Thanksgiving week

When I was first planning the week’s menu, I didn’t know if we were going to see any family on Thanksgiving…so I planned to make thanksgiving fare all week long so we wouldn’t miss out (but I also wouldn’t have to cook a huge feast all in one day).

As a result, Thanksgiving turned into a glorious week long affair, in which I got to make the things I like most about the holiday (or re-make them in ways I prefer!).

As it turned out, we DID end up going to my parents’ house on Thursday. Which meant we had an extra extra food filled holiday! Honestly, I’m happy to have any and all good things to look forward to. If that means turning a holiday into a week long affair, then bring it on.

I’ve been feeling super grateful already lately. To be healthy and employed during this tumultuous time is not something to take lightly. Rather, it is something to feel thankful for every second of the day.

And now I present to you…

THANKSGIVING food!

My new favorite stuffing is pork and cornbread stuffing. And by “new favorite” I mean, “only” because I have never been a huge stuffing lover until I made this.

To make the stuffing, first you make cornbread. You can do this 1-2 days before if you want.

Once that is going in the oven, you saute an onion and celery in olive oil with dried herbs, salt and pepper.

After the onions have cooked and are translucent, you add ground pork and dried cranberries and saute until the pork is cooked.

Then you crumble half of the cornbread in a greased baking dish, and pour the pork mixture on top. My pork was pretty greasy, so I had a lot of liquid fat that soaked into the cornbread. If yours seems too dry, add broth or wine as needed.

If you want to be super traditional, you can whip an egg into the mix. Next you top with the remaining cornbread (making sure it’s all evenly distributed) and then bake for 15 minutes at 350 until there’s a nice bronzing on top of the stuffing.

I added roasted butternut squash too, because I’m a firm believer that you can never have too much squash in a Thanksgiving (or any Fall) dish.

Cornbread & Pork Stuffing

Ingredients:

• yellow onion, diced
• 3-4 ribs celery, diced
• 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp herb de provence
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 lb ground pork
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 butternut squash, cubed and roasted
• 1 8×8 pan of cornbread
• 1 egg [optional]
• 1/4 cup white wine or veg broth [optional, as needed]

Directions:

Make cornbread per package (up to 1-2 days in advance).

Roast diced butternut squash with 2 tbsp of the olive oil on a greased baking sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Saute onion and celery in remaining olive oil with dried herbs, salt and pepper.

After the onions have cooked and are translucent, add ground pork and dried cranberries and saute until the pork is cooked.

In a greased baking sheet, layer the crumbled cornbread with the pork mixture and roasted squash so they are well mixed) [optionally] mix in a whipped egg.

At this point, you may or may not need extra liquid depending on the fat content in your pork, so add broth or white wine as needed.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 until there’s a nice bronzing on top of the stuffing.

Aaaaand voila!

This was seriously DIVINE.

Kyle vowed it the best stuffing he has ever had. So that’s high praise!

Moving on to the next holiday meal!

I made a potato/cauli mash in the instant pot using two huge russet potatoes and a head of cauliflower. I pressure cooked it for 10 minutes with 1/2 cup vegetable broth and then pureed it with the immersion blender in the pot. SO EASY.

The star of the meal was the pot roast, although I actually think me and the kids all preferred the Brussels sprouts.

Of all the components of the meal, the Brussels were the only thing that got totally polished off.

P wasn’t into the texture of the puree which I knew would be the case as soon as I blended it up.

And truth be told, it wasn’t my favorite flavor wise, so I think I’m going to repurpose the leftovers into a creamy soup of some kind. I’m thinking it has major chowder potential. Like a corn and chicken situation? Or maybe the base for a creamy white bean chicken chili? I’ve got ideas…

In the meantime, here’s a preview of one of the dishes I made to bring to my parents’ house…

Sweet potato heaven!!!

Hope you all had a lovely and safe holiday whether you were alone or with your pod.