Thanksgiving Day, Before, During, and After

The picture above is not what I purchased, not Harry & David, but from Lowe's.

 Well, it is the night before Thanksgiving, and we only have one more food to cook--green bean casserole. I always had plain green beans, but Tommy loves green bean casserole. So, I make it. We made one thing today, and I messed it up--pumpkin pie. 

My back is still hurting from falling off the step on the car, so mixing it was agony. Well, the standing for mixing was the agony. I gave Tommy the recipe and asked him to get all the ingredients out. He did not get the sugar out, so I did not put any in the pie mix. 

I was so disgusted since pumpkin pie is my favorite thing about Thanksgiving. I said we would just sprinkle sugar on top and mash it in. It was not half bad. We both ate the whole pie! That may be my dinner. I have done that before. No judgment! Today, I realized there were no regular Pillsbury pie crusts. I had gotten the last two packages of deep dish Publix had. So, I had Tommy go into Publix to see if they were back on the shelf and to get bananas for me. He got the last package of two pie crusts. Surprisingly, neither was chipped or broken to smithereens.

It was amazing they were not crushed, but both were sound. That is what we used for the two pumpkin pies today. The bananas were pale green, but I have one to eat over two days. So, I am okay for bananas.

When we came into the house, I saw a fire ant mound about 18" x 10" and about 8" high. There was another nearby almost that large. Soooo, I went into Lowe's to find Amdro fire ant bait. I could only find ant bait without the same two ingredients. The wind was too high to use a powder. So, Thanksgiving morning or evening I will apply. 

We brought in the lemon and lime trees, put them in the back bedroom. The lemon tree is starting to shed. Maybe I waited too long to bring them in. 

While at Lowe's I bought an Amaryllis that I love--Apple Blossom. It will have pale pink blooms. Then, I found a red Amaryllis that is coated in wax and needs no dirt or watering. It is covered in red wax, topped by white foamy wax (snow?) with large glitter. The only place to put them in the light where I can enjoy them is by my lamp.  I wonder how it can grow in wax and does not need watering. 

Thanksgiving Day

Tommy woke me per my instructions at 8:15. I ate cereal before the Macy's Christmas Parade came on. I made it through the Ninja Turtles and took a nap. When he woke me at 3 pm, I was able to continue the parade from almost where it left off. It was wonderful even though I was not familiar with some of the balloon characters, songs or singers. It closed with Cher, Rockettes, and Santa, so I was back on familiar ground. I loved it all, the pageantry, music, and especially one fat little unicorn at the end. 

We ate the other pie during the parade replay. It was better the second time. I am not a fan of hot pumpkin pie. So, the room temp pie all stirred up with sugar was better. All the pies are gone. Oh well. 

Dinner took a while just to get out of the refrigerator and onto our plates. We served ourselves from the stove and counter. 

Thanksgiving, I only had to assemble and heat green bean casserole. Of course, Tommy is the bringer of items to my chair. He turns on stove and does all the heating, cooking, and timing. 

First, I will give the menu and then how I altered the recipe to make it healthier.

turkey breast

gravy

dressing

sweet potatoes

cranberry sauce

green bean casserole

rolls

Now, how I prepared it with less sodium and sugar:

turkey breast--baked with 1/4 tsp salt, pepper, rubbed sage

dressing--I used a box of Stove Top. The sodium was so high, I was horrified. I used a small colander in a bowl, poured the ST into the colander and sort of shook the colander to get the salt out.  There must have been 3 T of powder in the bottom of the bowl. I took half the powder from the area with herbs and used that and tossed the rest of the seasoning. I added more ground sage to the dressing. I put less butter in the mixture. 

gravy--The roux was from 2 T flour and 2 T oil. After it was cooled, I poured off almost two T oil. I have heard that people brown the flour and use no oil. Maybe I will do this next time. I also used no salt, just pepper and rubbed sage. Yes, we love the taste of sage.

sweet potatoes--the sweet potatoes were baked, peel removed, and frozen and reheated. I put a tiny bit, maybe a tsp butter after they were heated.

cranberry sauce--I used a bag of fresh Ocean Spray berries, put in one cup of water and less that half the one cup of sugar called for on the bag. Yes, these were very bitter to eat, but I ate them with dressing and gravy or dipped a bite of meat into the juice.

green bean casserole--The 3 cans of French cut green beans and dumped them into a colander, rinsed well, and drained. Then, the green beans were soaked for an hour in fresh water and put back into a casserole. I used only 1/3 cup milk, 1/2 tsp or more of pepper. I did use French's Fried Onions. But, I used less than called for in the instructions. 

rolls--Tommy baked these and let them sit out, uncovered. So, no butter. I sometimes bake them with a smear of butter, or rake a bit over the hot rolls. But, I just opened the almost-cold rolls and put a bit of butter inside mine. 

I had baked a turkey breast three weeks ago and had frozen it. Then, I baked sweet potatoes and made cranberry sauce and froze it, too. Pies were yesterday, gravy roux two or three days ago. I could never have done this in two days or without Tommy's help. 

Not one thing tasted as delicious as it was intended (salty or sweet) in the original recipes. But, you know what? It was okay and it was delicious, just less salty or sweet! I did not get huge helpings, but I was stuffed. I may not be able to hold more until tomorrow night!

I did not make mashed potatoes. When we eat the sweet potatoes, I may set Tommy to peeling potatoes. 

Tommy was the one with boots in the kitchen. I mostly gave instructions, mixed things, seasoned dishes with my bottom in the recliner! It was all delicious. I will never use the high sodium and excessive sugar recipes again. Tommy didn't even salt anything. He said it tasted fine. I think the rubbed sage gives enough taste, Thanksgiving taste. Tommy did not salt one thing tonight! He keeps a salt shaker at his elbow for salting emergencies. 

When I first met him and cooked delicious meals, he filled his plate, and then he salted it white. He could not understand how that hurt my feelings. But, because of me he quit smoking and has become accustomed to less salty food. He has probably gotten back his sense of taste, too. 

Tommy is putting the meal away, loading the dishwasher. 

It was a good day. A cold day. And, a tasty day! I feel like a nap! However, we are watching It's A Wonderful Life. It has been shown four times in a row today. 

There are no regrets for today, only happiness. There was no disagreeableness. 

Tomorrow, Fall decorations come down. Christmas comes out. But, one of us must dust first!

How was your Thanksgiving meal?

Do you watch the parade? 

Have you ever browned flour to make gravy?