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unwritrecipes · 4 years ago

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Thanksgiving 2020 (Recipe Roundup)

As I typed the title to this post, I was suddenly struck with the reality of what the holiday season will be like this year. Not necessarily bad or depressing, just…different. Smaller for sure, with less hectic traveling for many, which in some ways might actually make things more enjoyable. Still, for most of us, it’s not going to be the same. No matter what though, of one thing I am sure: there will be food. And that’s where I come in. So today, I’m sharing a pared-down, more small-gathering-focused slew of tried and true classic recipes for your Turkey Day festivities.

APPETIZERS

Most years, I’d share a bunch of salsas, hot, cheesy dips or sweet and salty nut mixtures, but this year it’s probably not a great idea to have people dipping chips or digging hands into bowls, so I’d say if you need an appetizer at all (and really the meal is the star here, so you probably don’t) I’d maybe do a nice cheese board or something like that and keep it really simple.

THE MAIN COURSE

Once again, I can’t help you with the turkey—that’s my mom’s department (full disclosure: I haven’t ever actually made my own!!) so here are some other “mains” that I think would make a great addition/alternative to your holiday table (I have actually heard that a lot of people are actually mirroring the uncoventionalness of this year and subbing out the traditional turkey for whatever strikes their fancy and smaller crowd).

1. Baked Macaroni and Cheese

2. Macaroni and Cheese, Sheet-Pan Style

3. Lasagne Roll-Ups

4. Roast Chicken with Radishes

5. Easy Paprika Roast Chicken

6. Braised Brisket with Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions

THE SIDES

Normally, I’d share about 20 of these with you. This year the list is much shorter and I really just stuck to the classics. Most of them yield large amounts—you can either halve them or just bask in the glory of having lots of leftovers!!!Also, mashed potatoes are a must-have—but again these are a specialty of my mom, so I’m too intimated to try!!

Mom’s Sweet Potato Casserole

Mom’s Cranberry Jello Mold

Wild Mushroom and Brioche Stuffing

Savory Butternut Squash Crumble

Homemade Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

Butternut Squash Soup

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sherry Vinaigrette

Lemony Caramelized Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Auntie Mirrie’s Roast Potatoes

Holiday Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallots

BREADS

All of these are wonderful. Pick one—you can’t go wrong!

1. The Best Cornbread

2. Foolproof Parker House Rolls

3. One-Pan Buttermilk Dinner Rolls

DESSERTS

This is of course where I usually would go all out, baking for a large crew to send home with goody bags and to enjoy at our home all weekend long. This year, I’m scaling way, way back and just sharing ideas for some of my favorite pies and a few cookies, of course!

Pecan Pie or Maple Pecan Tart

Apple Crumb Pie or Cranberry-Apple Crumble Pie or these Apple Hand Pies I just shared earlier this week

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Dark Caramel Custard Pie

Triple Chocolate Cream Pie with Oreo Crust

Cranberry Brown Sugar Tart

Mississippi Mud Ice Cream Pie

Chewy Molasses Cookies

Easy Lemon Almond Biscotti

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies

Flat, Chewy Heath Bar Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread

Happy Thanksgiving!! Here’s hoping we beat this thing in 2021!! Can’t wait to give everybody a big, non-socially distant hug and kiss!!

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benjamingarden · 6 years ago

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Why I Won't Be Meal Planning This Summer (A Simplified Alternative To Meal Planning)

I've been meal planning for years. As I've noted before, this is the technique that allowed us to pay off all of our non-essential debt (to clarify, not our mortgage - all credit card & auto debt). So why in the world would I throw caution to the wind this summer? Because I've figured out how to simplify meal time. Why summer specifically? Because that's when our garden is in abundance and I think it will be easier to give this a try. Let me explain. We eat pretty simply and rotate through the same 28 meal plans in the fall/winter and 25 meal plans in the spring/summer. Every year I've simplified our meals just a tad bit more. My goal is to spend less time cooking but still eat healthy.

Some of the changes I've made are:

Meal prep - make ahead or in some other way prep what I can.

Use the same two grains throughout the week (cook once, eat all week).

Soups can be made at the end of the week with leftover grain, veggie & protein leftovers

Keep greens growing in the garden for quick salads (lunch or dinner options)

Veggies are roasted, steamed, grilled, or served raw rather than making "veggie dishes" that require recipes. I prefer to eat veggies without anything else on them (sometimes a cilantro crema or a pesto sauce drizzled on top) and J has learned to appreciate them in this way as well (he prefers butter on his - butter on everything!).

Breakfasts are typically oats (me), toast (me) or eggs & potatoes (J).

Lunches are typically salad (me), soup, quesadillas, leftovers, or homemade flatbread pizza.

We don't really snack other than sometimes fruit after lunch or popcorn or popsicles after dinner occasionally.

I make bread weekly (if we want bread that week). Usually one loaf - we don't eat much bread anymore.

So, how does this lead to not meal planning? Veggies are the main portion of our lunches and dinners now. It was recommended by one of my husband's specialists that he begin eating plant-based. He immediately told me that will never happen, so instead we've compromised by him eating a larger portion of veggies and a smaller portion of meat and grains/potatoes. If you grow your own veggies or eat seasonally with veggies purchased from a local farmer or farmer's market, you know that they are just not all available every week. This makes planning that portion of your meals a little more difficult. So, why plan any of it?

My non-meal plan is this:

Oats + nuts/seeds + whatever fruit is in season = My Breakfast (or toast with nut butter + fruit, or a smoothie with frozen fruit & veg)

Eggs (which we have available all of the time) + Potatoes = J's Breakfast (or a toasted bagel)

Greens + Other Veggies As Available + Leftover Meat = Lunch (salad, quesadillas, tacos, rice bowls, or flatbread pizza) (or leftovers)

Large amount of whatever veggies are ready + small amount of protein (meat, fish, eggs, or beans) + small amount of grains/carb (bread, pasta, rice, tortilla or potatoes) = Dinner

I'll prepare whichever veggies are ready that day in the manner we want them at that time. I'll purchase enough protein each week to allow us 7 days worth (beans are easy to keep on hand and J usually eats chicken, pork chops, pork tenderloin, burger, or flank steak in the summer). Because we typically purchase our meat from local farmers, I'll purchase what they have available each Sunday and not worry about stocking up. J prefers marinated meat on the grill, which makes it super easy to throw together a plan the day before. I usually freeze the meat in the marinade on Sundays so I don't have to make marinades throughout the week. I always keep rice, pasta, tortilla shells, dried beans, & potatoes on hand so we'll already have what we need to complete each meal. If we want something different (pot sticker wrappers to make pot stickers, fresh pasta, or pierogies) then I'll buy or make it that week.

What About Grocery Shopping? My new grocery lists are comprised mostly of any staples that we run out of more than anything else. Our staples are listed below. My pantry staples:

Sugar/Sweetener (honey, maple syrup, dates, & a small amount of white sugar)

Dry Beans (Black, White & Pinto)

Brown Basmati Rice (our preferred brown rice)

Pasta (2 kinds)

Veggie Broth

Chicken Broth

Tortilla Shells

Nut Butter (peanut and a walnut-cashew blend)

Canned Tomatoes

Oats

Popcorn Kernels

Avocado Oil

Olive Oil

Sesame Oil

Vinegars (Apple Cider, Vinegar, Pomegranate, Balsamic)

Extracts (Vanilla, Lemon, Almond)

Coffee

Tea

My refrigerator staples:

Mustard (Dijon & Spicy Brown)

Mayo

Coconut Aminos

Sriracha

Worcestershire Sauce

Flax Seeds

Milk

1/2 & 1/2

Non-Dairy Creamer

Eggs (from the coop)

Butter

Cheese (Mozzarella & Cheddar)

Non-Dairy "Cheese" (Follow My Heart Pepperjack & Trader Joe's Shredded Mozzarella Blend)

My freezer staples:

Raw Walnuts & Cashews

Flours (White Bread, Almond & Einkorn)

Frozen Pizzas (our just-in-case go-to) (*side note: if you are looking for a good vegan/non-dairy pizza, Amy's Vegan Pizza is the best I've found.*)

Bananas (to add to smoothies)

Avocados (to add to smoothies or to make guacamole or veggie sushi with)

In The Garden:

Greens

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Cabbage

Tomatoes

Beans

Sugar Snaps

Peppers

Eggplant

Zucchini

Winter Squash

Asparagus

Cucumbers

Carrots

Herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil, tarragon, rosemary, dill, oregano, sage, mint & chives)

Blueberries

Blackberries

Apples

Pears

All-in-all, my hope is that we'll be able to take full advantage of the goodies in the garden and center our eating around that. It will (hopefully) also cut out any pre-planning or thoughts regarding meals, less time at the grocery store (I can stock up on staples once a month and the remainder comes from our garden and coop or from the farmer's market), and since the meals are simple, less time preparing them.

What about you? Have you tried a simplified way of eating rather than meal planning?

Why I Won't Be Meal Planning This Summer (A Simplified Alternative To Meal Planning) was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

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