much food in the house for two people with leftovers.
 
elizat said:
It's way too much food in the house for two people with leftovers.
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I never have to worry about that. DH's appetite is the equivalent of a black hole -- everything near him gets sucked in. He is a frantically active person who has yet to suffer the indignities of a slower metabolism. Each of his meals is the equivalent of 3 meals for normal people. I sit as far away from him as possible during meals because I'm convinced the calories ooze out of him and invade me.
 
My favorite holiday of the year.....my kids (19 and 17) will insist on a full Thanksgiving feast even if just 4 of us without extended family. This was our spread last year below. Since we usually deep fried our Turkey we decided to also make deep fried yams, oreos and pickles (for appetizers) just so we don't waste that huge vat of peanut oil!!!!! Sorry about the artery clogging pics. My kids are blessed with dh's fast metabolism...and I go out for a 6 mile run before the feast each year.

Will probably do the same this year except swap out Turkey for cornish game hens....none of us are Turkey fans, we prefer little hens.

Din 3.jpgdin 1.jpg
 
DH may be having knee surgery in the near future, so his condition will determine if we are staying home, or celebrating with friends. If we stay home, I will likely cook a half turkey breast in the crock pot or instant pot, roast some veggies, and make an apple-cranberry crumble (which is lighter than a pie).
 
I envy you guys who get to try new recipes and sides. Thanksgiving is like groundhog day at our house, I'm not "allowed" to deviate from our set Thanksgiving menu. My kids and husband insist on the same things every year, or else it is not "Thanksgiving".
 
jaysonsmom said:
I envy you guys who get to try new recipes and sides. Thanksgiving is like groundhog day at our house, I'm not "allowed" to deviate from our set Thanksgiving menu. My kids and husband insist on the same things every year, or else it is not "Thanksgiving".
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That's sort of how I am when I go home to see my parents at Christmas. There can be some deviations, but it just wouldn't be the family tradition without certain items. And bless my sweet parents for humoring me. :)
 
jaysonsmom said:
I envy you guys who get to try new recipes and sides. Thanksgiving is like groundhog day at our house, I'm not "allowed" to deviate from our set Thanksgiving menu. My kids and husband insist on the same things every year, or else it is not "Thanksgiving".
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When I do the cooking, I have to do all the usual stuff but people tolerate me adding a dish or two.
 
Not sure. I may be cooking most/all of it for my family. It might be just us at home. It might be "potluck Thanksgiving" where I get told what to bring. Pretty sure no one will know until a few days before. My mom is stressed due to medical and unemployment situation with her husband. My aunt is dealing with severe pain and spent the night at the emergency room a couple of days ago.

The usual:
Turkey with stuffing (apple & almond)
Extra pan of dressing
Sweet potato with marshmallows
Sweet potato with lime & ginger
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Gravy
Watergate salad
Cranberry sauce (chunky homemade)
Cranberry sauce (jelly from can)
Uncooked cranberry relish
Dinner rolls
Black olives
Pumpkin pie
Pumpkin pudding
Pecan pie

Keto additions:
Mashed cauliflower
Keto rolls
TBD squash dish
 
jaysonsmom said:
I envy you guys who get to try new recipes and sides. Thanksgiving is like groundhog day at our house, I'm not "allowed" to deviate from our set Thanksgiving menu. My kids and husband insist on the same things every year, or else it is not "Thanksgiving".
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Traditions are wonderful. I‘m jealous your kids like the traditional fare. I wish my kids would say what they like…all I hear is what they don’t like. Aunts, uncles and guests rave about the traditional food and I love it too. I try to make a few different sides to find a winner. So basically I make what I like and eat the leftovers too!
 
I started hosting holidays because our families are not good cooks. Pretty traditional menu: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli gratin with streusel topping, savory sweet potatoes ( rosemary, red onion and Parmesan ), Brussels sprouts and shallot hash, cranberry sauce with roasted shallots and port, cranberry sauce from a can, cole slaw, crescent rolls ( also from a can LOL ).
We were lucky with weather last year and had kids and MIL on the patio. All vaxxed now but still keeping it small. Very thankful for our new grandson this year!!
 
Is it bad I am reading this thread at 6:30 AM and starting to get very hungry :lol:

We are not doing Thanksgiving this year with any of our family.
Just the two of us again this year like last year.
It's hard because Thanksgiving was our holiday to host.
But the pandemic changed that.
My parents are hosting the holiday this year at their home. Inside.
I told them if they did it outdoors we would be there.
That was not met with amusement.
LOL babies. I mean the NE isn't that cold at Thanksgiving time. Usually.

Hopefully next year we will be back to hosting it or at the very least be happy to attend at my parents home.


What's on our menu this year?
What's on our menu every year minus the Turkey since my family won't be here.


Seafood, salad, vegetables (asparagus, brussel sprouts), sweet potato and maybe stuffing. Fresh homemade cranberry sauce.
Yummmm.
I will take a photo if I remember.

Maybe (maybe) gluten free apple and pumpkin pie.
And ice cream of course. :)
 
I think this year I will do:
Oxtail stew/soup
Mac & cheese (only thing my son will eat)
Collared greens
Rice
Sweet potato casserole
Sautéed Chinese broccoli
Small ham since only dh eats it
 
I like the traditional turkey dinner, but for just the two of us, it can be a lot of work. But I do love a whole week of leftovers!
In years past, I have made other entrees, like lasagna, cheese manicotti, pork loin and Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Maybe I'll do something like that again. I haven't decided yet.
 
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Not sure what’s on the official menu since we are invited guests but DH will be making his buffalo chicken dip. I don’t eat it but people go crazy for it and ask him to bring it to every event!

This year will be a little different since I’m gluten-free, so no stuffing. Definitely will be having the rest of the traditional food though.
 
YadaYadaYada said:
Not sure what’s on the official menu since we are invited guests but DH will be making his buffalo chicken dip. I don’t eat it but people go crazy for it and ask him to bring it to every event!

This year will be a little different since I’m gluten-free, so no stuffing. Definitely will be having the rest of the traditional food though.
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Stephanie, I’ll try finding you a delicious gluten free recipe for stuffing if you’re interested. Greg made it one Thanksgiving and it was delish. He’s not here now but I’ll ask him for it if you are interested in it. Gluten free can be tough but there are some good alternatives but also very bad ones lol.
 
@missy, that would be great, thank you so much!
 
I'm going to try out a squash soup recipe this weekend and if it's good, I'll do it with the chicken and roasted veggies for Thanksgiving. The soup calls for heavy cream, but I'm going to remove it and lighten it up. I feel super lazy, but I'm now thinking about buying a precooked chicken from the deli to make it easier- that leaves only a possible soup and veggies to make. :lol:

We got roast chicken meal package from the deli- Fresh Market- a couple weeks ago and it came with corn muffins and we got mashed potatoes as well. Since we have started eating lighter, we have not really had that kind of stuff. We actually never ate the muffins and maybe ate a tiny bit of the potatoes (less than 1/2 cup was consumed). I always thought I'd really miss that stuff, but so far, I have not.
 
It will be traditional for us...turkey, cornbread dressing, green beans, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, homemade
cranberry sauce, rolls, TBD veggie dish, pumpkin and apple pie. Looking forward to it!
 
Whatever’s in the fridge!
 
The soup is excellent. Took a copycat Panera recipe and removed the cream/some called for coconut milk and the apple cider/juice. Just used 1 tablespoon of olive oil and substituted whole apple for the juice, because it was all getting pureed anyway. Made enough that I can probably freeze half for Thanksgiving. Fat free Greek yogurt instead of creme fraiche on top. PXL_20211105_164706918.jpg
 
Suuuuuper traditional here. I have something extra wonderful to celebrate this Thanksgiving, as I will be adopting the young lady who has been my god-daughter for 17 years next year, and it will be the three of us for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin soup with sour cream, bacon and a pine nut garnish to start.

Roast turkey with gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing
Baked veges (potato, sweet potato, parsnip, onions)
Cauli and broccoli with cheese sauce
Hot bread
A goooooorgeous aged zinfandel from my favorite winery - Beekeeper in Cali.

Apple pie with whipped cream and ice cream

Chocolates (yes - in the shape of turkeys!), coffee and grand mariner to end.

There will be leftovers, but not all that much, as I'll only buy small portions. There will be enough for lunch the next day, then that's it.
 
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mrs-b said:
I will be adopting the young lady who has been my god-daughter for 17 years next year, and it will be the three of us for Thanksgiving.
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huge news! congratulations to all three of you! :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2:
 
Congrats, New Mama B!

And whoa, I wish I was going to YOUR place for Thanksgiving! Sounds like a fabulous spread.

However, we'll probably just go to the local inexpensive buffet. It will just be the two of us this year and I am feeling not only too lazy to cook but even too lazy to get dressed up. :)
 
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