Thanksgiving Plans?

I'm still not sure what our plan is for Thanksgiving.  My friend and I keep playing phone tag and I've been trying to find out whether she and her family are staying here or going to her parents for the holiday.  If they are staying here I want to share in the cooking and leftovers, that way we aren't loaded in leftovers and my husband still gets my Thanksgiving cooking, which he loves so much.  If they are leaving, I think we'll skip cooking and go to a restaurant.  Mimi's cafe is good and they serve their whole menu so I can get soup and salad or a quiche and salad.  They have a section of their menu that is for smaller appetites and is a lot lighter.  Its still twice as much food as I need but its nice to have that option.  Then my husband can order the Thanksgiving meal (and a second one to go, for the obligatory leftovers... he REALLY loves Thanksgiving!)  Friday he works, but I am off.  I will probably clean and get ready for our new TV to be delivered.  We took the plunge and got a 42 inch LCD HDTV for Christmas - that and the camera I want will pretty much kill our whole budget.  We have most of our Christmas shopping done, and we generally don't decorate much, so its going to be pretty uneventful.  There's no use going to visit my family - my aunt and mom own a kennel so they are at their busiest this time of year.  Plus almost all the family is vegetarian and it bugs them when I cook turkey and smell up the house. 

(Homer Simpson drool) Ohhhh, big screen TV!   We have Mimi's Cafe here, my sister is always telling me how delicious it is, but we never seem to eat there.  I think I'll have to do something about that, especially since it's almost spitting distance from where I do my mall walking. My sister had me order a 20 lb bird.  Now, just how much turkey do she and my niece plan to eat, even with leftovers?  A 20 lb bird means she will be eating turkey well into 2008. Kix

Ah, Thanksgiving.  One of the days us foodies await with eager anticipation.  The recipe searching, menu planning, ingredient shopping, endless baking and cooking, and finally the delectable eating.  WLS or not, this girl is still, and will probably always be, a foodie!  Here's our Thanksgiving menu so far:   Pre-dinner knoshies 2-3 varieties of cheese sliced apple, pears grapes dried apricots, cranberries Dinner roasted turkey mashed potatoes & gravy cornbread stuffing savory bread dressing corn pudding sweet potatoes w/ pecans & mini-marshmallows waldorf salad collard & turnip greens made w/ smoked turkey potato rolls cornbread pumpkin pie (of course!) sweet potato pie pecan pie And there will only be 5 or 6 of us for dinner.  Although we have a lot of items on the menu, we're planning to make small batches of everything so we don't wind up with a lot of leftovers.  Plus we'll send our guests home with leftovers...  But we all have specific things we MUST have at Thanksgiving, and we're willing to do the work to have a few bites of everything we want.  A bit of overkill, perhaps, but once a foodie, always a foodie.... Everyone elses' plans sound great - good time with family and friends!   Kellie

HEY KELLIE,           PRE DINNER KNOSHIES>>>?? WHATS THAT?? THIS GANG AROUND HERE START DIPPING IN THE POTS AS SOON AS IT GETS TO COOKING ... NO SNACKING BEFORE... JUST DIVING IN LOL.... BUT DANG WHAT A WAY TO GO LOL... IF I WAS TO EAT ALL THAT IS ON OUR MENU IT WOULD TOTALLY BE A DAY OF .. SO GONNA PACE MYSELF AND HIT THE VEGGIES AND BIRD LOL....  HUGS AND GOBBLE GOBBLE TO YOU!! MARGE

We usually skip the pre-dinner knoshies at Thanksgiving, but we're hoping to have a couple hours to visit with friends before we actually sit down to dinner.  And this girl, for one, needs to be fed every couple hours!  So I thought some low-fat cheeses and fresh/dried fruit would be a good option.   I have to pace myself too, otherwise will follow.  I'll have a nice serving of turkey and collard greens, then have a couple bites of several of the carbs.  I've been paying close attention to when I start to feel full because my pouch still works really well - sometimes a couple bites too many can leave me really uncomfortable.  I'm glad I can still enjoy food and am satisfied with a couple bites of "special" things! Gobble, gobble, gobble to you as well!   Kellie

I'm cooking for the whole family. Last year I had gallbladder surgery 2 days before Thanksgiving and my MIL cooked a very non-traditional dinner of Indonesian food! Of course they insisted I make pumpkin pies the day after surgery, I didn't mind but I sure was sore! We have 3 people in the family that are diabetics so I make things SF as often as I can.

No one in the family really likes turkey, so I decided a ham would be better. Here's my menu -

Ham w/SF apricot glaze green bean casserole reduced fat crescent rolls Splenda cranberry sauce - homemade mashed potatoes deviled eggs Splenda bread n butter pickles - homemade olive/veggie tray SF pistachio fluff SF pecan pie SF pumpkin pie

We are going to my MIL who lives in NC. My boys are gonna make banana pudding and a German Chocolate cake. I am making green beans and white potatoes. Plus we are taking a smoked turkey and spiral ham from Honey Baked Ham with us. Oh did I mention she can't cook. I will make the macaroni and cheese on Thursday. She will heat up some rolls and open up a can of yams. I am really happy to be going. My family is in IL and I really need to be around family around the holiday. Since I don't eat most of the food anyway, it doesn't bother me that she can't cook. I am going home to IL for Christmas. Now that is when it gets hard. My son is a Chef and all of us are excellent cooks. We have enough food for a starving nation. We start eating the moment we hit the floor. pies, cobbler, cookies, different flavor pound cakes, rice krispy treats, ham, turkey, roast, dressing, greens, potatoes salad, spaghetti, rolls, cheese balls, fruit, nuts, 7 layer salad and a nap. It seems like alot of food. My mom has 10 living sisters and I have 8 living sisters and 1 brother and all our kids. It is such a great time. We eat, talk, laugh, and sleep all day. We play win lose or draw and do karokee. I love it. We moved to GA 3 years ago and this is my first time going home since I moved. 

We are renting a mini van and driving to Chicago, My mother in Law past away this summer and it will be our first Family get together with out her:( . My children are very sad about that but I think getting to see Grandpa will help a little. we will have dinner with about 30 people and everyone is supposed to bring something I am bringing the veggie / relish tray and I can't even eat that stuff yet lol But i will be able to eat a little of what everyone else brings. I love Thanksgiving because itis the one holiday when the entire family gets together and you dont have to worry about gifts or baskets or anything like that! .  This was a great topic i'm glad you asked  I hope everyone has a very fun and uneventful  Holiday!  E