Theme Food Week :Thanksgiving Deconstructed {November}

{cooking}

So........ I know I am super late posting this, but it was just yesterday as I was working on the menu and grocery list for Theme Food Week for December (which is this week) that I realized I had never posted  November's Theme Food Week! A bit late, but better late than never right?...........

November's Theme Food Week theme was "Thanksgiving Deconstructed" - each night focused on one part of a "traditional" Thanksgiving meal: Turkey, gravy and stuffing; Cranberry Sauce; Green Bean Casserole; and Mashed Potatoes.  My sister who was home for a visit chipped in and made some sweet potato fries, so that covered sweet potatoes/sweet potato casserole too. so, without further ado, here is the menu and recipes from Thanksgiving Deconstructed Week:

{Menu}

Monday:

Turkey, Gravy,and Stuffing Pizza: Okay, this may sound weird but it was SOOOOOOOOO good! I saw a similar idea on line somewhere (I don't remember where) that inspired this meal, but this particular recipe is my own.  I started with a pre-made pizza crust (usualy when I make pizza I just get refrigerated pizza dough, but this crust seemed a little more substantial and I thought it might hold up to these toppings better) Mine was Wegman's brand and it worked out really well because it had almost a dinner roll flavor.  The pizza's "sauce" is turkey gravy (just from a can or jar) and I topped that with chunks of turkey breast, turkey stuffing and some mild cheddar cheese.  The original idea for this I think was supposed to be an idea to use up leftovers, but for mine I just cooked some boneless skinless turkey breasts cut in chunks in a pan on the stovetop, and used boxed stuffing mix (which I had no idea was so quick and easy to make lol).  Like I said it was really really good, much better than I thought it would be even.

Tuesday:

Cranberry Sauce Topped Chicken Thighs, Cranberry Rice Pilaf, and Steamed Broccoli: Today's Thanksgiving dish was, can you guess?........ Yep cranberry sauce! And both of these recipes were really good this is the recipe for the chicken (although I have to say I followed the recipe for the sauce, but just baked the thighs like I would any other time), and here is the cranberry pilaf. I was actually surprised I liked this as much as I did, because there was orange juice in it and normally I can't stand rice with orange juice in it, but I guess the cranberry or something balanced it out in this, because I really liked this dish.  The broccoli was just steamed and tossed with butter, salt, and garlic powder.

Wednesday:

Green Bean Casserole Soup and Dinner Rolls: Here is the recipe for the soup.  The only change I made was not blending the mushrooms in, I just sauteed them and added them to everyone else's soup as it was served, since I can't eat mushrooms.  My mom and I liked the soup, my husband, not so much, but I wasn't souper {<-- see what I did there? hehe] surprised by that. This was also the night my sister made sweet potato fries, and we ate them as an appetizer, I have no idea what recipe she used, but Pinterest I'm sure is loaded with them.  I can tell you we didn't season them the way her recipe said, it used coconut oil, which we did, but we put a little salt and pumpkin pie spice on ours instead of whatever seasoning the recipe used.


Thursday: Off night (we actually ordered Chinese take-away this night lol)

Friday:

Mashed Potato Lasagna: No real recipe for this one either.  I had seen somewhere another "leftovers" idea to use mashed potatoes in place of ricotta in lasagna.  Of course my mashed potatoes weren't leftovers (well actually, they kind of were because I had made them the night before, before we decided to get Chinese) and basically I just replaced my usual ricotta mixture with the mashed potatoes, that were seasoned with garlic and Italian herbs. I have to say it was pretty good, and very filling.


Of course as I said this week is Theme Food Week for December, so hopefully I will be able to get it posted this weekend or the beginning of next week (with Christmas SO close though I make no promises ;)