Weekly Meal Plan #12 {and some ideas for Thanksgiving!}

Something happens once the calendar turns to November. Minutes and days get sucked into a vortex, time flying faster than I can keep up. It happens every year, and yet, each fall it feels like a new sense of urgency, that need to hold onto every day, savor it before the doldrum, back to business as usual days of January arrive.

On that same note, can you believe next weekend is the last one before Thanksgiving? I’m guessing many of you might be in the throes of planning your menus. Some might event have it all set, just ready and waiting to get cooking, yes? It’ll be a quiet holiday with the girls. I opted to do the same as last year, cooking a meal to deliver to the community center, and then make a Chinese feast for us at home. Except this year we might be eating mashed potatoes with our meal because Virginia loves them so much.

And there’s always the chance we’ll switch to a traditional Thanksgiving meal—I totally reserve the right to just see how I feel. These holidays never seem to get easier, and while so much of it is missing Michael, a big part is also missing cooking for a crowd of people. So, cooking for the community center is a great way to feed that need for myself.

I’ve got a few recipes waiting in the wings, new ones that might work their way onto your Thanksgiving tables this year, so keep an eye out for them. New post emails go out at 2:00pm EST. If you haven’t signed up for them, you can do so here. And if you can’t stand the idea of yet one more email in your already cluttered inbox, I totally get it. Check back daily to see what’s new! Here’s a peek at what’s cooking this week.

• These two Marley Spoon meals. I’m going to make some pork cutlets to go with the Veggie Pho Bowls for the kids.
• Pizza, surprise! Making this dough, and I’m planning on turning them into two-bite sized pizzas, similar to what we had in Rome last year (sigh…I want to go back soon!).
• Meatballs are on the menu for today. I’ll get around to sharing that recipe one of these days.
•  I’m away on Monday, and will leave this for the girls to have with my sitter.
• I’ve been craving this Slow Roasted Chicken Soup, too, so will make it sometime this week, too.

Ideas for Thanksgiving Sides, Salads & Soup

• Spice Scented Cranberry Sauce
• No-Cook Cranberry Relish
• Sweet Potato, Ricotta & Leek Soufflé
• Mashed Potato Pie
• Perfect Mashed Potatoes, every time (with a video!)
• Wilted Kale Salad & Warm Shallot Vinaigrette
• Creamy Turnip Soup
• Roasted Cauliflower, Ginger & Pear Soup
• Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
• Gruyere Cheese & Rosemary Buttermilk Biscuits

Ideas for Thanksgiving Desserts

• Pumpkin Slab Pie
• Brown Butter Apple Pie
• Apple Crumb Slab Pie
• Creamy Pumpkin Pie (no evaporated milk)
• DIY Evaporated Milk
• DIY Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Chocolate Chess Pie
• Coconut Custard Pie
• Lemon Honey Chess Pie
• No-Bake Pumpkin Cream Pie
• Coming soon—Vegan Pumpkin Pie, Vegan Pecan Pie (check back this week!)

Pie Crust 101

• Perfect Pie Crust
• Honey Pie Crust
• Whole Wheat Pie Crust
• Buckwheat Pie Crust (perfect with pecan pie!)
• How to Pre-Bake Pie Crust
• No-Roll Pie Crust
• Coming soon—Flaky Vegan Pie Crust (check back this week!)

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