No Thanksgiving...Yet

The menu is set, all the shopping is done, the 22-lb turkey is out in the

big freezer. All we need is a day when everyone can meet to feast!

So here I sit alone in my house on Thanksgiving morning. Not that I mind the quiet and the opportunity to get a lot done. In fact, I rather enjoy it. Still, it is Thanksgiving Day. As usual, our family won't be having Thanksgiving on the day when most of the nation will be feasting with their loved ones. Since everyone in my family works in retail, the hospitality industry, or as a caregiver (except me), we don't have a single day this long weekend when everyone is off work at the same time. Here's a look at our schedules for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday:

Mary.....OFF.....................OFF.........................OFF...................OFF

Mark.....5am-2pm.............5am-2pm................6am-2pm..........6am-2pm

Sarah.....7am-4pm............9am-6pm................OFF...................OFF

Chris......OFF.....................6:30am-5:30pm.....OFF...................OFF

Dylan.....5:30pm-11pm.....8:30am-5pm...........8am-5pm..........9am-6pm

Jake.......OFF.....................6:30am-3pm...........6:30am-3pm.....6:30am-3pm

It's looking like Saturday is our best bet, and Dylan thinks he may be able to get off a couple of hours early. Then we could plan to eat around 4:00, and still have room for pie by about 8:00!

Did you know you could buy cauliflower already riced and/or mashed?

I didn't know that!

At least all my shopping was done a week in advance, so I don't have to go out today or tomorrow. We actually have three days off from school for Thanksgiving this year, so I have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to accomplish whatever I choose to do before we even get to our feast day. I actually did get a lot of errands done yesterday, while stores were still open. (And then, of course, I'll spend all morning on Sunday doing dishes! Still no dishwasher...)

Our menu: 

Turkey and stuffing (Half of us don't care for stuffing, but Mark, Chris, and Jake do.)

Mashed potatoes and gravy

Buttered corn-on-the-cob (to be provided by Dylan and Jake)

Green bean casserole

Dinner rolls and butter (to be provided by Sarah and Chris)

Beverage (to be provided by Sarah and Chris)

And, of course, the all-important pies:

Oreo chocolate cream pie (to be provided by Dylan and Jake)

Razzleberry pie

Cherry pie

Apple pie

Whipped cream

(Except for Jake, none of us are that fond of pumpkin pie.)

Although I do plan to cheat a little on pie--my particular favorite is razzleberry--I am going to cut carbs wherever possible. Turkey is safe and I don't like stuffing, so that's easy. I plan to thicken my gravy with coconut flour, which has half the carbs of regular white flour (and is non-gluten). We always make our mashed potatoes with the skin on, which is slightly more healthy, and I use cream and real butter instead of milk and margarine. But this year I plan to mix my serving of mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower to cut the carb count in half. Many low-carbers swear they like mashed cauliflower as much or more than real mashed potatoes. However, even though I like cauliflower, I think it's pretty nasty mashed. I'm hoping it will be overpowered by the taste and texture of the added potatoes.

There's not much I can do about the corn. I haven't decided yet whether I'll abstain or splurge. I really love corn, though, so we'll see... At least it's a natural, non-processed food. As for the green bean casserole, I found a low-carb version that's even better than the original. Even my kids like it better. And dinner rolls are nearly impossible to say no to, so I'm going to bake myself an alternative: homemade cheese rolls made from coconut and almond flours. Healthier, with less than half the carbs.

Just two more days until our family feast!

We even have the sparkling cider all ready to toast the New Year!

Then, of course, after surviving the foods of Thanksgiving, we'll be inundated with all the tempting goodies of Christmas and New Years. I know better than to try to be perfect, because it just isn't going to happen, but I'm going to do my best to limit the cheats. And then it's clear what my New Years resolution will be...again...