Thanksgiving Trickster

I am willing to openly admit that I am a complete control freak. And since I am now trying to control exactly what I put into my body, I decided the best way to celebrate Thanksgiving would be to host it myself. That way I could make the food, and make sure that it was healthy. The only catch would be not telling any of the people I was inviting that they would be attending a healthy Thanksgiving. Yes, I know, this could blow up in my face, but read on friends.

First things first, we decided to do the turkey in a bag and also my dear friend Ali made another turkey for our 22 something guests by roasting it. So both turkeys were pretty much made in a healthy fashion. What's that you say? You want to know if I stuffed my turkey? Well, no, I did not. Instead I resorted to a recipe provided to me by another healthy eating friend, Kelli and did not put it in the bird at all. The recipe called for 7 slices of white bread an 7 slices of wheat bread, cubed. I decided to go all whole wheat because I didn't feel like buying two loaves of bread. Call me cheap, call me lazy, I call me health conscious. The recipe also called for lean turkey sausage, so I picked up a pound of Jenny-O's sweet Italian sausage which is super yummy and good for you too. And lastly the recipe called for mushrooms, celery and onions diced. I HATE mushrooms, so I replaced them with zucchini per the recipes suggestion. Also there are some additional spices involved. Lastly you throw all that together with some fat free chicken broth and bam, you've got yourself some delicious stuffing after you bake it for 45 minutes or so. And I do believe my guests enjoyed it and had no idea that it was whole wheat bread crumbs they were munching on.

Growing up, you may or may not be shocked to hear this, Thanksgiving was my least favorite holiday of all. Why? Because I hated food. Mostly anything that looked healthy or if it was something normal people liked, I hated it. SO turkey, salad, french beans, and anything else my aunt put on the table, I would poo poo it and not eat it. Instead, I would load my plate with a roll and butter (or two), mac n cheese, and mashed potatoes with OUT gravy. I hated gravy too. I was such a joy as a child. God forbid any of those things touched each other on the plate too. Anyway, if you know me, you know I can't have a big family meal with out mac n cheese. It's just not right. So, I decided to provide my guests with whole wheat shells mixed together with 2% cheeses, yogurt butter and 1% milk. I must say getting the milk to thicken was quite a pain, but once it was all done, we had a very tasty dish that yet again, the guests had no idea was better for them than the usual clog your arteries mac n cheese your grandma used to make. Well, at least my mom-mom anne did. And MAN was it good!

Of course for Thanksgiving you have to have your starches, am I right? Thanks to my biggest loser cook book, I was able to make Garlic and Chive Sweet Mashed Potatoes by taking the recipe in the book and multiplying it by 4. It's so easy and delicious, I want all of you to try it!! You take 2 lbs of sweet potatoes and boil those suckers up. My most favorite store, TJ's, as you know, sells them pre cut and peeled for the lazies like me. No excuses, friends. Whilst the sweet tots are boiling, go ahead and roast yourself some garlic by taking a full head of garlic, slicing off the top and pour a teaspoon of olive oil on that and then rap it in foil, throw it in the oven on 450 for 45 minutes. When the garlic is done, let it cool for a bit, then proceed to squeeze the oiled up cloves out of their shells (it's kind of neat how they almost fall out) and then mash them up into a paste. Next throw your garlic into the softened potatoes (which you have now drained of water), add your warmed fat free sour cream (3 table spoons) and your warmed 1% milk (1 tablespoon)and also your chopped up chives (really as many as you can stand, but recipe calls for about 3 tablespoons) and mix that all up with a hand blender. Wah-lah! You have delicious sweet mashed potatoes that are only 149 calories per serving. And no one you serve them to will be the wiser if you throw some extra salt on there. Trust me.

My most exciting Thanksgiving adventure was the homemade soup that I made with my mom. Did I mention that my mom helped me with all of this? I can't take credit for it all, I really couldn't have survived T-giving with out her. And Jimmy too, he was a really great kitchen assistant and I kept calling my mom my Sue-chef. Get it? Her name is Sue. I know, I'm super clever. Anyway, soup... So, I made some Butternut Squash and Granny Smith Apple Soup. Sounds intimidating, but it's really not that bad. I won't go into all the details like I did with the sweet tots, but if you are interested, let me know and I will shoot the recipe your way. However, I'd like to mention again that it came out really tasty for being my first stab at it and I don't think the guests were lying (I hope)when they said they loved it. This soup is only 135 calories per serving. Love that.

I also made some salad for everyone that consisted of spring mix, baby spinach, arugula, dried cranberries, crumbled feta, walnuts (not candied) and some low cal raspberry vinaigrette. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it which made me very happy. Also I decided to not make the traditional bean casserole and instead made French Beans and Sliced Raw Almonds that were sauteed with garlic, onions and some light soy sauce per a suggest from my future sister in law LouAnn. It was so delicious. I had never thought to throw the soy sauce on there, but it gave it just the right extra kick it needed.

Overall I think the day was a huge success. I had many people bring other side dishes, but was glad to know that they things I had provided I could eat and not worry about what it would do to my waste line later. There would be no buttons flying across the table and taking any ones eyes out this year. Not that this has ever occurred before, but it's just a nightmare I picture in my head from over eating. I am a nut! I hope that if you weren't able to do a healthy thanksgiving this year, that next year you can use this blog to make a healthy one for yourself! It is not that difficult, I promise you that and you will feel so proud of yourself once its all said and done. Also, if you are trying to maintain a slim figure for the rest of the holiday season, you might try doing any of these recipes for your holiday dinners! I know I am going to try too! Just don't tell anyone before they eat it!! That's the secret!!