Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of November 22nd

I'm pretty excited about Thanksgiving this year.  In all of the years that Joe and I have been together, this will be our first Thanksgiving together.  In past years, we always just carried out our own Thanksgiving traditions.  This year, we'll be spending it together as a family.  Just the 3 of us.  This probably seems ordinary to many of you but for us it's very special. 

Joe works long hours and most nights he doesn't get home until after Grace and I have already eaten dinner.  Since he usually works 7 days a week, it will be really great to have him home with us all day! 

When we were dating, we often cooked together on the weekends instead of going out to dinner.  I enjoyed sharing the kitchen with him and I'm looking forward to spending time with him in the kitchen on Thursday.

I've never cooked a turkey, so that is Joe's job.  I will gladly prepare everything else if he takes care of the turkey.  The "everything else" portion of the meal hasn't been fully planned out yet.  We both have our favorite side dishes for the holiday meal, I may try making smaller portions of all of them instead of crossing them off of the menu.  It will still be too much food for the three of us, but then maybe I won't have to cook the rest of the week!

To make things easier on myself, I'm planning simple meals for the rest of this week:

•   Monday:  grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta salad, sweet gherkins
•   Tuesday:  ham steak, vegetable/cheese topped baked potatoes, salad
•   Wednesday:  scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sausage, toast w/ apple butter
•   Thursday:  Our First Thanksgiving
•   Friday:  Turkey Soup, rolls, salad
•   Saturday:  Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, salad
•   Sunday:  Leftovers  

On Thursday morning, we'll pop the turkey in the roaster oven before we head out to see our nephews play football for their high school team.  For a nice light lunch after the game, I'll serve up warm bowls of Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup with crackers.

I'm hoping to get some of the sides prepped before we leave for the game, too.  So, after lunch, I'll finish whatever needs to be done. 

Here's the list of side dishes that we still need to choose from: 

• mashed potatoes
• sweet potatoes
• stuffing / cornbread casserole / biscuits
• green bean casserole
• cranberry sauce
• corn
• gravy
• coleslaw

Now that I see it typed out, the list doesn't look as big as I thought it was.  The coleslaw and cornbread casserole can both be made ahead of time.  The biscuits, corn and cranberry sauce are all from cans, so that's easy.  It's funny, I love to cook and try new recipes, but I feel that keeping it simple will be best for this Thanksgiving.  I want to enjoy our day together and not be overly stressed from trying new recipes.

Of course, we'll be serving up some desserts too!  I'm thinking pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin mousse. 

This will be a slow week for posting so I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving in advance, in case I don't get back here to post again this week! 

Hugs,
Alison