How are you doing today? Are your pants feeling kinda snug? How did Thanksgiving Day go for you? Mine was busy! I did yoga at home and went for my own version of a Turkey Trot. Alison & Madeline, you've got nothing on me you hot & sweaty hotties, you! I trotted around my neighborhood in hot, windy weather. And worked really hard on our Scott's food. As I mentioned before, I made him a turkey. Yes, Skylar and I are veggie-heads, but Scott is not, and as so I honored his request and whipped up a bird. If I do say so myself, for a vegan especially, I did a pretty spiffy job. I'll get to that...
But first, I am glad you enjoyed my post on Gratitude yesterday and again, I am sooo thankful for everything and everyone I have in my life. Everything from my husband and daughter to yoga to my faithful blog readers. Check it out if you missed that post.
But let's move on to my Thanksgiving Day Food & Recipes!!!
Ginger Roasted Sweet & White Potatoes
Slice Potatoes no more than 1/2 inch wide in any part of the potato
Lay in baking tray. I use a foil-lined 9x13 pan.
Liberally douse in EVOO
Liberally add Ground Ginger Root Powder, 1-2 Tbsp
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Cover with another piece of foil on the top or a lid & Roast at 375F for 45 minutes
Uncover & Flip/Toss potatoes
Roast anywhere from 15 to 30 more minutes depending on how crunchy you like your taters
Seasoned, Oiled, Uncooked Potatoes
Then there was Stuffing
2 c Seasoned Breadcrumbs, 1 c Vegetable Stock, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Onion, Garlic, Parsley, S & P
Cooked on the stovetop
The Bird
Seasoned liberally Mrs Dash's Lemon Pepper Seasoning Blend
1/4 c Kosher Salt Rubbed onto the Bird (lots fell off into the chicken stock)
2 Cups of Chicken Stock
1 Tsp Paprika
1/4 c EVOO doused over the top
Took it out. And was a little scared of what to do with it. But with rubber gloves and a sharp knife, I managed.
Speaking of which, for dessert, I decided to forego the No-Bake Vegan Pumpkin Pie...
Tip of the Day: I know that it's really tempting to start shopping for everyone on your list now that the Hanukkah and Christmas season is fast approaching, but your loved ones don't need that extra sweater or pair of slippers, little nephew Timmy won't remember that you went into debt buying him that Superhero Action Figure and Aunt Betty won't remember next year whether it was you or your sister who bought her that really nice expensive bottle of perfume.
Point being, next year the gifts we gave this year will be long forgotten and you're left holding is the bill. I am not saying don't give; I am saying give within your means, don't overextend yourself, don't rack up credit card debt. Instead, maybe take a Saturday afternoon and go on a baking rampage. Give everyone a dozen cookies or make cute re-useable mason jars filled nuts or dried fruit. with or buy a cheapie photo album and stuff it with a dozen 4 x 6's photos of you, your kids, or special times you've shared with that relative. Just scale the 'Tis The Shopping Season back somewhat in order to stay true and honest to your own current needs & reality.
What's your take on gift-giving? Do you tend to go overboard and regret it later? Do you have family members who are bold enough to actually ask you for certain gifts? Or do you have someone who's so historically hard to buy for you drive yourself crazy trying to find "the perfect gift"? How would you feel about giving something smaller like homemade cookies or a homemade cute photo album? Would that pass muster or would you still feel like you "have to do something more"? Why? Fill me in!
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40 comments:
You most certainly had a marvelous Thanksgiving celebration!! Mine was terrific as well - can't ask for more! So much to be thankful for.
Your a wonderful wife! Props to you.. looks a lot of work BUT worth it for your hubby! :)
This yr for gift giving, we kinda lucked out. Both sets of parents are getting their own wedding albums (ordered from our professional photographer). For my sis in law, Im doing a massage certificate and my brother will be getting several 6 packs of "good beer". lol
Tis the season.. Have a super weekend, Averie :) :)
Averie, you are a total sweetheart and I am so glad you are in my life!!
And your raw treats have no rival in how amazing they look!
Okay, so the ONLY reason my pants are feeling snug is because of those darned almond cookies!! I ate every last one! Okay, so they were killing me and I only stayed on the MC for 5 days, yep 5 little days ; ) My kidneys were hurting so bad and my hubby said enough is enough. He was probably right.
High five on that delicious looking Thanksgiving meal! For a leaf eater, your pretty skilled at cooking turkey : )
Funny thing, I am making everyone's gifts this year. I figured food is always welcome and if I can give them all healthy food that's the first step : ) I'm going to put pictures up after the holidays because I don't want everyone to know what they are getting : )
Nicole
First of all, thank you SO much for your amazing comment on my post about my upcoming surgery. It's beyond stressful and frustrating to have to even think about enduring at least another month of healing, but it helps so much to know that I have you there to support me! :)
Next, I am SO impressed by your Thanksgiving Averie!!! I just love how you made it your own by giving in to everyone's needs. Sounds like the perfect family event.
I totally agree with you on the holiday shopping. The simplest gifts can be the most meaningful often times. You aren't going to enjoy giving a present you can barely afford, and the person receiving it isn't going to feel right accepting it. It's so much better just to give what you feel comfortable with and to put your heart into the season!
xxoo
Heather
I love this post. First of all your food looks delicious. I have to take a look at that vegan apple crumble because it looks amazing.
Also, you are so right about shopping for the holiday season. I don't tend to majorly overdo it, but this year I am being even more careful. The point is to spend time together and enjoy the season, not to spend a ton of money!
Great job on the turkey..even if you didn't eat it :) I would have shared with Scott :) Your daughter is adorable! Do you just do yoga or some form of strength training too...you are a power-house!...and I am lazy - but I'm cool with that ;)cheers to you and your family.
Nice work on the carcas! :) And as usual, your desserts look fab.
We have cut down a ton on gifts as we all realize we are lucky enough to buy something as we need it and not wait until December. And I am all for homemade gifts. In fact, my father and FIL love my baskets filled with treats each year.
I had kale salad for the first time yesterday and loved it! I didn't eat any traditional Thanksgiving food, but that was fine with me:) Good job on the turkey for Scott. I'm sure he was very blessed!
I think it's pretty amazing you cooked a turkey! And check out those arms, WOW what strength!! Admirable! :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
holy. awesome. meal.
your hubs is one lucky dude girl! youre so awesome for making him a bird and its so great that he enjoyed it so much.
i'm coming to your house for dessert.
I LOVE your take on gift-giving. Yes I love getting gifts, but it is so important to share more with your family than rack up debt.
Your meal looks DELICIOUS. I love the potato recipe. As usual, each time I stop by I am more and more impressed. :)
Looks like you guys had a great Thanksgiving. Isn't it nice just spending it with your immediate family - we loved the calmness of it. Your turkey does look amazing and, yes, you get the big gold Amazing Wife star!
As far as Christmas shopping goes, I'm done. I thought I was really behind, and then before I knew it I was covered. A co-worker's kids were selling gift cards that gave a portion to the school so I ordered a bunch of those (in $15 and $25 denominations for places like Starbucks and REI), did some online shopping last night at disney.com, and picked up a couple extra things at a craft fair today. My 10 year-old nephew asked for MRE's because he's military-obsessed, and I bought my dad a jaunty cap when he came to visit last month. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I think we got everyone in under $500 (that's 16 family members plus my hubby). Chris still needs to finish up some photo books for his parents, and I bought him mom some seashells for 97 cents a bag at a thrift store. I'll probably put those in an antique Ball jar that I have lying around. I even have our Holiday cards waiting to be addressed (stamps purchased at the PO last weekend). I'm a Virgo, tried and true, what can I say? (Plus I'd rather be dragged through turkey carcasses than go to the mall between now and the New Year!)
Averie, what a nice day and beautiful meal for BOTH you and your husband! I am so happy you treated him to a traditional plate. Way to go Mama!
It all looked beautiful and delish!
I am also loving that you made just what you wanted. It really is just about being together.
I loved how our day turned out too.
Shopping? boy, I always feel obligated to give to everyone in our family and we have been trying year after year to temper it. I just found out my men voted unanimously to begin a tradition in OUR family to not shop till AFTER Christmas and take advantage of sales. HA sillies.
OKAY, why not!
we are tight in the budget this year and I will either make what I can (home made stuff) or only get easy toys for the kids. But Im a sentimental fool and love to make each gift count. It gets hard thought.
I love your take on it all and I am just going to have to learn I won't be loved less or looked at as "cheap" if we don't go into HAWK over dumb gifts.
sheez
ps...MY FAMILY ADORED your Holiday Spice Orange Vinaigrette!
I left our hosts with the rest of it and am sad, but OH YEAH, it's so stinkin' easy to whip up another batch , I just might tomorrow!
LOVED IT THANKS!
Skylar is too darling! Love that big grin. Glad you had such a wonderful day with your family!
You ARE a good wife, dealing with that bird. Hope you and the AmEx card had a great day together :)
You silly girl. I just got done posting the "loaf" recipe and you are going to laugh at me when you see how easy it is! I'm like you, though, I could give or take it. I just know for my hubs and the kiddos, having that "meat" on their plate is important. Plus the protein and fiber can only help me too!
You are so sweet to share all of your delicious looking recipes!
We are really going to make an effort not to go overboard with Christmas this year. We are so perfectly happy with what we have, what more do we REALLY need?
Enjoy your weekend, girl!
oh my goodness..you put in a lot of love and work into those thanksgiving dishes!!
thanks for sharing about your workouts girl!
and gotta love the pig..its like 2 miles from our house so its convienent!! where did you say you lived in SC again?
Oh my the roasted potatoes and that raw dessert look DELISH!!!!!!!!!! Your family is so lucky to have such a great chef baking up the most delicious treats for them! :)
Have a great weekend girl! xoxo
You are such a doting wife. Look at that turkey and I'm VEGAN :) And all your other eats look terrific too.
Looks like you had a fabulous thanksgiving. Glad it was some special time with your loved ones :)
Btw thanks so much for your sweet comments. I just read your latest one. I always look forward to seeing them on my blog. Xx
You are definitely the most RAWkin' wife to make the husbster a turkey!
Oh man your gift giving tidbit hits close to home. I do NOT want to go overboard on gifts and have to use credit just to do what I think makes everyone happy. We've decided with extended family to just take it easy this year and give ornaments - hallelujah! I don't want to be stuck in the malls, stressed about what to get everyone, worrying about making people happy and did "spend enough". UGH. The only people I TRULY enjoy buying gifts for are my kids, but I'm still not going to break the bank trying to have more toys than the Jones'! They truly love it so much at this age that they make it easy to shop for. ;)
And my pants still fit comfortably today (and yesterday too). SHEW! Nice run on Thanksgiving morn mama!
how seet to make hubs a turkey! I didn't want to make a turkey for two of us..so I didn't. but I tried to make a few other things and we have been spending all of our time together which is great
Aw, what a fun celebration! I love all the food! But of course, everything you make is perfection!
Your meal looks wonderful! Your hubby is a lucky guy :-)
As for gift-giving, James and I have been keeping it simple for the last few years, esp. since we got married and bought a house- One year was chocolate covered pretzels and the next was biscotti. This year we are going for the biscotti and maybe some other cookies to go along with it since they were such a hit last year. The thing that is funny to me is that when you don't buy people something it's like they expect some sort of reason as to why you weren't rushing around "Walmart" -bleh- for some stupid thing that they were going to toss away anyway! By now they know that James and I aren't into all that hype. We don't ask for anything- and we give simply..Though I really feel like it's worth a whole lot more :-)
Thanks for visiting my site - add me to your 'Roll' if you have one! - you have such a great following :) I'm glad to hear you don't do 'additional' strength training actually...I don't and just find it rather boring...and I have NO time anyhow!! Haha.
I also wanted to say that I love your idea of homemade gifts! I don't do much gift-giving anyhow - I am not close to family and live away - but I plan on baking up some goodness for friends with cards - I love cards :)
It looks like you guys had a great day and MAJOR props to you on your turkey trot and "actual" turkey! Can't wait to hear about that endeavor!
It sounds like you guys enjoyed a lovely holiday! I think that's really nice of you to make the turkey for your hubs. As a vegetarian I have ZERO interest in handling raw meat (even when I ate meat I couldn't stand it) so kudos to you!!
I love your spin on the thanksgiving meal, and I hope Scott enjoyed his traditional version. You are such a sweet wifey :)
great TOTD today, babe. I thnk a lot of people tend to feel obligated to get others things so they tend to just waste money on everything and anything. Case a point, in high school my girlfriends and I always felt like we HAD to get eachother something. More often than not I'd go to bath and body works and throw down a pretty penny on silly lotions or comfy socks that lord knew they never used. Needless to say once we got in to college and became broke and struggling college students, we rejected that tradition. My family has done the same. No more silly knick-knacks from my aunts and uncles or a zillion pairs of underwear from my mom, just so there's more presents under the tree. I think it's far more important to stick to a few, special, thoughtful gifts. Quality, not quantity - right?! :)
Have a great Saturday pooks! muah!
Averie, you are amazing. Thanks for posting all those recipes!!!
I neeed to try those almond cookies, though. Fo-real.
Hey girl! That is one mighty looking thanksgiving feast! Wow! The pics of the sweet potatoes made me run out to the store to buy some. They looked ssoooo good!=) I think its awesome too how you made something to please everyone in your family. Thats really fabulous! It all looked so tasty too!
I love your post about the holidays and gift giving. The simplest gifts are the best and it is the thought that really does count. The one thing I look forward to so much is just hanging out with my family. We live across the country from them and I dont get a chance to see them all that much. I just like being together again, gifts or no gifts...=)
Thank you so much for stopping by my site too! Your post put a big smile on my face=)I hope you have a wonderful day sweetie!
That turkey looks great. I bet the dutch oven really made it good. That was sooo nice of you to make it for your hubby, too. I think it's soo cute that you spent the holiday just you, your daughter and husband. When I was a kid, that's how I would spend Thanksgiving with my parents.
You are such a sweet wife, to have made your hubby a turkey!
I love your thoughts on gift giving. I don't go overboard,cause there's nothing to go overboard with. I usually send homemade granola to my relatives and try to stick buy only the little ones actual presents.
Everything looks wonderful, from the turkey to the salad! But I've especially got eyes for that pie ;)
My family never expects big gifts from me. But I do have a large family and I have to buy little things for every one of them. So even though my gifts are small and inexpensive - it adds up. I have a lot of younger step siblings (ahem, five) that don't seem to appreciate the thought behind a gift yet...
I find it ironic that one day in the future, I will be scouring the blog of a high raw vegan for her thanksgiving turkey recipe in the le cruset. :-) It looked wildly delish. And for what it's worth, I dawn gloves whenever I touch meat or even when I bake. Am I anal or what!!?
Glad you had a nice day Averie!
what a great thanksgiving!! and gratiude post, loved :) i've never been a fan of stuffing or gravy, and now i'd rather load up on the veggies!
i have been recycling things, or doing the homemade touch for awhile now...
I always give gifts to my close friends, and I usually make some sort of box of goodies for acquaintances and people I randomly know. My family and I don't really exchange gifts! (I know, I was deprived in certain areas of my childhood.) Veggies? check. Christmas presents? Fail. :) hehe
I'm definitely going to give in to the Christmas hubbub when I have my own family, but I'm content with how my parents raised me. Granted- they sure buy me a heck of a lot during the normal year, and I am so fine with that.
Your eats look splendid. And your turkey?! I give it my culinary stamp of approval. Looks moist, crispy, and a Le Crueset dutch oven?! Gah. I want it. (The oven I mean. ;)
I am HUNGRY after seeing this post!!! I wish I was at your place for Thanksgiving : ) yummy!!!! Glad you had a great one : )
Your feast looks like you worked really hard at making everyone happy. I do the same thing. I make all this food that I don't even eat, just to pacify everyone. I don't know if it is right, but it is my right. I just want them all to be at peace for at least one day. I feel if I keep setting the example, maybe they will all catch on someday. Until them we still have to work together
I am SO with you. This year I am only buying small gifts because money is really tight for me. I am doing spice mixtures for adults, and some spiced nuts as well. Perhaps some coffee and chocolate for a few people. My nieces are getting slippers (as per their wish lists!). I just cannot go broke for the holidays! Nor would I want someone to have to pay off debt during the year to give me something :-) Making a big batch of PB Chocolate granola to send to the boyfriend's parents :-)
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