Thanksgiving Recipes

Yesterday was a day of risks for me. Every recipe I made was a brand new recipe. Every. Single. One. I got most of my recipes from blogs that have been tried and true, so I knew they were reliable. However, there is always a certain risk you take, when making a recipe for the first time. Little kinks that may need to be worked out. When we sat down to eat, I loved every single thing! Enough to want to document it on here, not only to share with you, but for me to refer to next Thanksgiving (and maybe this Christmas, for a couple of the dishes). There were a few "hiccups" along the way, but nothing major... all easy fixes.

I'll start with breakfast. Pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

Need I say more? This might have been my favorite thing all day.

I made Lilly a mini one (with no frosting... and no cinnamon crumble in the middle... shhhh, don't tell her).

This Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll recipe can be found here. Thank you Peas and Thank you, for another amazing recipe! I made one minor adjustment. From the 1/4 cup of sugar, take out four teaspoons and add it to the warm milk (100 degrees to be exact, if you have a thermometer). This will help activate the yeast. My first try didn't activate, so I tried this and it worked much better.
Here is the process in a nutshell.

Make these for ANY occasion. You won't be disappointed!

I also made a delicious Rustic Herb and Veggie Stuffing! I didn't exactly follow a recipe for this, so I did my best to write down everything I did, so I can replicate it again. I loved all the veggies in this stuffing!

Rustic Herb and Veggie Stuffing
(Print Recipe)

Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato, cubed
1/2 medium butternut squash, cubed
8 cups bread, cubed and lightly toasted in a 350 degree oven (I used a round loaf of rosemary and olive oil bread, and some french bread)
10 ounces mushrooms, chopped
2 cups leeks, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sage, plus more for roasting veggies
2 tablespoons rosemary, plus more for roasting veggies
2 tablespoons thyme, plus more for roasting veggies
2 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350. Put the cubed butternut squash and sweet potato on a sheet pan, sprayed with oil. Spray the tops of the squash and sweet potato with a little oil. Sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the veggies. Spray a large skillet with oil. Add the mushrooms, leeks, celery, carrots, garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. Saute until all veggies are tender- about 6-8 minutes. If needed, add a few splashes or vegetable broth. Once the veggies are tender, add 2 cups of vegetable broth.

In a large bowl, combine the bread, roasted veggies, and sauteed veggies. Mix well. Transfer to an oiled baking dish, bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes, or until golden and heated through.

The perfect ratio of bread/veggies. Again, you won't be disappointed!

Another Peas and Thank You recipe- Roasted Garlic and Herbed Smashed Potatoes. The roasted garlic flavor adds a nice touch!

I made "The Best Vegan Green Bean Casserole" From FatFree Vegan. I have never had a vegan green bean casserole, so I don't know if it is the best- but it was pretty darn good! Very fresh and light tasting! I would make a minor adjustment next time though- mix some of the fried onions through out the dish, and put the bread mixture on top, BUT don't add the fried onion topping until near the end of the baking time. Some of the pieces came out too dark and crispy. It wasn't a big deal, I just picked them off, but for future reference.

Nate is not a Fan of fried onions- so I only put them on half of the casserole. This dish made his favorites list!

My next recipe came from Oh She Glows- "This Ain't Grandma's Sweet Potato Casserole". This casserole is a sweet dish, not savory. I really liked it, but it is very rich, so I could only eat a small amount of it. I'd definitely make it again though.

I left pecans off half of it.... because someone doesn't like pecans (I won't name any names... this time).

I however, love pecans.

Our meal also included the pear and pomegranate cranberry sauce that I blogged about recently.

Here it all is!

And, last, but not least, dessert. This dessert was super rich and creamy- Brownie Pumpkin Pie With Crunchy Pecan Topping.

YUM! This would be great at Christmas time too!

Needless to say, we didn't go hungry this Thanksgiving!