Turkey Day Shortcuts

Until the last minute, I wasn't sure where we'd be spending the Thanksgiving holiday. Turned out we spent it on our own, at home. Nothing like a last minute scramble at the supermarket the day before a major holiday. Lucky for me, John did the shopping. Poor guy. He told me he was ready to start cracking heads by the time he finally reached the register.

So what does a happy homemaker do when she has a newborn and a planned trip to the hospital during a morning that would ordinarily be filled with major food prep? Shortcuts, baby!



So...we substituted my famous broccoli/cauliflower/cheese casserole for frozen cauliflower with cheese sauce, sub'd freshly mashed sweet potatoes for the fridge to microwave variety, sub'd my famous sage stuffing for a box of Stove Top, sub'd my fabulous gravy for Campbells instant, sub'd cranberry sauce made from scratch with Ocean Spray's delish canned version, apple pie straight from the store bakery, and finally we had a little 10 lb freshly roasted (but unstuffed) turkey. That last item I did make myself. The little fella only took 3 hours - it cooks faster without stuffing.

The verdict? Good! I was pleased with everything except the stuffing. Stove Top just didn't cut it, in my opinion.

Now that I know we can have a nice meal like this on short notice, I just might do it more often! How was your holiday?

Comments

Cynthia said…
Congratulations. I am very impressed!
Anonymous said…
Sounds good to me, ours was nice as well : )
Happy *late Thanksgiving ,
(and thanks for my birthday wishes too.)((hugs))
Anonymous said…
For a last minute dinner it sounds like it went very well. I agree with the stovetop stuff. But, sometimes we have to evaluate our priorities in life. Hope it was a wonderful blessed day with family.

Monica
http://journals.aol.com/sonensmilinmon/Pollyannascorner/
Robbie said…
Good for you! Do we call you Rachel Ray now? ;-)

The few occasions that I have made stuffing, I used Stove Top as my base and doctored it up with fresh garlic, onion, sage, sausage, and nuts. It's pretty darn good that way.
i have always cooked as simply as possible[read: i'm a lazy cook]. i recommend pepperidge farm stuffing, made as directed, then put in disposable pans that will fit around the turkey for the last hour or so. as easy as stove top, butmuch better! Margo
BosieLadie said…
Looks and sounds like you just fine! You did great for last minute! I didn't have a turkey dinner this year. Hoping to have a "holiday dinner" in a couple of weeks, though I don't believe it will be the same.
I am sorry that I have been offline so much, but I think about you more than you would know---particualry because another of Mandy's friends has turned up pregnant. I've talked about adoption with both the father to be and the mother to be...they are sixteen/seventeen...

Oh, Lord, these kids are just babies having babies...they break up almost every day and then get back together again..the parents do not know yet...she stops by for dinner and a vitamin every day...I am so glad that there are adoptive families out there for the babies that are born to kids brave enough to make an adoption plan...
lots of love and kisses,
Kas

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