It is here! Thanksgiving week! I love Thanksgiving and all things pumpkin & turkey. 🙂 I love spending time with my family and shopping on Black Friday. For the big meal, I have some family contributing sides like Catholic Potatoes, a wonderful mashed potato casserole with cream cheese and cheddar cheese, it really is heaven in a pyrex dish; Sweet Potato Casserole; Creamed Peas; and last, but not least, the non-GF pies, that way I don’t have to gluten up my kitchen with flour for the pie crusts. Truth be told, I was not much of a pie crust maker before I went gluten-free, I don’t see myself making them now, especially if they contain gluten! For gluten-free pie crusts, I use Whole Foods Gluten-Free Bakehouse frozen crusts. They are excellent and even picky family members can’t tell they are GF! Best of all, they are EASY!

The days leading up to Turkey Day are very busy here. We have parent/teacher conferences tonight for Hannah, hockey scrimmage for Jon tonight, family get together tomorrow night at the inlaws, hockey practice on Wednesday…ACK! Somewhere in there, along with my normal daily routine, I need to find time to bake! So, my menu leading up to the big day this week is very simple. Nothing complicated for a couple of reasons…time and oh yeah, I have a 20 lb turkey defrosting in my fridge that is taking up a bunch of space! LOL!

Sunday ~ Pei Wei…we used the rest of a gift card after putting up the Christmas Tree (yes, I know, I am crazy)

Monday ~ Baked Salmon, Brown Rice, Steamed veggies and salad (how much simpler can I get??)

Tuesday ~ Breakfast for dinner (eggs/omelets/bacon/sweet potato hashbrowns/toast/OJ)

Wednesday ~ Cheeseburger in Paradise ~ hockey practice night (BTW, CIP has a GF dessert now!!! WOO HOOO!!!)

Thursday ~ The Big Day ~ Here is my menu:

• Veggie Tray with Dip
• Sweet Potato Rounds with Curried Chicken Salad on top (Mom’s bringing)
• Turkey & Gravy
• Cornbread Stuffing (GF, of course)
• Catholic Potatoes
• Cranberry Glazed Carrots
• Homemade Cranberry Sauce (will also have the jellied kind)
• Sweet Potato Casserole (MIL is bringing)
• Creamed Peas (MIL is bringing)
• Crescent Rolls (for the gluten eating peeps)
• Chebe Rolls (for us GF peeps)
• Pumpkin Pie (GF and non-GF)
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
• Cherry Pie (GF)
• Pecan Pie (non-GF)

Friday ~ Leftovers (DUH!)

Saturday ~ I bet we are still having leftovers!  LOL!

Baking Items This Week

Bread

Pumpkin Pies (2 ~ freezing one for Christmas)

Bagels, if I have time…LOLOLOL

This week Book of Yum is hosting the Gluten-Free Menu Swap. The ingredient of the week is Sweet Potato, how appropriate! I am using sweet potatoes for our hash browns on Tuesday night, the kids love them like this! Thanks for hosting! Also, don’t forget to check out Org Junkie for lots of menu plans.

Have a great Thanksgiving!