Well, another Thanksgiving meal has come and gone for our household. Not really gone, because we have plenty of leftovers, but the big task of cooking it all is done. I had my 2 little helpers this morning while I cooked, and I love that I get to cook and share the joy of making food with them. I wanted to get a picture of the whole spread, but didn’t get a chance, but here is a plate with all we had:
So, starting top at going clockwise, here is what we had:
Turkey: Fresh, organic 21.5 pound turkey from Grateful Harvest, ordered through the Sierra Vista Food Co-op. It cost a bit more than what I normally spend, but I think it was worth it. It tasted amazing! Although, I did use my “cheat” this year again, using a Reynolds Oven Bag, to cook the turkey. I added cut up onion, celery, and carrots to the bag, rubbed the turkey in olive oil and poultry seasoning. Sometimes, I think simpler is better! The broth the collected in the bottom I kept for gravy. Now, the turkey carcass is split up between my 2 slow cookers with new onions, celery, and carrots, plus water, to make turkey stock. I’m going to have a lot of turkey stock, which is good since I haven’t made chicken stock in a while.
Dinner rolls: Ordered in my Custom FarmBox from Sunizona Family Farms bakery. We love their sprouted Khorasan bread, and these are made with the same sprouted Khorasan wheat. Delicious!
Mashed potatoes: Red potatoes from Sunizona Family Farms, 2 pounds. Left the skins on, diced, and cooked until soft. Mashed and mixed in a stick of butter, 1/2 cup milk, and 1 tablespoon fresh chives, also from Sunizona Family Farms.
Wild Rice & Sausage Dressing: Recipe here. Used Lundberg’s wild rice blend, then celery and onion from Bountiful Basktets and fresh parsley from Sunizona Family Farms.
Bread & Celery Dressing: Recipe here. This year, I used Special Spelt bread from the Sunizona Family Farms bakery, and celery and onion from Bountiful Baskets.
Green Bean Casserole: Recipe here. I used fresh green beans from Sunizona Family Farms to make it. I really like this, but I really want to find an alternative to using cream of mushroom soup in a can. I’ll be experimenting over the year to see what I can come up with.
Cranberry Sauce: I used cranberries and oranges from Bountiful Baskets to make this. This was a lot easier than I thought! Here is how to make it.
What you need:
12 oz bag of fresh cranberries (about 3 cups)
1/2 – 1 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you want it (I used 1/2 cup)
Juice of 3 oranges, or 1 cup orange juice
How to make it:
Dissolve sugar in orange juice over medium heat. Add cranberries, and cook until cranberry skins have cracked and a gel starts to form, about 15-20 minutes. Pour into serving bowl and sauce will set more as it cools.
Sweet Potato Pie (not pictured): Recipe here. I used sweet potatoes from Sunizona Family Farms.
It really turned out to be a great meal that my family and I all really enjoyed! I hope that everyone else had a great Thanksgiving day as well!
My Gems of Parenting 
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