Oh, by gosh, by golly, it’s time for turkey, potatoes, and stuffing.
Fancy ties, granny’s pies, and families gathered around.
And they whisper, “Happy Thanksgiving” to yooouuuuu!
Holy moly!
I should be a songwriter. That was just beautiful! *Insert my famous cheesy smile here!*
Folks, it’s November. I can’t believe I just typed that. I feel like it was just the fourth of July. This is insane. Twenty-three days until the big day! TWENTY-THREE! It’s time to start preparing. I thought for the next few columns, I’ll write about the following:
– How to cook a turkey
– Some of my favorite things about Thanksgiving
– Tips for hosting Thanksgiving
– Thanksgiving menu ideas
– Thankful talk around the table
– How to prepare for Thanksgiving weeks and days before
– Ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers
– How to stick to your diet on Thanksgiving
– Things I am thankful for
– Decorating tips
The first topic, and one that I am laying flat out first, is how to stick to your diet on Thanksgiving. DON’T. Yes, you read that right. This is coming from a Certified Fitness and Nutrition coach! For the love of God, please don’t not enjoy Thanksgiving because you are on a so-called “diet.” Let me ask you this, can you lose a bunch of weight by eating perfectly for one day? UM — NO. So, let’s flip it.
Can you gain a bunch of weight by eating off track for one day? Again — UMMMM, NO.
Thanksgiving is not going to ruin your progress, just like eating healthy one day isn’t going to make you fit! Enjoy the mashed potatoes and gravy. Eat the filling and a roll. Have a slice of pie or two! Thanksgiving comes but once a year. Let yourself indulge!
A slice of pumpkin pie has 325 calories. (It also includes 67% of your daily Vitamin A.) Thanks, pumpkin pie!
A serving of homemade filling is 350 calories for one cup. Lots of carbs for energy, man! You’ll need it for cleaning up!
A serving of French Green Bean casserole has 150 calories a cup. Unless it’s my recipe with lots of cheese, we would have to reevaluate. HA!!
Turkey packs a punch with extremely low calories (54 cals an ounce) and high protein. That turkey gave his life for you and is the star of the season. Enjoy!
I know there are many other holiday favorites, but I just did a sample of a few to show you it’s OK. Remember, it takes 3,500 calories to gain one pound. That’s a lot of pumpkin pie!!! Don’t stress. You’ll be just fine.
OK, now that we have that out of the way, I think the next topic we will hit this week will be how to start preparing in the weeks ahead of time.
First and foremost, if you don’t have your turkey or ham yet, that would be the first thing I would tell you to go get, so you have it. If you are hosting, buy your table-setting things. Go check out places like It’s My Party Store, Party City, Hobby Lobby, Wegmans, Walmart, Michael’s, etc.
It’s my Party Store is not a chain place. Josie, who owns it, is a sweetheart. I’d check her place out first! Located at 1231 Sheridan Street in Williamsport, pretty much diagonal from Faxon Bowling Lanes.
Next, start planning your guest list, Thanksgiving meal, and make a grocery list of things you will need. It doesn’t hurt to start buying a few things here and there for the big day! Then, when the week of Thanksgiving is here and stores are packed, you won’t have a list a mile long to buy for. You can start stocking up on butter, canned pumpkin, broths, potatoes, sugar, eggs, and things that will keep just fine in that time period. Get that fridge and freezer cleaned out, so you have room for holiday dishes to prepare and fit. The more you do now, the easier it will be for you! (You can thank me later.)
I love Thanksgiving morning when my baked corn and filling are baking in the oven. The ham is slow cooking in a crockpot, and we are watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I wish they made a candle of that smell and called it “Thanksgiving Mornin.” MMMM Mmmmm.
Man, I love me some Thanksgiving!
My filling is pretty famous. Every year I get asked to make it, and every year there isn’t much left. I love that everyone enjoys it! My momma taught me how to make it years ago, but it’s not a set recipe. I am going to tell you what I do as best I can. It’s hard to screw up; just use your eyes and taste buds to judge, and you, too, will have some amazing filling for Thanksgiving!
Homemade Filling
Ingredients:
• Fresh baked Italian bread (I get mine from Weis. You can get their bakery bread 2 for $3. I buy 4, but only use about three loaves.)
• Lots of butter (about 3-4 sticks for 2 1/2-3 loaves of bread. More or less for preference.)
• Celery (5-8 stalks of celery, depending on how much you want; chopped)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• Chicken broth (possibly up to 4-5 cups)
• Salt & pepper to taste
• A large roaster pan (trust me, you’ll need the room, but it will cook down!)
Directions:
Cube your bread up the day before and place it in gallon bags .
I also cut up all my celery and onion a day ahead of time but don’t place them together! Keep them separate, or the onions will overpower the celery.
Thanksgiving Day, put all the bread cubes in a greased roaster pan.
Sauté the celery and onion in the three sticks of butter. Dump on bread cubes. Then add the chicken broth for added moisture. (Start with 2-3 cups.)
Season with salt and Pepper, then taste the filling. You may have to add more seasoning, butter, or broth. It all depends on how you like your filling.)
Bake covered at 375 for 2 hours, stirring every 30-40 minutes.
For the final 30-45 minutes, take the foil off.
Then all you have to do is wait for your guest to compliment you on your delicious homemade filling. Enjoy!!
