My All Time Favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner Recipes Year After Year (Made With Whole Foods)

I love to try new recipes and I love thanksgiving.  Certain recipes though I have found that I really can't improve on year after year I go back to them even if I am mixing in a few new ones to try.  From a BBQ brined turkey to pies and everything in-between these are my favorites!  They are created using whole foods, and stay away from prepacked ingredients like cool whip and gravy mix.  If the recipe calls for it I just substitute the real thing.

The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey 

(Brined and smoked in a BBQ)

This recipe is perfect we have used it since 2007 and LOVE it! It is our tradition to have my husband do the turkey out on the grill.  You don't need special equipment like a smoker, and it is pretty easy. Find the recipe HERE at Barbecue University.

Maple Red Eye Gravy

Photo Courtesy of simply Recipes

We love this delicious recipe and have been making it along with the turkey all these years.  It has some unique ingredients and really has a great flavor.  You can find it HERE at Barbecue University as well.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

We love garlic mashed potatoes.  Roasting the garlic takes the bite out and adds a sweet richness.  Recipe HERE at All Recipes.com

Turkey Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing

We love this recipe!  It is from cooking light so it reduces the fat and calories but is still FULL of flavor. Find the full recipe HERE from cooking Light.

Spinach Salad with Oranges, Dried Cherries 

and Candied Pecans

Photo courtesy of Yummly

This is the perfect salad.  A decadent flavor filled salad that can hold it's own at a Thanksgiving table full of other tempting foods.  I promise you will have seconds!  Find it HERE from Vegetarian Times Magazine. 

Orange Cranberry Sauce

Photo courtesy of  Yummly

I love this recipe, and have been using it since I discovered it in 2001.  It is incredibly simple but I have never had a cranberry sauce I liked more!  There is something magical about the combination of oranges and cranberries.  I love it in muffins, cookies, cream cheese and of course in cranberry sauce.  It comes out so beautiful too!  I have been making this exact same recipe year after year from an old cook book I have called Fat-Free Holiday Recipes by Sandra Woodruff.
Just to clarify I am not a promoter of the fat free or reduced fat diet.  I believe in whole foods and healthy fats as a part of a clean, real foods diet.  This was from my phase in the 90's as a fat free follower.  Curiously I might add that while I have always been petite my years eating the fat free low fat way were not my thinnest years.  The packaged foods, and added sugar and commercial chemicals ended up keeping on any pounds I had wanted to loose!  So this Thanksgiving eat real butter, use coconut oil while you are cooking and try at all costs to avoid packaged foods and your body will thank you as well as your mouth!
Here is the recipe..

Orange Cranberry Sauce Recipe

1 cup orange juice

1/2 tbsp fresh grated orange peel

1/2 cup light brown sugar ( I use 1/4 cup of a sugar stevia blend sold in grocery stores)

12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries.

1) Combine the orange juice the orange peel and sugar in a pot and bring it to a boil for 5 min with the lid off.  

2) Add in the cranberries over medium heat with lid ajar for 7-10 minutes until the cranberry skins pop.  Stir occasionally

3) Let it cool down then cover and chill before serving. Yields 12 servings (but not 12 if you eat larger portions like at my house!)

Tender Steamed Green Beans

photo courtesy of Yummly

As far as green beans go we usually skip any type of casserole or mayo laden dish and serve fresh steamed green beans.  My kids as well as the rest of the family actually much prefer it and of course it is much much healthier.  If cooked right they are tender but crisp and sweet.  A little butter and sea salt is all they need, but if you are feeling festive garlic is a nice addition as well.

Chipotle Sweet Potatoes 

photo courtesy of stock food

My husband cannot get enough of this recipe and he is not by nature a healthy eater!  He even mentioned it to my mom today to make sure she was making it!  There are only three ingredients but it is rich, spicy and flavorful.  It is simply made of cream, chipotle peppers (you get them canned at walmart or other grocery stores), and sweet potatoes.  It will shock you how good this simple recipe is!  You can get it HERE from the food network.  A much more satisfying alternative to that over sweet marshmallow concoction usually served.

Whole Grain Dinner Rolls

In all honesty this is not the exact recipe we use, as my mom usually makes the bread, but it has the same ingredients.  Whole wheat, real butter, honey and this one has a nice tutorial and looks very easy to follow if you are new to bread making.  Heck, I am not new to bread making but I always struggle with yeast bread!  So give this recipe a try like I plan on doing! Find it HERE at An Oregon Cottage.

Now onto the decadent desserts!  I usually bring an apple pie and pumpkin pie of some sort and occasionally a pumpkin cheesecake.  This is usually my department and I love it!  Over the years I have tried lots of different recipes but these are the ones I use most often.Pictured above are my last years addition to our Thanksgiving feast.  That year I brought (from top down) Grandma Opal's Apple Pie, a pumpkin Cheese cake. and a maple struessal pumpkin pie.  They were SO delicious! 

This is my photo of  Grandam Opals Apple Pie from All Recipes

This is one of their most popular apple pie recipes for good reason!  We do of course cut the sugar down but that is what usually happens when I get near a recipe.  What is unique about this recipe is that you basically make a carmel from the butter and sugar and then pour it over your delicious apples!

The Pumpkin cheesecake from Cooking light (above) is easier than it looks and so yummy!  I just use my own crust and use fresh pumpkin puree from our freezer.  Get the recipe HERE.

For my maple streusel pumpkin pie I use THIS RECIPE from Cooking light  for the maple pumpkin pie and added a streusel topping from this Cooking Light recipe.  Keep in mind where it calls for tons of sugar I usually reduce it a bit and try to use unrefined sugars like honey and maple syrup where possible, and any margarine references get replaced with coconut oil or butter.  I do not use store bought crust and use this crust recipe from cooking light.  

Cooking Light Pastry Crust 

SOURCE: Cooking Light YEAR: 1998 ISSUE: November PAGE: 108

1 cup all-purpose flour, divided

3 tablespoons ice water
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (I use evaporated cane juice which is the same as organic powdered sugar)1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening ( I use coconut oil or butter)

INSTRUCTIONS:
A slurry is a mixture of flour and liquid (water and vinegar in this recipe). It's the key to this tender low-fat crust. Pie weights can be ordered by mail or found in gourmet kitchen shops. You can also use uncooked dried beans, but save them to reuse as weights. They'll be too hard for cooking.1. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 1/4 cup flour, ice water, and vinegar, stirring with a whisk until well-blended. 
2. Combine 3/4 cup flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl; cut in shortening  ( I suse coconut or butter here) with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add slurry; toss with a fork until flour mixture is moist. Gently press mixture into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into a 12-inch circle; freeze 10 minutes. Remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap; let stand 1 minute or until pliable. Fit dough, plastic-wrap side up, into a 9-inch pie plate or a 9-inch round removable-bottom tart pan. Remove plastic wrap. Press the dough
against bottom and sides of pan. Fold edges under or flute decoratively. Line bottom of dough with a piece of foil; arrange pieweights on foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until edge is lightly browned. .Yields 1 (9-inch) crust.

I hope this has been helpful!  Have a favorite must share recipe or tip?  Put it in the comments!  I love hearing from everybody!
Speaking of Thanksgiving don't miss all these Thanksgiving related posts with crafts, etc...