So much to be Thankful for!

Day 28: I am thankful for family, friends, parties and dessert :) Good times!

Happy Thanksgiving guys, hope you all had a wonderful Holiday too.

My girls wanted pictures with Momma...OK maybe I asked them to take pictures with me, and even allowed the girls to take the photos in order to get them to agree LOL.
Hayden and Lily are so beautiful, and funny, kind, helpful, smart...and so much more. I can't wait to see who they grow to be, I know they will be amazing, because they already are.

Like my new dark for Fall/Winter do?

Jericho joined us for a couple moments...just enough time to be silly. Xan couldn't be bothered.

Such a ham!

The kiddos were so happy to see Uncle Scott, Auntie Amber and Hailee. The girls love hanging out :)

We managed to keep the big kids busy in the craft room. Jericho kept busy eating appetizers...you should have seen the size of his belly, BEFORE dinner LOL.

Great Grandpa Frank and Betty made it out.

Gangster was the guest of honor LOL. Actually this was his first Thanksgiving not shut into another room with Sakari. He did so great...have I mentioned how much I love this one dog thing?

Haddie put this crown on his head...he looks thrilled huh? LOL.

Buds :)
I know his nails need to be cut. I'm scared to do it and Jason has been too busy...he'll get to it soon.

So cute :)

Am I done yet??

The house filled up quick, our next house really needs to be much bigger. We had 15 guests...plus the 6 of us. Cozy, but nice.

Gangster loved all the attention.

The trio had so much fun with Great Aunt Julie...they love when she comes to visit.

All of our "skinny" dishes went over great. My mother in law made this one for me, it was awesome...and sure disappeared :) "Skinny" Hot spinach and artichoke dip.

You need:
13.75 oz artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
2/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
4 oz shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
salt and fresh pepper to taste
olive oil spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. In a small food processor, coarsely chop the artichoke hearts with the garlic and shallots. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Place in an oven-proof dish and bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes, until hot and cheese is melted. Serve right away. Can be made one day in advance and stored in the refrigerator before baking. 1/4 cup 73 calories and 4 1/2 grams of fat.

I..yup, me, check me out...made the "skinny" Crock pot turkey breast with gravy. Jason made the "Skinny" Buttermilk mashed potatoes with chives.

















For the turkey you need:
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped medium
1 celery rib, chopped medium
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/3 cup flour
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp fresh sage
2 bay leaves
4-5 lb whole bone-in turkey breast, skin on, trimmed of fat
salt and pepper

Directions:
Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until onion is soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of broth and scrape up any browned bits and smooth out any lumps; transfer to slow cooker.
Stir in remaining broth, water, wine, sage, and bay leaves into the slow cooker. Season turkey with salt and pepper, place skin side up in the slow cooker, cover and cook 5 to 7 hours on low, or until the turkey reaches 165 degrees with an instant-read thermometer.
Transfer turkey to a cutting board tent loosely with with foil and let it rest 20 minutes. Let braising liquid settle for 5 minutes, then remove the fat from the surface using a large spoon. Strain braising liquid into saucepan, discard celery, bay leaves and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Discard the skin and carve the turkey and serve with gravy. Makes 2 1/2 cups of gravy.
4 oz of turkey and 1/4 cup of gravy is 167 calories and 4 grams of fat.


The potatoes...
you need:

• 2 lbs (6-7 medium) yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp low fat buttermilk
• 1 tbsp light butter
• kosher salt to taste
  
• dash of fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh chives

Directions:

Put potatoes and in a large pot with salt and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and return potatoes to the pot.
Add buttermilk, light butter and remaining ingredients. Mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. We put it in a crock pot on keep warm. 3/4 cup is 150 calories and 2 grams of fat.

The "Skinny" Chicken sausage and herb stuffing and the Cranberry apple pear sauce turned out great...you can find those recipe's here.

Jason also made some "Skinny" Rosemary garlic parmesan biscuits.

For those you need:

• 2 tbsp salted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
• 2 cups Heart Smart Bisquick
• 3 oz shredded parmesan cheese
• 2/3 cup fat free milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Melt butter in a small pan, add oil and half the garlic; sauté on low heat about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add chopped rosemary.

In a large bowl, combine biscuit mix, parmesan cheese, and remaining garlic. Stir in milk and mix (do not over mix). Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls (about 1.5 oz each) onto prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Brush or drizzle biscuits with melted butter. Bake for 5 more minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom.

Makes 14...1 biscuit is 114 calories and 5 1/2 grams of fat. 

My dinner...it was almost too much. This plate set me back 629 calories and 17 grams of fat...not too shabby for a big filling Thanksgiving dinner. AND it was all yummy!

That turkey started kicking in quick LOL.

Then it was dessert time!
Grandma made a real deal, full of yummy calorie overload, Apple pie. Jason and I made a couple "Skinny" options. The Pumpkin spice no bake cheesecake, recipe here, and a Cinnamon apple crisp.

I only tried a little of the two "skinny" desserts, they were excellent.

For the crisp you need...

For the Filling:
5 medium apples, peeled and diced
1.5 oz raisins (small box...we left these out, I hate raisins LOL)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup agave honey
* We put all this stuff in a gallon zip lock bag, mixed it all real well and then left in the fridge for about 18 hours. You don't have to "marinate" it though if you don't have time...but it did good things for the apples.

For the Topping:
1 cup Quaker quick rolled oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar (not packed)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup (half stick) butter, melted

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine apples, raisins, cinnamon, agave nectar and lemon juice in large bowl. Sprinkle with cornstarch. Toss until fruit is coated. Place fruit in an ungreased baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake about 40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is tender. 1/8th of crisp is 242 calories and 7 grams of fat.

After dessert Xan and Tyler had fun playing games on Tyler's phone. We didn't see or hear from Xander for at least an hour LOL. I really hope we are able to swing a Kindle Fire or iPad mini for the kids this Christmas.

Jericho was kept busy impressing Uncle Rick with his throwing arm. They played "throw the snowball...AKA balled up paper bag" for a good 20 minutes LOL. The kid has a little arm on him, and pretty great aim for a not quite 3 year old!

Then of course my little wild man got too wound up and couldn't calm down. They can't all be as calm, quiet and cooperative as my girls, now can they?

We had a great day...we are so fortunate that we have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to all!