Thanksgiving Eats!

Happy Thanksgiving! It's super late, and it's been a while, but I wanted to post about my Thanksgiving eats.

Paleo Thanksgiving!

Kat and I had a Paleo Thanksgiving lunch on Wednesday. That was thanksgiving one. :-p. I made the following recipes:

Pecan Pie with Bacon Crust- this turned out decent. I loved that the list of ingredients was straightforward, and there wasn't too much sugar in the recipe. The drizzle also turned out better than I thought, especially because I only like the taste of coconut milk in certain things. I would give this recipe a three.












Roasted Butternut Squash with Pecan Ginger Glaze- LOVED this recipe, and I could make it again and again. I actually used sweet potatoes instead of the butternut squash, and it was so good! The syrup you toss the squash in is warm, sweet, and complex. So good and perfect for a fall spread!

Cheesy Mashed Yucca- this recipe didn't actually taste cheesy at all, but  I still loved it. Mashed yucca is so much thicker and sticks to your ribs more than mashed cauliflower does. I welcomed the change and will be making mashed yucca in the future! I got a 4 lb bag of frozen yucca from the grocery store (check the latin section of the frozen foods to see if you can find it at your grocery store!) and just used 3/4 of the bag for this recipe. Very easy to make!

Paleo Gravy and Paleo Stuffing from Brittany Angell's free holiday ebook-my gravy looked a lot grittier than the picture in the ebook, but the taste was phenomenal. I loved it on my mashed yucca! The paleo stuffing was good. I halved the recipe but ended up keeping the amount of Italian sausage the same just because we love Italian sausage that much! Was light in flavor, but good.

I also made cranberry sauce from scratch and a nonalcoholic sangria, but those were just okay. :-/

Wednesday night we went to my co-worker's turkey and tequila party. Such a lovely concept! We brought a turkey and they fried it so we didn't have to cook it today! They used a cajun injector too, which was so yummy! There were so many yummy finger foods to try! Deer sausage with pineapple bites, mini ham sandwiches with mustard, cheddar Bisquick sausage bites, and they had a little spread of their own with fried and roast turkey, green beans (I brought those), mac and cheese, a snicker doodle apple pie bake, thumbprint cookies, and lots of libations-that was Thanksgiving 2! :-)

Thanksgiving 3!

Today we spent Thanksgiving with Kat's family. I guess that's technically Thanksgiving 3!  We were due at 12:30 at her sister's house, but alas, cp time got the best of us and we got there at about 1:10. Not too bad for us, lol. I made southern mac and cheese for the potluck. I used Sweetie Pie's mac and cheese recipe. There was so much cheese, I had to make some modifications. I followed the recipe, the only tweaks I made were I used an 8 oz block of cheddar and 8 oz block colby jack and 4 tbsp of butter-and this was even after doubling the recipe! In the future I'll be sure I cut the velveeta and butter into tinier cubes so that they melt into the sauce a lot better. It was still really good. Mmmm!

We needed some veggies, so Mark, Kat's sister's husband, asked if I could make a salad. I made Nigella Lawson's Cranberry, Feta, and Pecan Salad. I used about 3/4 of a 10 oz package of 50/50 spinach and baby greens, and used a cup of pecans that I roasted in the oven for a few minutes and it really gave the pecans a lovely, robust flavor. I absolutely love this salad and plan to make it again in the future as a main course meal. The notes in the recipe indicated it's good with either pork tenderloin or grilled chicken-yum!!

After eating, playing with Kat's niece and nephews, and hearty conversations with everyone, Kat, Mama Vellie, Theresa (Mark's sister) and I drove to Walmart to do a little Christmas shopping. I did get to take care of a few people on my list which is always nice!

What did you eat for Thanksgiving today? And, what's on your Christmas list?

Summer Veggie Salad with Balsamic, Feta, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Pecans

About two weeks ago the roomie and I volunteered at Johnson's Backyard Garden in Denton. The original Johnson's Backyard Garden is in Austin, TX, but they've partnered with Earthwise Produce in Denton to start a location in the DFW area. I am so thankful, because one of the volunteering perks is that you receive a free workshare of produce. You sign up for a four-hour shift during the weekday (either 8a-12p or 4p-8p for the summertime), help out in the garden and/or the Earthwise Produce shop, and then the following week you can pick up your workshare on Thursday or Friday. The workshare is very generous-it is the medium CSA box that you see on the website. We were thrilled to get our veggies, and it was a lot of fun meeting new people.  One of the girls we met actually works at one of the companies my organization partners with! Small world. :-) 

One of the garden plots. We picked the basil here!

One of the things we did while volunteering was pick basil, and I was so impressed with how fragrant the basil was. We had to cut the blossoms off of the basil plants, and also cut the leaves that were ready for picking. The next day my right arm was sore from cutting the plants. Who knew! We also got to hear firsthand what it's like running the garden from the guy in charge, Ryan Crocker. He was super friendly and laid back. We are going to try to volunteer again this month. It's a little hard for us to volunteer, because you can only volunteer during the weekdays, so we have to wait until we have off on a Friday or a half day. Since the roomie is off Fridays and I have half-days until the end of July, we've decided to volunteer again. And I plan to go back on holidays that I am off of work. It was such a cool experience.

All that to say, we got a ton of veggies and I looked around the JBG website for recipes using the produce. I made a salad yesterday (which will be our lunch for the next several days), their Summer Veggies with Pecans, Feta, and Balsamic Vinegar. The recipe is great, and is really a starting point. There aren't measurements for the pecans, feta, or balsamic vinegar, so you can play around with it to your liking. I swapped out some of the veggies for others, and decided on some set measurements for my salad. I am so pleased with this recipe. The veggies are crisp-tender and juicy. The feta and sun-dried tomato are rich and add a salty bite. The balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and garlic make a zesty dressing, and the pecans add a slight nutty sweetness. Yum! 


Summer Veggie Salad with Balsamic, Feta, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Pecans
Adapted from Johnson's Backyard Garden
Serves 4

1 large pattypan squash, de-seeded and sliced
2 small purple bell peppers, de-seeded, piths removed, and sliced
3 long green sweet bell peppers, de-seeded, piths removed, and sliced
2 long red sweet bell peppers, de-seeded, piths removed, and sliced

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Dressing:
2 tspns balsamic vinegar
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
Sprinkle of salt and pepper

~ In an extra large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add the veggies. Stir frequently, making sure all sides of veggies touch the bottom of the pan and get a little browning. Let cook 5 minutes. 
~ While veggies cook, combine dressing ingredients and set aside. 
~ Remove veggies to a large glass bowl. Let cool to room temperature, about 20-30 minutes. 
~ Add dressing, pecans, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta cheese. Toss gently, being sure to coat all of the ingredients in the dressing. Serve at room temperature, or chill in the refrigerator if you prefer to eat it cold.
~ Enjoy your veggies! :-) 

~Lex