Thanksgivng Done "Lite"

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  The day when we often eat more in one meal than we do in a week!  Between the gravy, stuffing, yams, and desserts, the calories (and fat) can really add up.  When I changed my diet about 10 years ago, this one day a year presented quite a challenge for me.  You see, Thanksgiving dinner is a meal that is always celebrated at our house.  And I don't like to feed others what I would not eat myself.  Keeping in mind that Thanksgiving dinner is a special meal with items our family has come to expect,  I am pretty pleased with what I have come up with and would like to share some of my "secrets to a lightened-up Thanksgiving" with you. 

First of all, there is the turkey.  I buy a natural, fresh one each year and cook it as recommended (without the addition of any shortening or oil).  I eat only the breast meat with no skin.  For gravy, I use just a couple Tablespoons of the pan drippings, to which I add a couple Tablespoons of flour.  I add fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth and season it with salt and white pepper.  I also stuff my bird and use the same recipe I have used for years - it's a family favorite.  But instead of a pound of pork sausage, I use a pound of lean, mild Italian turkey sausage (and after I brown it, I discard all fat, removing the meat with a slotted spoon and letting it drain on a plate covered with a double layer of Bounty towels).  I do not saute my onion and celery in the recommended cube of butter that the recipe calls for, but use just a couple Tablespoons of lite butter or Brummel & Brown margarine instead.  The other ingredients (in case you would like to make it) are 2 peeled and diced apples, 8 to 10 cups of bread cubes, and a teaspoon each of marjoram, sage and salt, and 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper.  You can moisten it with half a cup of chicken broth if you'd like before stuffing the turkey with it. 

I make my mother's recipe for Candied Yams and have to admit that it is the best ever.  I parboil the yams just until a fork pierces them about half an inch through.  When they are cool, I peel and slice them into rounds that are about 2/3 of an inch thick and line a large Pyrex pan with them.  Then I pour orange juice over them, and sprinkle them generously with brown sugar.  Up to here, the recipe is identical to my mom's.  But instead of dabbing each yam slice with butter, I dab them with a little Brummel and Brown margarine.  Then I lightly salt them and sprinkle them with cinnamon.  They need to cook (covered at first) for over an hour to become soft and tender and for the sauce to thicken into a luscious glaze.

I make mashed potatoes with skim milk and lite butter, a homemade Maple Oat Bread, and some kind of vegetable side dish.  Usually it is a Green Bean dish of some sort.  Cranberry sauce (often homemade with fresh cranberries, orange juice, maple, and cinnamon) tops the meal off. 

For dessert, I usually make a lightened version of Pumpkin Pie or a Pumpkin Trifle, but this year I made a Sweet Potato pie with lite coconut milk, cinnamon, and ground ginger, some bar cookies (lightened versions of life-long favorites called "Surfer Squares") and French Vanilla Ice Cream.  

Appetizers vary from year to year with this year's feature being a low-fat and delicious Salmon Mousse.  (Recipe gladly shared upon request). 

The lovely centerpiece for my buffet counter (pictured above and courtesy of a very good friend) is made of a large hollowed-out acorn squash filled with assorted flowers and seasonal trimmings.  I love it and may try to do something similar for Christmas.

I pray that you and yours are warm, safe and healthy.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!