Oops, I meant to post this like… dayyyys ago. LOL That’s how my brain is working right now. Oh well! Better late than never!

Well, we did it fam. We had a successful food coma day in the Harper-Bruce household! I’m not going to lie, there were some moments when things got a little dicey (over cinnamon-ed cranberry sauce & too-big-for-us turkey that somehow partially froze in the fridge overnight i’m lookin’ at you), but we pulled it off.

I started my food prep on Tuesday so that all we’d need to do Thursday was basically just throw everything in the oven or stovetop. I think it worked really well! Growing up my memories of Thanksgiving were full of stress & trying to avoid being snapped at by my parents. We didn’t even host big parties either! This was just for the three of us!

Yeah there was no way I was bringing that energy to my own home. It doesn’t matter what we have at the table as long as the people around that table feel loved. The near hedonistic amount of food we eat that day is just a plus!

Ok, let’s get to the fricken food already! 

Tuesday

On Tuesday evening I made the rolls & cranberry sauce. For the rolls I just used my tried & true hamburger bun recipe because, well, a) they’re always delicious and b) i’m not willing to risk the rolls turning out poorly. To me, dinner rolls are an integral part of the Thanksgiving experience! As far as the cranberry sauce goes, it’s a fairly easy dish with lots of fun options to personalize it! I ended up making a Cinnamon-Apple Cranberry Sauce & it was delicious! As you may have guessed from my intro, I over-cinnamoned it slightly when I made it. But the awesome thing is that as the sauce sat in the fridge those two days, the flavors mellowed out & it became just the right amount of cinnamon!

Wednesday

On Wednesday evening I prepped the green bean casserole, whipped up the pumpkin pie filling (store bought pie crust, baby!), & cleaned & prepared the turkey to throw in the oven the next day. We moved our fridge racks up & even got the whole roasting pan to fit in there! Lol!

The green bean casserole was super straightforward- I just made the classic French’s recipe. The pumpkin pie filling was surprisingly easy and delicious! I love love love the costco pies of course, but since I’m the only one in the house who likes pumpkin, buying a 12 serving pie for just one person felt a little extravagant. 😂 Not to mention we have a tiny fridge! 

On to the turkey: I used Damn Delicious’ Easy Thanksgiving Turkey recipe & just adjusted the measurements for the friggen’ 23lb turkey we ended up with. (Though I do think I could have used less liquid in the roasting pan, but it still turned out great!) But it’s actually better this way I think- now we have SO MUCH leftover turkey to use for future meals! I also used her gravy recipe too! Both were **chef’s kiss.**

Jason prepped his food today too- he was in charge of his mom’s mac & cheese recipe, cornbread, & stuffing. He didn’t get around to the cornbread, but the other two were great!! I think he’s going to be in charge of the stuffing & mac every year! 

Thursday

Go time! My family & I woke up bright & early (thanks to our little toddler Po) but it worked out just fine since I was planning on waking up early anyway! I got the turkey in the oven by 7am (which was within my goal range, so that’s a win) and took it out at 12:30. I basted it every half hour (ok, more like every 45 minutes to an hour) & it crisped up perfectly! I was worried about undercooking it, so some parts were a tad dry if I’m being honest, but it was still juicy enough to be really good! My logic is, I would rather it be slightly dry than undercooked & risk food poisoning, ya know?? But next year I know what to expect and feel more confident that it’ll be even better! I made the mashed potatoes fairly quickly & just needed to heat everything else in the oven while the turkey was resting. Oh, and gravy! Can’t forget the gravy! It was SO good. And yes, I am totally tooting my own horn here! 

We had a great meal & no one snapped at each other! That’s a big fat WIN. Sure, two parents cooking while sliiightly ignoring their toddler is asking for trouble, but when Po is older & her desire for our constant attention decreases, it’ll be much more manageable. Either that or we’ll have two and will just forgo the whole Thanksgiving thing altogether LOL.

On Saturday & Sunday I divided up allll the leftovers & froze them. I also made TWO batches of turkey stock in my crockpot with the bones. I bet I could have made more, but we just don’y have the room, lol! The turkey went into 1 cup baggies because that is the amount I use when cooking meals for my spouse & I. It both saves money & is healthier as we are reducing our meat consumption. I should have ordered more freezer containers before Thanksgiving, but I made-do with the aluminum cake pans Jason found at our local grocery store. I’m not sure how we’re going to incorporate the other leftovers into future meals, but I’m sure I’ll think of something!

Things I’m adding to my pre-Thanksgiving shopping list:

• single serving sized aluminum pans for leftover meals (for easy freezer to oven meals)

• liquid freezer containers for gravy, cranberry sauce, & turkey stock

• a high quality meat thermometer (my cheapo one is too unreliable)

• oh, and if we can afford it, a deep freeze to store everything!