It's hard to believe Thanksgiving has already came and went! I think this is the first year that I have had to work the day before Thanksgiving, which means my sister had to take over most of the food prep! I was very sad to miss the day-before cooking (haha- some would think this is crazy I know), but I made a detailed list for my sister to follow, and I was so proud to see that she pulled more than 1/2 the menu off by herself! :)

Our menu included my spinach-artichoke dip for the appetizer, which helped stave off the hungry (men) while we worked to warm up everything, along with prepping the turkey! Our main meal included sweet potato pie (recipe to come), corn casserole, apple sausage stuffing, my moms mashed potatoes, and my mashed cauliflower recipe, oh and of course- TURKEY! For dessert I made my pumpkin pie with gingersnap crust into a pumpkin-cheesecake with gingersnap crust!

The best part about making the food the day before is that you have the oven free to cook the turkey during the day, and when the turkey comes out, (and is resting), you are able to warm up the dishes for about 30 minutes in the oven! This allows Thanksgiving day to be stress-free, in addition to giving you more time with family and friends!

Now onto the Daily Dish~ Thanksgiving Day! I won't bore you with pictures from my breakfast and lunch on this marvelous day, but I will tell you that I woke up early and worked out with my sister, and had a protein shake for breakfast! I then had a sandwich for lunch, and snacked on carrots, and some of the spinach artichoke dip until we ate around 4pm.

I strongly disagree with STARVING yourself before a huge meal for many reasons- but obviously one of the main reasons is you seriously OVEREAT when you finally sit down to eat! By eating a few small meals/snacks throughout the day you can in fact 'save' your hunger (and calories) for the main event, but- you won't be as likely to over-do it when you do eat, and your body won't go into 'starvation' mode in the mean time!

Now onto the main event! :)

Our appetizers were Spinach Artichoke Dip (sorry I forgot to snap a pic), and some Pumpkin Bread Yum!!!

We also had some mashed potatoes and Mashed Cauliflower! The cauliflower surprised everyone- many people thought it was mashed potatoes until I told them otherwise!

Our Sweet Potato Pie was the perfect sweet-pairing to go with all the savory food!

The Corn Casserole was a wonderful sweet/savory side dish! :)

The Apple-Sausage Stuffing was also a HIT! No one could believe it was healthy!

And of course- the star of the show~ the beautiful TURKEY!!!

My family and I sat around for a while after dinner telling stories and laughing, and discussing what we were thankful for~ and then we dug into dessert! We had my pumpkin pie- turned -pumpkin cheesecake (sorry, forgot to snap a pic!) It was a phenomenal spin on the traditional version of my pie, which was a great change after having my pumpkin pie many times already this season!

I took the pic, so i'm not in this one, but this is my beautiful family, which I am very thankful for!

After eating dinner we sat around watching football (well- the guys did anyway), and looking through the papers scoping out the best deals! ;)

We woke up early to workout the next morning, and my family and I were off - to shop till we dropped! I was a bit overwhelmed, and actually barely bought a thing...Good thing I have a whole month to shop! :)

Oh- and we also decorated for Christmas! It truly is the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!!! I love this time of year for many reasons- but mostly because everyone is happy- and I know why~ there is constant music playing everywhere the Glorify's God, and most of us are giving and walking in love, which is the way God intended it to be in the first place!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and spent time with family/friends and took time to think what they have to be thankful for (which is a lot!) :)

*Note: could Karla and Lauren (2 of the 4 winners of the stevia giveaway) please e-mail me your address asap?! Thanks!