Are you hosting a Holiday Meal in your home? Do you want to make it healthier?
I have been hosting most all of our holiday meals in our home for several years. Every year, I get a little more healthier and from scratch. However, to make the entire meal from scratch, it takes a little planning to have some of the ingredients ready for the big cooking day.
Menu Planning
For our family gathering, I will fix the Turkey, bread, stuffing, gravy and pies. I ask the rest of the family to round out the meal. 
So, we will discuss fixing the things I am working on right now!
Grab a sheet of paper, and write down what you will be fixing, next to each item, write the cookbook and page number. Next get your grocery list started. You will want to shop a week or more before the meal to avoid the crowds. Believe me, the day before is NOT fun, you are literally putting your life at risk…people are crazy that day.
Extra Ingredients Prep
Let’s face it bread cubes for stuffing aren’t instant..neither is chicken broth for that stuffing…And the Turkey, well, thawing it can take several days, clean out the fridge and shove it in there to thaw.
Ok, so now you have done step one…start thawing the turkey. If you are a little late, take the wrapping off and submerge in cool water, and change the water several times a day until thawed. Be sure to get to Thawing your Turkey five to six days before the meal to be sure it is ready to be cooked!
Please note, to be sure to put the turkey on a platter or other container to catch escaping juices, so you don’t have to reclean your fridge. Heading to do that NOW!!
Stuffing:
If you are making this from scratch, you will need chicken broth and bread cubes. I planned a meal last week to use chicken and saved my broth. I made bread and cut 1.5 loaves of my bread into cubes. I then put them in a single layer on a large cookie sheet in the oven at 250-300 for periods of 10 minutes (about 30-40 minutes total) until thoroughly dry. After every 10 minutes, I stirred them a bit to help rotate them.
I will make the pies and cranberry orange bread on Wednesday before Thanksgiving or the day before whatever holiday we are hosting. I prep the Turkey in an oven bag the night before too…
Funny story…
If you buy a large, heavy turkey, please note, the seam at the bottom of the bag will not old the turkey when your husband plops it in the bag…it WILL hit the floor, just before your bottom jaw does.
So, plop that turkey in the bag over the table with the bottom of that bag on the table.
The stuffing will be made in the crockpot using one of the handy dandy new plastic crockpot liners. Hey, who wants to be left in the kitchen scrubbing a crockpot free of near cement type of no longer smells good stuffing because you are now so stuffed yourself?
If I were making the veggies and salads, I would have them either put together the day before, or ready to be put together in less than five minutes the day of.
Now, that you have planned, prepped and you had better have done your shopping, the holiday time with friends and family can be relaxing and enjoyable. Oh, and don’t forget the paper plates, as well, it is more important to me to spend time with your company than it is to get out those fancy dishes and be stuck in the kitchen any longer than ya have to.
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mother, christian, wife, woman, child of God. It is about my life as a farmer’s wife, as a cook, a baker, a nurse, a teacher, a woodworker, a housekeeper, a farmer (yep, I drive tractors, pick up hay bales, and other farm duties), a gardener. So, what you read here, is me, as a transparent sometimes hot headed, passionate, and opinionated person.
