Preparing For Thanksgiving...

Happy day before Thanksgiving! I worked most of the day today continuing my Thanksgiving dinner preparation. I made a double batch of my Cream of Mushroom Soup today and put my Green Bean Casserole together. I make it much the same way I used to (you know the kind that uses the red and white cans of soup). My cream of mushroom soup is excellent and unbelievably good. I made it even thicker and creamier today by adding in a few ounces of cream cheese and about 1/4 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese while it was simmering. It is so very easy to make. For my green bean casserole, in addition to 2 pounds of cooked French green beans, I added almost all of the Cream of Mushroom Soup except for about 1 cup that I reserved to use to make gravy with. I also added about 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese to my green bean casserole. 

I debated how to handle the "French fried onion" part of that casserole. Last year I added caramelized (soft) cooked onions to mine and had planned to do that again this year and maybe make some of my Oven Fried Onion Rings to put on top for crunch. I scrapped that idea and decided to go a different direction with the onions. I thinly sliced a large sweet onion and separated into rings. I lightly drizzled them with olive oil and tossed around just to very lightly coat. I seasoned them well with sea salt and placed them on a parchment lined cookie sheet to roast at 375 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes and kept checking on them and tossing them occasionally. I will admit, I burned my first batch because I didn't watch them closely enough. The 2nd batch turned out AMAZING! As they began to brown, I turned the oven down to 275 degrees for another 10 minutes or so and then turned the oven off and allowed them to continue drying out and crisping in the oven. They are golden and crisp...as crisp as the canned kind only these don't have any breading on them. Nothing but onions, salt and a bit of oil and their flavor is amazing. I stirred some into the casserole and have reserved a bunch to scatter on top about 5 minutes before the green casserole finishes baking (just like you do with the store bought version). 

I also made my Sweet Potato Casserole without using sugar this time. I added some Swerve, eggs, cream, butter and cinnamon and whipped it until velvety smooth. I'll top it with toasted pecans near the end of baking tomorrow. I'll make mashed red skin potatoes for the rest of the family and creamy mashed cauliflower for me. I'll finish putting together my squash casserole tomorrow. It's pre-prepped and can be put together quickly now. I purchased a carton of turkey bone broth to use to make the gravy with after reducing a bit and seasoning it and will add my cream of mushroom soup to give it richness and body. I'll make the stuffing/dressing tomorrow since I've already got the croutons made for it. I'm tired tonight but will get a few more odds and ends done before calling it a day. My turkey breast goes into the crock pot before I go to bed this evening to cook overnight and I'll put the whole turkey in the oven tomorrow morning. I love Thanksgiving and will be glad when I can finally sit down and enjoy it all tomorrow. I snapped a few photos of today's accomplishments below. Enjoy!

These onions are cracker-crisp and oven roasting brought out their natural sweetness

The beginnings of gravy

Pffffft...who said that grain-free stuffing/dressing couldn't include BREAD?

Awaiting buttery sweetened cinnamon toasted pecan topping to be added tomorrow!

USA Baking Pans - Absolutely the BEST!

USA Pans - BEST Baking Pans Ever!

Nothing sticks...NOTHING!