Family, Friends & Food

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you are reading this with a full tummy and enjoying some relaxing times with family. I just made it home from spending the day at my mother's. This thanksgiving was a little different this year with covid still lingering. Instead of meeting up with my 100 family members, like we do every year, I just hung out with some immediate family. It might have been a small group, but I am super thankful to have had all of them there to share a wonderful afternoon/evening.

Last weekend, I hosted a Friendsgiving and we had tons of great food. Everyone made a different dish and all were very special. Our friend from Louisiana made a delicious cajun crawfish jambalaya, we had vegan stuffing, air fried sweet potatoes, homemade mac & cheese, a deep fried turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls with butter, cheesecake, different kinds of mini pies, and veggie/fruit trays for appetizers. Everything was sooo good! We also had some "Gobble Juice". It had the perfect flavors for the thanksgiving holiday. Here is the recipe and a pic of the finished product!

2 bottles red wine

4 cups ginger ale

3 cups cranberry juice

2/3 cup fireball

2/3 cup whiskey

2 cups frozen cranberries

1 orange, sliced into rounds

After dinner, we had dessert and played some games! It was so nice to have everyone together!

For thanksgiving today, I made two dishes. One of which I made for Friendsgiving, the vegan stuffing. This was my first time making this dish and it actually turned out really well! I want to list the recipe for you all to see how unique the ingredients are.

-4 tablespoons avocado oil, plus more for greasing the baking dish

-2 bags green tea

-1 large onion, chopped

-2 stalks celery, chopped

-1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped (it called for mushrooms, but I substituted, because ew lol)

-1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped

-1 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped

-Salt & ground black pepper

-16 cups stale, 1-inch cubed white bread

-1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Green tea? Strange huh? But surprisingly delicious! If you're interested in trying it out, here is the link to the directions on Food Network.

I also whipped up some homemade mac & cheese, which also turned out to be really great. Here is the link for that recipe on allrecipes.

Even though this has been a weird year and we might have not seen each other as much, I just want to say how thankful I am for all these wonderful people in my life. Just sharing stories, food and memories meant so much to me.

I want to know what you made for thanksgiving this year! Anything out of the ordinary or new dishes you tried? I love traditional thanksgiving food, but it's always fun to change things up a bit in your own way!

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday and thank you for taking the time today to check out my post.

Stay tuned...I have a surprise post for you all on Saturday and I'm so excited to share it!

Love yourself xoxo