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Thanksgiving Meal Plan

We’re here to make your meal planning for the holiday simple! Here is a guide for a delicious Thanksgiving meal!

APPETIZER:
Spinach Dip Bites

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups frozen spinach chopped and thawed
6 oz artichoke hearts drained and chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic minced
2 tbsp parmesan cheese grated
4 oz cream cheese softened
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese shredded and divided
1/2 tsp garlic salt
pepper to taste
1 can seamless crescent dough

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 375.
  • In a bowl, combine spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic and Parmesan cheese. Blend in cream cheese and half of your mozzarella cheese. Season with Salt and pepper and set aside.
  • Using a rolling pin, lay out dough on a cutting board and lightly stretch to a 8 x 12 rectangle. Cut dough into 2 inch squares, so you have 24 squares total.
  • Lightly grease a mini muffin tin and place a square in each slot, gently pushing down to create an indent. (you don’t need to mold to the cup.)
  • Scoop one teaspoon of your spinach mixture on top of each crescent square and gently push in, (bites will mold to your tin while baking). Spread the remaining mozzarella cheese over the tops of each cup.
  • Bake at 375 for 15 – 17 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before moving from tray.

SIDE DISH:
Sausage, Cranberry + Apple Stuffing

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1) 16-ounce pkg. Breakfast Sausage
  • 2 Onions chopped
  • ½ cup Celery chopped (optional)
  • 6 Tablespoons Butter
  • 2 Granny Smith Applespeeled and diced
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Pepper
  • 12 cups French Bread or High-Quality White Sandwich Bread cut into ¾ in cubes (about 1 ½ lb. full loaf)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Sage
  • ½ cup Fresh Parsley Leaves diced
  • 2 cups Chicken Broth (may add more if you want a moister stuffing)
  • 3 Eggs
  • ½ cup Dried Cranberries or Cherries
  • 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter (optional to drizzle on top of stuffing)



INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned and fully cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
  • Heat butter over medium- high heat. Add chopped onions and celery (optional) and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook until the onions are a golden color.
  • Add the apples and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
  • Add the bread cubes, sage, and parsley. Stir to mix.
  • Whisk the chicken broth and eggs together in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes. Stir in dried cranberries and cooked sausage. Gently toss to mix the ingredients.
  • Stuff turkey with stuffing or pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. Optional: drizzle with 2 Tablespoons of melted butter.
  • Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-44 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove foil and let it toast up in the oven.

SIDE DISH:
Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Cinnamon Butternut Squash With Pecans + Cherries

INGREDIENTS:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts:

  • 3 cups Brussels sprouts ends trimmed, yellow leaves removed
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon Salt to taste

Roasted Butternut Squash:

  • 1 ½ lb butternut squashpeeled, seeded, and cubed into 1-inch cubes (Yields about 4 cups of uncooked cubed butternut squash)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Other Ingredients:

  • 2 cups pecan halves
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 2-4 tablespoons maple syrup optional



INSTRUCTIONS:

How to roast Brussels Sprouts:

  • Preheat oven to 400 F.  Lightly grease the foil-lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  • Trim ends of Brussels sprouts  and remove yellow leaves. 
  • Then, slice all Brussels sprouts in half. 
  • In a medium bowl, combine halved Brussels sprouts, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt (to taste), and toss to combine. 
  • Place onto a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down, and roast in the oven at 400 F for about 20-25 minutes. During the last 5-10 minutes of roasting, turn them over for even browning, the cut sides should be nicely and partially charred but not blackened (see my photos).

How to roast Butternut Squash:

  • Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease the foil-lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  • In a medium bowl, combine cubed butternut squash (peeled and seeded),1 tablespoon of olive oil, maple syrup, and cinnamon, and toss to mix.
  • Place butternut squash in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning once half-way through baking, until softened.
  • Note: You can roast both Brussels sprouts and butternut squash on 2 separate baking sheets at the same time, on the same rack in the oven – that’s what I did.

How to toast pecans:

  • Toast pecans in the preheated oven at 350 F
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Toast the pecans for about 5 minutes (maybe a bit longer) in the preheated oven at 350 F until they get darker in color.  
  • Note: pecans burn really fast, so make sure to check the nuts after 5 minutes and frequently afterwords. 

Assembly:

  • In a large bowl, combine roasted Brussels sprouts, roasted butternut squash, pecans, and cranberries, and mix to combine. 

 

MAIN DISH:
Roasted Turkey Breast with Garlic Herb Butter

INGREDIENTS:

The turkey breast

The garlic herb butter



INSTRUCTIONS:

1. How to make this Roasted Turkey Breast with Garlic Herb Butter? Remove all oven racks except for one. Set this rack in the next-to-the-lowest position. Preheat your oven to 450ºF (230ºC).

2. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the turkey herb butter. Using your fingers, gently loosen the skin covering each turkey breast by gently running your fingers between the skin and the turkey meat, taking care not to tear the skin. Place herbed butter under the skin and gently press on the skin to spread the herb butter evenly. Repeat on the other side so the entire turkey breast is stuffed with herb butter under the skin. Spread the remaining herb butter over, and beneath the turkey breast. 

3. Place turkey breast, breast side up, inside a large roasting pan. Cut a piece of foil big enough to cover the turkey’s breast. Arrange quartered onion, garlic and rosemary around the turkey. Season the garnish with salt and pepper.

4. Place the turkey breast in the oven, breast side up. Roast until nicely browned, 20–30 minutes. Apply the prepared foil over the turkey breast to cover.

5. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F (180ºC) and return turkey breast to oven, foil securely in place. Do not open oven to baste the turkey breast. Roast until a cooking thermometer registers 161°F (72ºC), approximatively 1 hour to 1 hour and half. When nearly done, you can remove the foil and crisp up the skin under the broiler for 2 minutes. Allow the roasted turkey breast to rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving. Transfer the turkey breast to a serving dish and garnish with fresh rosemary, the quartered onion, roasted garlic, and quartered pomegranate.

DESSERT:
Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirled Brownie Bites

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup cocoa
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For the Cheesecake Swirl

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Beat together melted butter, sugar, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  • To make the cheesecake filling, beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Reserve 2/3 of a cup of this mixture and set it aside now to make the white cheesecake swirl layer. 
  • Mix the pumpkin into the remaining cheesecake mixture. You should have two small bowls of cheesecake batter and pumpkin cheesecake batter. Starting with the white batter, spoon the mixture onto the brownie batter in thin rows. Then do the same with the pumpkin cheesecake batter. Don’t worry if they touch or its not perfect. Run a butter knife through the batter in a grid pattern to get the swirled look. Don’t over do it.
  • Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before slicing. 

DESSERT:
Peanut Butter Pie

INGREDIENTS:

For the crust:

  • 14 whole chocolate graham crackers (196 grams)
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 7 tablespoons (99 grams) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

  • 8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup (94 grams) powdered sugar plus 2 tablespoons, divided
  • 1 cup (270 grams) creamy conventional peanut butter
  • 1 cup (240 grams) heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:

  • Melted peanut butter
  • Melted chocolate
  • Mini Reese’s cups
  • Peanut butter chips

    INSTRUCTIONS:
  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

For the crust:

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, process the crackers and sugar until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until moistened. Use the bottom of a measuring cup, glass, or ramekin to press the crust mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until fragrant, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling:

  1. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and the peanut butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  2. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment to whip the heavy cream until thick and light. Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and the vanilla extract and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
  3. Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Pour into the prepared pie shell and freeze for 3 hours or chill in the fridge at least 6 hours. 
  4. Place your melted peanut butter and melted chocolate in separate resealable bags or piping bags. Snip off a tiny corner of the bag’s tip. Squeeze slightly to drizzle the melted peanut butter and melted chocolate over your pie. Top with mini Reese’s cups and peanut butter chips. Serve frozen or refrigerated.

DRINK:
Apple Cider Sangria

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 small pears, thinly sliced
  • 2 small apples, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium lemon, cut into wedges
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 2 cups apple cider
  • 1/2 cup apple whiskey (or regular whiskey)
  • 1/4 cup brandy
  • 1½ cups sparkling white wine or Prosecco (can sub sparkling cider)
  • cinnamon sticks and star anise,for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • To a large pitcher, add pear, apple, lemon and pomegranate seeds.
  • Pour apple cider into the pitcher, followed by apple whiskey and brandy.  Refrigerate for a few hours, and then add the sparkling wine right before serving).
  • Pour chilled sangria into glasses, making sure to get plenty of fruit in each glass.  Garnish each glass with a cinnamon stick and a star anise.