Moving into fall

Turkey breast smoked on the grill, and yellow squash gratin:

That took care of the yellow squash for the week. We also used up a butternut squash in another meal, which I neglected to take pictures of. It was butternut squash soup with green salad and bread.

Good for Dagwood

Sandwich time!
3 oz. baguette
2 oz. smoked turkey breast
1 1/2 oz. Brie
1 oz. avocado
1 tbsp. light mayo
500 calories

My favorite thing about a turkey dinner

The Leftover Turkey Sandwich.

2 slices rye
2 oz. roast turkey breast
2 tbsp. cranberry sauce
300 calories

A Colorful Plate

I've always heard that eating lots of different colors means you're getting lots of different nutrients. (If only that worked when eating M&M's!)

Roast turkey breast with mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce:

4 oz. roast turkey breast: 150 calories
4 oz. mashed sweet potatoes: 86 calories
1/4 cup cranberry sauce: 110 calories
1 cup green beans: 44 calories

Turkey Mole

I unearthed some of the Thanksgiving turkey that I had stashed in the freezer for tonight's dinner.

Turkey in mole sauce (Dona Maria brand),  refried beans, rice, pineapple, and avocado. I haven't done the math on this meal, and I know the mole sauce is pretty high-fat, so I just took small portions and hoped for the best.

The Feast

Roast beast:

On the plate:

Thanksgiving prep: Turkey in the brine

Turning the turkey in the brine, observed by a curious cat.

For my brine I used a gallon of water, a cup of salt, and a cup of maple syrup. We'll see tomorrow how it comes out.

Thanksgiving prep: Turkey stock

I always make turkey stock before Thanksgiving so that I have it for gravy and stuffing.

5 pounds turkey legs
2 carrots
2 celery ribs
1 onion

Into the oven for 1 hour at 400:

Then into the pressure cooker for 30 minutes under pressure:

Strained through a cheesecloth-lined fine mesh strainer and ready for the refrigerator:

Out to Lunch: The Q Shack

Friday lunch at The Q Shack
Attempting to keep things lower-fat, I eschewed the traditional pulled pork in favor of turkey, and got baked beans instead of a side of fries.
Smoked turkey breast with cole slaw, baked beans and hush puppies

The turkey had a great smoked flavor and was not dried out. I like the Q Shack cole slaw. It's very vinegary and makes a good contrast to smoked meat. I tried the baked beans for the first time and didn't really like them. They didn't have a lot of flavor. Hush puppies hot and tasty as always. No calorie counts here.