Updated 11/20/2021: I will be Black Friday shopping for the first time in 2021. I have shopped on Thanksgiving eve before, but this year the Bills are playing and most stores are closed, I think. My daughter wants to do it this year to get her gifts picked. I won’t do Door Busters, or 5 AM type shopping, though. I don’t think she will even be out of bed if she wanted to.
Happy Thanksgiving! Today, I am grateful for so many things. I woke up, the weather is cool enough to have the windows open to keep it well ventilated in the house. I am grateful for all of you, my readers, who read my posts. My traffic and followers have exploded this year. I just started paid advertising on Facebook and had my first lead yesterday. I am so grateful for that. Even though the potential client needed something I could not offer it was great to have a lead. I get leads from Pinterest too, but they are nonsense, just men looking for something other than coaching. They kind of waste my time, but I am grateful for the practice of the communication. I am grateful for my job, my husband’s job, and my son and his new wife are still employed. So many people are not and they are having it hard this holiday. Long food lines of people need food and other items just to sustain themselves and their families. If you can help a family in need I implore you to do so. We have donated to a few food groups this year and will continue to do so. There is always a need, but this year it is so much more. Don’t forget about furry family members too. When money is tight they often can go hungry too. Please read my reminder tips below to stay safe and healthy today. These are simple things we are doing to be together and be safe.
First, as I promised I will share the homemade cream of mushroom condensed soup for the green bean casserole. I actually didn’t get to it until this morning, but it was super fast and easy. Plus, it is so delicious, I mean super delicious. This is not low carb, but really it uses only a minimal amount of flour, and you could use coconut or almond flour. My husband hates almond flour, and I do not have coconut flour on hand. If you choose to use either of those be sure and research how the consistency will come out. I used this recipe, and modified it as follows. I did not have onion powder so I just added fresh minced onions. I use canned mushrooms because I prefer them. I also had no celery salt. I thought I had celery seeds, but apparently, my daughter disposed of them and did not tell me. So, I just left that out. I also used chicken stock instead of vegetable broth because that is what I had. I added less salt than the recipe called for and more pepper. This is so much lower in sodium than the canned stuff. I simply put it in the fridge until I am ready for it. Be sure to drain and rinse your mushrooms if you choose to use canned like I did. You could literally use this same recipe to make condensed cream of anything soups and it would be so much healthier. I could probably use it for sausage and gravy too.
Last evening I started watching some Keto videos on Youtube. Now, I am not Keto, I am 70-100 grams of carbs per day. I don’t want to be Keto, either. I don’t want all of that fat. However, they had some really good tips on following a low carb lifestyle. Diabetics and people who are obese probably are already trying to live a low-carb lifestyle. I will share a video from each of them, and you could check them out at your leisure. The first woman, I really liked how she made sweet potato casserole using butternut squash and cauliflower. I wish I had seen this video a week ago.
If you don’t have an Instapot, they are awesome! I did so much of my prep last night which will save me a ton of time today. I put my peeled potatoes, and one carrot in there. The potatoes will be for mashed potatoes for my family, and the carrot will be mixed with a quarter cup of sweet potatoes for me. I do not make sweet potato casserole with all of the marshmallows. No one likes it that way. I just add butter and some brown sugar and that is it. I also put a whole head of cauliflower in the Instapot and then mashed it all up. This will be my mashed potatoes. At first, it was just blah, but I added a little butter, garlic, lemon pepper seasoning, and the kicker was a tablespoon of ranch-flavored sour cream. The sour cream is what made it creamy just like mashed potatoes. It was so good I wanted to eat it last night. A whole head of cauliflower has quite a bit of potassium and protein, plus phosphorus. So, be sure and limit it to a half-cup serving at a time. I also cooked my macaroni, for the mac n cheese. I set aside a 1 cup portion for me and I will use coconut milk and cheese in mine. Everyone else’s will have evaporated milk and cheese. This is literally everyone’s favorite dish. I add seasonings to taste. I will be making homemade gravy this year to save on sodium. My husband decided to cook his mom’s homemade stuffing. He puts it in the bird, and I don’t like stuffing like that. He did leave me a little to bake for myself. My apple pie and ice cream definitely won’t be low carb, nor will the Hawaiian rolls. But, the second Keto lady I like on Youtube has some awesome low-carb biscuits that I will definitely try in the future. I noticed Keto people eat a lot of beef. This will not be me. I prefer to not consume too much red meat. I am a chicken and turkey kind of girl,
My safety tips for Covid and Thanksgiving:
1- Check temps of anyone who comes over
2- Limit the size of people gathering to 10 or less even.
3- Have the windows open, fans on and keep the home well ventilated, or eat outdoors plus outdoor activities.
4- No hugging, kissing, or handshaking. I know this one is hard.
5- Keep 6 feet a part as much as possible and don’t eat close together.
6- Say your prayer without holding hands.
7- I have gloves that everyone will wear when plating their food, then the gloves are removed and hands sanitized before eating. If seconds are needed new gloves are to be worn and follow the same procedure.
8- Limit the amount of people in the kitchen.
9- Wear masks if you can’t be outside, or socially distanced.
10- Disinfect before company arrives, after they leave, and in between as needed, especially high touched surfaces.
11- This last one is the most difficult. Don’t travel if you can avoid it this year, consider having elderly relatives not attend, or anyone with a compromised immune system. The Covid is especially dangerous for them. If you have a baby less than 30 days old, it might be a good idea to stay away from that family member as well.
I hope everyone will be safe and healthy. These are just suggestions and things we will be doing. I am in no way saying that it means you or your loved ones will not get sick. But, I am saying it helps.
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