Heyy there! It’s that very, very special time of year where I talk about my meal plan for Thanksgiving! If you’ve been a reader for a while you’ve probably seen my past and other past Thanksgiving posts! And let me tell you — this year it’s going to be equally as yummy as the previous years!
Here’s the 411 with Thanksgiving — in this house Thanksgiving is king. It’s the only major holiday that Mr. POAB and I decide to stay home and celebrate just us {unless other family stops by!}. Why? Because it’s a day dedicated to food, football, food, more food and in my case video games.
I don’t like a complicated menu or one that takes me away from time better spent being lazy on the couch and watching the parade playing fallout 4. And we also don’t eat Turkey {we’re team non-traditional!}. Which means we incorporate Thanksgiving flavors without all the fuss, muss and drama that we all know can happen on a holiday!
But before I dive face first into sharing my menu I have some oh-so exciting news for you! Last year I put an ebook together, The Thanksgiving Survival Guide! It was filled with my Thanksgiving menu & tips + tricks to meal planning and hosting the holidays! Oh and there were recipes in it! And because I’ve been slacking a little in the blogging department {thanks end-of wedding season} I’m bringing it back! That’s right, this ebook is all yours for FREE! You can download it HERE.
And now here’s our menu:
• Roasted Cranberry Chicken Salad
• Paleo Drop Biscuits
• Easy Appetizer Plate
• Guacamole + Sausages {recipe coming soon!}
• Cilantro Roasted Potatoes
• Grape Leaves {dolmades, no recipe on blog}
• Maple Bacon Cookies
• Cranberry Apple Sauce
• Stuffed Mushrooms
Now yes, that looks like a lot of food for two {three if you count the #puggle} but the whole point of Thanksgiving is leftovers! I plan on not having to cook for at least 2 days after Thanksgiving! And if you want to know my process for meal prepping and the different steps to meal planning for a holiday, check out the FREE Thanksgiving Survival Guide!
But in case you don’t want to read the ebook, here’s a quick overview of what I’m doing to make sure I have as much time to enjoy Thanksgiving as possible:
– Grocery Shopping on Monday for everything and making a list on Saturday for it all — just to ensure I have time for the “oh wait – I forgot to add x, y and z to the list”
– On Monday, making chicken stock + using some of the chicken meat for the Cranberry Chicken Salad. And making a chicken soup with the rest of it so we have easy an easy dinner / lunch on Tuesday + Wednesday.
– Making Maple Bacon Cookies, Cranberry Apple Sauce, Paleo Drop Biscuits, Grape Leaves the night before.
— I’m going to make the bacon, then put the cranberry apple sauce on the stove to cook, then make filling + stuff grape leaves, while they cook I’m going to make the maple bacon cookies + paleo drop biscuits.
– Clean the house and more importantly the kitchen on Sunday / Monday to make sure I’m not overwhelmed while cooking the next few days.
– Not going crazy with my meal plan that week. Dinners leading up to Thanksgiving are going to be super easy and the next few days are going to be filled with leftovers!
And now the biggest question of this blog post — what are YOU having for Thanksgiving? Are you giving any new recipes a try? Or is there an old favorite you’re having? Tell me — I want to know!
xoxo
Liz-
Very nice I too follow paleo so thank you for the meal plan.