Here we are, at Thanksgiving week! I have a short week, with classes only through Tuesday, and I’m really looking forward to celebrating all that we have to be Thankful for on Thursday.
If you missed some posts last week, we shared our favorite Thanksgiving bread, side dish, turkey, and dessert recipes. Plus, on Friday we shared 5 menu plans for your Thanksgiving event. I do hope you’ll check them out.
Following Thanksgiving, we have our annual Black Friday Baking Day! Except, this year, we’re planning to decorate our tree on Black Friday and bake on Saturday. Can’t wait. You can check out my Christmas Baking Pinterest Board for some recipes on our list.
This week, we’re taking it easy in the beginning of the week and then enjoying leftovers following Thanksgiving.
I’m also going to be taking the week officially “off” from blogging, so no Ingredient Spotlight this week. I will be posting on Facebook, though, so be sure to say “hi”.
Sunday
Kris Kringle Pancakes with Maple Apple Sauté
Life Group Chili & Cornbread Dinner
Apple Pockets
Monday
Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins
Winter Minestrone, Artisan Bread
Tuesday
Maple Brown Sugar Granola {new}
Crockpot Spaghetti with Whole Wheat Pasta & Steamed Veggies
To do: Boil veggies for stuffing
Wednesday
Pumpkin Pancakes with Apple Topping
Spaghetti Braid, Broccoli
To do: Make wild rice bread, stuffing, dinner rolls, pie
Thursday
Buttercup Squash Baked Oatmeal
Bacon Wrapped Turkey + Bacon Infused Gravy
Wild Rice Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Squash
Green Bean Hotdish
Sweet Potato Corn Bread
Sweet Potato Pie with Gingersnap Crust & Spiced Whipped Cream
Friday
Gingerbread Scones (or Pumpkin Pie… just being honest!)
Leftover Turkey Sandwiches on Wild Rice Bread
To do: Put up tree! Make caramels
Saturday
Potato Doughnuts
Turkey Noodle Soup or Turkey Mushroom & Brown Rice Bake
To do: Christmas baking day #1!
Find more great menus at OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday!
To wrap up our Thanksgiving week, we’re going to share a few ideas for a menu plan for your Thanksgiving planning.
Each menu includes an appetizer, main dish, 3 side dishes, a bread, and two dessert options, plus free printable name cards and/or other printables to jazz up your dinner. Enjoy!
Menu #1 – A Little Elegant
Menu #2 – Kid Friendly
Menu #3 – Healthy
Menu #4 – Gluten Free
Menu #5 – Feeding a Crowd
Thanks for joining us this week! We are at the end of the meal – desserts. Oh, I’ve got some good ones to share.
This German Apple Cake is a new favorite at our house, and I love how easy it is to make. It’s literally a 1-bowl dessert (less dishes too!).
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls make a fun dessert that is healthy too! These would be perfect for a dessert “pot luck”.
This cream-cheese based Easy Apple Danish makes a great breakfast too!
Gingersnap Cheesecake with a Rhubarb Glaze is an old favorite of mine; I love the rhubarb and gingersnap combination. Delicious!
Apple Pie Ice Cream combines the pie and ice cream into a delicious dessert. You can make this one ahead of time too.
Molasses Crinkles are a family favorite! They need no explanation and are down right amazing.
This Caramel Apple Cheesecake Crumble is outstanding and surprisingly healthy for you too.
While I don’t usually use cake mixes, this Pumpkin Cobbler is an easy and tasty dessert. A dump cake of sorts, this cobbler is easy enough your kids can make it.
Like a mini apple pie, these Apple Pockets are a fun way to serve dessert.
My personal favorite Thanksgiving dessert is a Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust & Spiced Whipped Cream. Oh, yes, it was the winner of a National Pie Competition too!
I also recommend:
This week, we’ve been focusing on Thanksgiving – breads and side dishes so far; today, we’re talking Turkey!
A few years ago, my dad suggested using bacon to self-baste the turkey; this resulted in a Bacon Wrapped Turkey with Bacon Infused Gravy. This has become our favorite.
A few other turkey recipes that look delightful:
For leftovers, we enjoy this healthier version of Turkey Tetrazzini.
Turkey & Pepper Stew is a unique way to use up your turkey.
A once-a-year tradition at our home: Kentucky Hot Browns. So good.
This Broccoli Hotdish was my favorite as a kid, and still is my favorite today.
The leftovers from the turkey go into our Turkey Soup with Homemade Noodles every year. So easy to make, and perfect for using the carcass too.
A Turkey Pot Pie allows you to stretch your turkey leftovers among lots of tasty veggies and herbed biscuits.
What are your favorite turkey recipes?
As much as I like turkey, the side dishes to me make Thanksgiving. I don’t know why I don’t make more of these side dishes during the year, but I don’t. I guess that helps me look forward to Thanksgiving so much.
A family favorite recipe that you will find on our dinner table every year is my mom’s Wild Rice Stuffing. Whole wheat bread mixed with wild rice, mushrooms, celery and onions compliments the turkey so well.
Sweet potatoes are a must for us as well, and this sweet potato casserole is delightful. It’s so tasty, I might even have some for dessert.
Green Bean Casserole adorns many tables, but if you’ve never made it with fresh green beans and your own cream of mushroom soup, give that a go this year. You can even make it in the crockpot to give yourself more oven space on Thanksgiving day.
Roast up a butternut or buttercup squash and keep it warm in your crockpot. Toss in some butter and brown sugar and you will certainly enjoy a fall favorite.
Grandma’s Mashed Potatoes are always a hit in our family; creamy and delicious, they go great with gravy.
Roasted Vegetables bring out delightful flavors in your side dishes. We recommend carrots & asparagus, or mushrooms & green beans.
In addition, I recommend these recipes from some of my favorite bloggers:
As we prepare for Thanksgiving, I wanted to share some of my favorite recipes with you that are healthy and easy to make for your upcoming holiday.
Dinner Roll Recipes
Everyone loves crescent rolls, right? Forget the little blue can, and surprise your guests with these white whole wheat crescent rolls. They are outstanding.
If you have a gluten-free friend joining your Thanksgiving celebration, make these Sweet Potato Corn Bread Squares. The texture is delightful, with just a hint of spice and the sweet potatoes make this cornbread nice and moist.
In addition, I recommend a few recipes from some of my favorite food bloggers:
Bread Recipes
A holiday at our house is not complete without my Grandmother’s Cinnamon Sugar Bread. It is delightful and always spells holiday to me.
Wild rice is a traditional Thanksgiving ingredient, and wrapped inside a whole wheat bread, you’ll have a great wild rice bread for dinner and leftovers.
A sweet bread that would be great for breakfast on Thanksgiving day is this Apple Raisin Cinnamon Pumpkin Spice Bread. Filling and quite festive too!
To save time on Thanksgiving, make your bread ahead of time – you can use this tip to keep your bread fresh until Thanksgiving day.
A few other bread recipes I recommend:
Be sure to join us tomorrow – side dishes.
I can’t believe we are a week away from Thanksgiving! This semester has gone by so quickly. This last week, was no exception. Although it felt long at times, it really did fly by; I am so thankful for a menu plan at busy times. We really enjoyed:
Sweet & Sour Chicken – this is a baked recipe, and delicious. We added pineapple and bell peppers, and even though I only had one chicken breast (there’s nothing like opening raw chicken and your nose telling you it is rotten), it was a hit.
Roasted Red Pepper Soup – this was another recipe we had not had in a long time; I always forget that I should double it, because we love it so much.
Since things are picking up a bit at school in preparation for the end of the semester, this week will be a busy one. We’re opting for each meals and meals that I was able to prepare yesterday to make our week much smoother.
Sunday
Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins
Make Ahead Butternut Squash Pasta Bake
Monday
Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes
Crockpot Breakfast Casserole
Tuesday
Leftover Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal {freezer}
Leftovers
Wednesday
Maple Brown Sugar Granola {new}, dried cherries
Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday
Leftover Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins, Bananas
Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup, Artisan Bread
Friday
Maple Brown Sugar Granola {new}
Chicken & Brown Rice Bake
Saturday
TBD
Winter Minestrone, Artisan Bread
I hope you will join us this week – it’s Thanksgiving week!
Stop by on Monday for breads, Tuesday for side dishes, Wednesday for the Turkey {& Leftovers}, Thursday for Desserts, and Friday for 5 Thanksgiving Menu Plans (including kid-friendly & GF).
If you are looking for a healthy afternoon snack, I recommend these raspberry granola bars.
They are a sure win, and if you don’t like raspberries, swap in a fruit you do like.
Raspberry Granola Bars
Ingredients
Directions
Begin by mixing together 1 1/4 C whole wheat flour with 1 1/2 C oats (we used old fashioned oats). Add in 2/3 C brown sugar, 1 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir well.
Remove about 1/2 C of the mixture and set aside.
With the oat mixture remaining, add in 1/4 C applesauce and use a fork to cut in. Then, add in 3 T melted butter.
Press the mixture into a lightly greased 7x11 baking dish.
Top with 1/2 C raspberry sauce and arrange 15 raspberries over the top.
Then, combine the remaining 2 T melted butter with the 1/2 C oat mixture and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the raspberries.
Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes until slightly browned and set.
Slice the bars down the middle of the pan lengthwise, and slice each into rows approximately 1 inch thick.
Serve immediately, or allow to cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temp or a week in the refrigerator.
![image_thumb[3]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKTb5bIQto-UolaME6ABvXCyQ56_5ZWloVT0UxygI5N-fboKw4LBlq1aeENzUUTM2ex-XnJdnw7ypbwHC_NU9kErqIhe2tXcoYpRj-379cVLO6c_2E8j9K69BuFis4pVlXwDwAnX8TMXA/s1600-h/image_thumb%25255B3%25255D%25255B3%25255D.png "image_thumb[3]")
