Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel like I'm finally beginning to recover from the chaos of Thanksgiving yesterday.  For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to cook Thanksgiving dinner myself this year rather than making the endless driving tour back and forth between different family members' houses all day long like we end up doing every holiday.  I thought it would be so nice just to stay at home and enjoy my holiday by having all the family come to us.  I think I severely underestimated the amount of work that goes into cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for 11 people - and the amount of space in my oven.  Nevertheless, I pulled it off, even if my back was sore from standing on kitchen tile for 8+ hours and my feet and ankles were pulsing with so much pain and soreness that it was keeping me from sleeping even though I was really tired.  And I was right - it actually WAS really nice to have everyone over our house for once.

And because I was in charge of the menu, I decided to take advantage of that and make it a healthier Thanksgiving than I could get somewhere else.  I was bound and determined to show my family members that I could make a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner my way and that they wouldn't even miss all the fat, butter, etc. that is usually synonymous with the holiday.  I spent a good deal of time searching for a healthy turkey recipe and some healthy side dishes to go along with it and was finally set.  The whole menu would feature only 2 tablespoons of butter - risky, I know, but I was hoping it was going to be worth it.  Here is a list of the recipes I used:

•  Herb Roasted Turkey
• Healthy Stuffing
• Herb Roasted Potatoes
• Green Beans with Miso and Almonds
• Lemon Thyme-Tinged Corn
• Ratatouille Polenta Bake
• Fruit Turkey(haha - this was just something silly)
• Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
• Salad

I'm going to be completely honest here - I had NO idea what to expect out of these recipes.  And I was going to serve them to 10 other people.  My husband has been great about being my guinea pig, and I guess I've gotten so used to cooking things for him that I've never made before that I didn't even give it a second thought for Thanksgiving dinner.  I just made sure to give everyone their fair warning that the pasta was the only thing I'd ever made before on the menu!  And although I burnt a tiny corner of the stuffing and one part of the turkey didn't quite cook enough, it wasn't the end of the world.  I actually got quite a few compliments on the food!  I don't know if they were just trying to be nice and/or grateful that someone else had taken on the task of cooking Thanksgiving dinner, but I don't think anything turned out terribly.  A surprise star of the show was actually the ratatouille polenta bake.  This was the side dish I was most worried about.  I've never worked with polenta before and this really was a new adventure for me.  I opted just to make the recipe in the amount it called for, even though it was only for 6 servings; that way, I would only waste a small amount when it bombed.  Surprise!!!  Everyone loved it!!!!!!!!!!  Of course, right?!?!?  And here is a picture of my own version of the fruit turkey:



Cute, right?  I love it, but then again, I tend to have an odd sense of humor!  :o)  Otherwise, I think there were a couple things I would improve upon the next time around (the herbs on the potatoes were a little strong, but then again I was doubling the recipe; and the stuffing wasn't quite as flavorful as I was hoping), but I didn't poison anyone, and no one was sitting around feeling like they were in a health food store.  If nothing else, I at least stood my ground and was able to show everyone that healthy food can still be good - and that you might not even realize it's healthy - and it doesn't have to be a tofu turkey. 

On the downside, I failed to get in a run or any other type of workout on Thanksgiving.  I promised myself I'd be sure to take a break and get in at least a mile or a plank and some push-ups.  But I was having a hard enough time trying to wrangle the platters in and out of the oven, juggle pots and pans on the stove, and getting everything ready on time, that I was sweating from the intensity of the chaos.  And the fact that it was 77 degrees in the house even though we had the windows and door open, and the a/c on at 70 degrees.  And by the time dinner was over, everyone was gone, and the clean-up was under way, it was all I could do just to get the dishes washed and tables torn down.  I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I actually dragged one of the kitchen chairs over to the sink and sat on it to finish the last of the dishes!!!!  Hahaha!  My feet and ankles were so sore that running was definitely out of the question.  And then I made the mistake of sitting down on the couch - and couldn't get up after that.  Total fail in the workout department yesterday.  Which means I better get my butt off the couch now and go do something!